Courses are held in German and English. Participants can choose to write the doctoral dissertation in German, English, French, Italian, Spanish or Latin. Other languages are also possible (upon individual request).
Integrated Track (structured doctoral programme)
Regular Track (individual doctorate)
All applicants for the structured doctoral programme must apply by the end of October for the following summer semester. The exact date is announced on our website.
For further information on our application procedure, please see http://www.artes.uni-koeln.de.
The a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne is the graduate school of the University of Cologne’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities. The Faculty of Arts and Humanities – one of the largest of its kind in Europe – creates ideal conditions for an intensive, lively, and open-minded exchange of ideas and offers a unique range of subjects in the humanities and cultural studies, including, for example, philosophy, language and literature studies, linguistics, history and art history, ethnology and regional studies, media and theatre studies, musicology, archaeology, and digital humanities.
Since October 2012, the a.r.t.e.s Graduate School is responsible for every doctoral project at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Doctoral students can choose between a regular track and an integrated track. The regular track is the standard model of the individual doctorate, whereas the integrated track is the structured doctoral model that, with regard to the interdisciplinary scope, is designed to allow completion of the doctoral project within a time frame of three years. The integrated track also includes a funding option for the pre-doc phase (six months) and a full scholarship for three years.
The a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School serves as a platform for the internationalisation of graduate programmes that can build on a formidable existing network of cooperation agreements in the faculty and draw from the experience of a great number of teaching and research centres. The concept of the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School is completed by a special focus on equality standards.
The a.r.t.e.s. integrated track addresses graduates who have completed their studies with outstanding academic results in the humanities and who are interested in beginning their doctoral studies shortly after their final examination. The participants are supervised by two graduate class mentors and three academic supervisors, one of whom is from another discipline. In the graduate class colloquia during the semester period, the doctoral candidates periodically discuss the progress of their research with their classmates and the class mentors. The yearly and comprehensive colloquia of the entire graduate school offer the opportunity to discuss topics and advances in research.
The integrated track of the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School provides a structured doctoral model with an interdisciplinary approach. The individual doctoral studies are combined with a set of guided courses. Supervision is provided through a mentoring programme during a period of three academic years. The first year of the integrated track focuses on the elaboration of the dissertation topic, which has to be presented in the a.r.t.e.s. colloquium. In the second year, students focus on their own research and can attend additional workshops on transferable skills (e.g. seminars in academic presentation and writing, third party-funding, etc.), while the third year is dedicated to the presentation of results, writing, and the completion of the doctoral dissertation.
The a.r.t.e.s. collegiate programme offers the opportunity to take part in the integrated track programme without a scholarship from the Graduate School, including the opportunity to attend the graduate classes.
The a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School emphasises research, teaching, and networking on an international level. This is apparent not only in the many transcultural and regionally-diverse research projects pursued at the school. It is also evident in the bilateral research and international doctoral models allowed for at a.r.t.e.s. Two examples of these are the binational joint supervision (cotutelle de thèse) and the supplementary qualification “Doctor Europaeus”, both of which contribute to the internationalisation of academic research.
The refinement of the international profile of a.r.t.e.s. and that of the entire Faculty of Arts and Humanities is contributed to by its Summer Schools and Graduate Seminars, which are hosted regularly. It cooperates closely with its partner institutions and continually expands its international network.
The programme does not include additional teaching or work obligations.
The semester contribution amounts to approx. 320 EUR per semester. The fee includes a "Deutschlandsemesterticket" that covers public transport in Germany.
Each year, the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School funds up to eight full scholarships for the integrated track amounting to 1,600 EUR per month for a maximum of six semesters. Students also receive financial aid for travels that benefit the research project.
In addition and to ensure a quick transition from Master’s or similar degrees to doctoral studies, the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School offers each year up to eight “Predoc” scholarships for six months (1,200 EUR per month) to help candidates to elaborate a doctoral project.
Applicants must hold an above-average university degree (MA or equivalent) in a discipline that is available as doctoral subject at the University of Cologne's Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
International doctoral students who wish to write their dissertations in German can join the programme immediately and improve their German during their studies.
International doctoral students will have to provide proof of German at the level C1 (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) by the time they submit their doctoral dissertations in the event that they write the dissertation in German.
International doctoral students who wish to write the dissertation in English or in another language will have to provide proof of German at the level B2 by the time they submit their doctoral dissertations.
A full remission of the German language proficiency is possible upon special request.
All applicants for the structured doctoral programme must apply by the end of October for the following summer semester. The exact date is announced on our website.
For further information on our application procedure, please see http://www.artes.uni-koeln.de.
Finding accommodation in Cologne is tough and demanding for students, as in other large German cities. The need of housing is high especially in the beginning of the semester, therefore we recommend to begin to search for an accommodation as early as possible from your home country. The International Office has compiled useful information on its website.
General services and support for international doctoral candidates is offered via the University of Cologne's International Office.
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