Deadline 2027-02-15
Country Germany
Level phd
Organization Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG)
Field European History, History of Religion, Historical Theology, Digital Humanities, Environmental History, Comparative History
Funding fully funded Overview
The IEG Mainz PhD Fellowship Program is offered by the Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG) in Mainz, Germany. This fellowship is designed for doctoral researchers in European history, the history of religion, and other historical disciplines who need dedicated time to complete their dissertations. The program supports projects focusing on European history from the early modern era to the present, with particular interest in digital methodologies, intellectual and religious history, environmental history, comparative or cross-border research, and Europe’s interaction with the rest of the world. The fellowship duration is typically six to twelve months.
Coverage
Selected PhD fellows receive a monthly stipend of €1,650. Additionally, family allowances are available: €250 for a partner, €400 for the first child, and €100 for each additional child, subject to availability. Fellows gain access to the institute’s workplace and library, along with mentorship from IEG experts. While accommodation is not entirely free, fellows can rent a reasonably priced room in the institute’s housing, with double rooms available for partners and special arrangements possible for fellows with children, subject to availability.
Eligibility
This fellowship is open to all international and German doctoral researchers, including Ethiopian students. Applicants must be enrolled and supervised at their home university while attending the IEG. A minimum degree of MA, state examination, diploma, or ecclesiastical examination in history, religious history, historical theology, or another historically oriented discipline is required. At the time of application, candidates should typically have spent no more than three years working on their dissertation. The dissertation project must have a developed idea and sufficiently progressed source research, as the fellowship primarily supports the writing-up phase.
Requirements
Applicants must submit a completed application form, a valid passport, academic transcripts, degree certificates, an academic CV (including a publication list if applicable), a dissertation table of contents, a project description (limited to 15,000 characters, excluding spaces and footnotes), a detailed work plan and timeline for their stay, and language certificates where applicable. Good English language skills are essential for active participation in academic activities, as German and English are the working languages at IEG. Fellows are required to reside in Mainz for the entire duration of the fellowship, actively participate in the IEG research community, attend weekly colloquia, and present their work at least once.
How to apply
Applications are typically invited twice a year, usually in December and June. The application deadlines are February 15 for a fellowship starting in September, and August 15 for a fellowship starting in March of the following year. Interested candidates should prepare and submit all required documents via the official application process outlined on the IEG website.
Notes
The fellowship is specifically for dissertation writing and completion; it does not cover preliminary research, language courses, or the revision of finished dissertations into books. Fellows are prohibited from engaging in paid employment or receiving concurrent financial support during the fellowship term. Qualified women are particularly encouraged to apply. Upon completion, fellows are expected to provide the Institute’s library with a copy of any academic publications that benefited from the IEG research fellowship.
