Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS), Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia)
The PhD courses are taught completely in English. German courses in preparation for the study period in Leipzig will be offered in cooperation with the Goethe Institute in Addis Ababa.
Combination of on-site and online elements.
The application deadline for admission to the winter semester is the end of February each year.
The exact dates can be found on our website: https://www.sozphil.uni-leipzig.de/en/global-and-european-studies-institute/research/doctoral-studies/phd-peace-and-security-in-africa.
Tuition fees for the programme will be 5,000 EUR per study year.
Globalisation processes are strongly linked to issues of peace and security as well as stability and development – not only in Africa. Globalisation processes, including colonisation, de-colonisation, the end of the Cold War, effects of 9/11, the 2008 economic and financial crisis, the so-called Arab Spring, the climate crisis and other current international developments have created particular challenges, risks, threats and vulnerabilities for the African continent. Globalisation is affecting Africa in specific ways and globalisation processes (past and present) have implications for security in Africa. The increase in intra-state, civil wars and cross-border conflicts following the end of the Cold War are just one example.
The programme trains junior researchers and professionals in globalisation research. It qualifies them for employment, among others, in international organisations, in the field of conflict management, prevention and resolution and early warning (as well as other areas of the emerging African peace and security architecture). Our students qualify also as future lecturers, scholars and researchers for the rapidly expanding higher education sector in Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries; enabling these future elites to “think globally”.
Area Studies – as the study of particular cultural, national or geographic regions – refers to interdisciplinary research fields, which draw on a variety of methods and academic perspectives, ranging from established disciplines such as History, Political Science, Sociology, Political Economy and Cultural Sciences to newly emerging sub-disciplines as, for instance, New Political Geography and Global History. By analysing the implications globalisation processes have on different world regions, Global Studies are strongly linked to Area Studies. Global and Area Studies – as a combination of social and cultural as well as historical approaches to the study of modern and contemporary globalisation processes and the comparison of world regions – offer the scientific basis of this PhD programme to develop an understanding of the dynamics of peace and security in Africa.
Since Africa is faced with global challenges in particular ways, the study programme intends to pay special attention to regional perspectives on globalisation processes and – in light of the continent’s specific contemporary challenges – to the multifaceted aspects of peace and security in Africa.
The general objectives of the PhD programme are to produce scholars/professionals in the area of Global and Area Studies critically challenging existing knowledge on globalisation, new regionalisms and issues of peace and security in Africa as well as the global integration of the continent with the requisite knowledge, skills and attitudes.
The specific objectives of the PhD programme are to:
The PhD programme has a prescribed duration of three to four years of full-time study. It aims to deliver a curriculum appropriate to the interdisciplinary nature of its topic.
Accordingly, PhD students will pursue a rigorous but flexible doctoral curriculum, with several shared classes (core courses) and specialisation courses.
The coursework amounts to a maximum of 60 ECTS out of 180 ECTS for the overall programme. Thus, 120 ECTS will be credited for the successful completion of the dissertation. Additionally, the programme seeks to impart pedagogical skills to doctoral students as the majority of them are expected to become educators in institutions of higher learning.
In addition, students will attend international Summer Schools.
Coursework is to be done at both partner universities in Addis Ababa and Leipzig. During their first semester, students will attend courses at the IPSS in Addis Ababa with lecturers from Leipzig University. The second semester is to be studied at Leipzig University (mandatory). In the third semester, students will be back in Addis Ababa and attend courses taught by IPSS and GESI lecturers. During the rest of the programme, students can choose to come to Leipzig again in coordination with their supervisors (optional).
Tuition fees for the programme will be 5,000 EUR per study year.
International students pay 250 EUR in Leipzig per semester and 200 USD at Addis Ababa University.
Funding opportunities are partly offered within the university.
Please note: The research proposal is the single most important document you submit for your application. It has to be of excellent academic quality, showing that you are aware of the current status of research with thorough references to other scholars' work. It further needs to propose an original idea that has not been investigated yet.
English at C1 level
The application deadline for admission to the winter semester is the end of February each year.
The exact dates can be found on our website: https://www.sozphil.uni-leipzig.de/en/global-and-european-studies-institute/research/doctoral-studies/phd-peace-and-security-in-africa.
Information on the application process and the application form can be found here: https://www.sozphil.uni-leipzig.de/en/global-and-european-studies-institute/research/doctoral-studies/phd-peace-and-security-in-africa.
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