Thorsten Wübbena
Head of Digital Historical Research Unit | DH Lab
IEG Fellowship Programme
Fellowships in Digital Humanities
Once a year, usually in February, the IEG announces the call for application for doctoral students and postdocs in the field of digital humanities. The application deadline is April 15 for a stay beginning in September.
The Fellowship
The Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG) in Mainz is offering an eight-month fellowship for doctoral students or a six-month fellowship for postdocs from Germany and abroad in the field of digital humanities.
The funding enables you to design or continue a research project in which you use digital humanities methods to pursue a question related to research into the historical foundations of Europe.
There is particular interest in projects that tie in with ongoing research at the IEG, including current research projects in the field of Digitality in Historical Research | DH Lab. At the IEG, you will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and collaborate with researchers in this field.
Historians working in the humanities who use digital methods in their research are invited to apply for the fellowship.
We particularly welcome applications from women.
What we offer
- A grant and stay of 6-8 months
- A monthly stipend of €1,350 for doctoral students and €1,800 for postdocs.
- A possible family allowance that can be applied for (250 Euro for partner, 400 Euro first child, 100 Euro every other child). Please contact the fellowship office for any questions regarding your family situation
- The earliest possible start date for the fellowship is September.
- An affordable room in our dormitory with shared kitchen and bathroom. Option for a partner room.
- Work space in our open-plan offices or the library
- Accompanying mentoring by the institute’s scientific staff
- involvement in the IEG’s research group “Digitality in Historical Research” and the “DH Lab” (including exchange on various digital methods, weekly participation in the Jour Fixe, presentation and discussion of one’s own work with a digital focus)
Requirements
Please also read our FAQ.
The working languages at the IEG are German and English. Good English skills are important for participating in the discussions at the institute.
Fellows must live and work at the IEG in Mainz for the entire duration of the fellowship period. Fellows with partners may also live together in the institute’s dormitory, depending on the availability of double rooms. Special arrangements, subject to negotiation, are possible for fellows with children. For family-friendly arrangements, please contact the fellowship office.
Fellows are expected to be active members of the IEG’s research community and to participate in the weekly colloquia and scholarly activities. Attendance at the remaining academic events, such as workshops or conferences, is approved of but not mandatory. Moreover, they will present their work in progress at least once during their stay.
By accepting the fellowship, fellows undertake to provide the Institute’s library with a copy of their academic publications made possible by the IEG research scholarship without being asked to do so.
IEG fellowships are financed by federal and state funds. The research fellowships are intended solely for the purpose of working on the research project applied for at the IEG. During the funding period, therefore, gainful employment or other financial support is not permitted.
- Field of study: History, religious history, historical theology, or another historically oriented discipline; minimum degree requirement: MA, state examination, diploma, ecclesiastical examination.
- Duration of work: At the application deadline, you should have worked on your dissertation for no more than three years; justified exceptions are possible.
- Funding of completion: At the time of application, your dissertation should be conceptually mature and the source research should be sufficiently advanced that a 8 month research stay at the IEG in Mainz would significantly advance the completion of your dissertation.
- Doctoral supervision: As a non-university research institution, the Institute does not conduct examinations or award academic degrees. Dissertations are completed under the responsibility of the respective supervisor at the home university.
- Completed dissertation: Your dissertation must be completed (submitted, accepted, and defended) by the application deadline. It is part of the application documents. Publication is not required.
- Degree obtained no more than three years ago: The doctoral degree should have been obtained no more than three years prior to the application. The date of completion of the last academic achievement required for the doctoral program (e.g., defense of the dissertation, oral final examination) applies. As a rule, this date is stated next to the date of issue on the doctoral certificate. The application deadline for the call for applications is considered the cut-off date for calculation.
- Research project: A research project on European history from the beginning of the modern era to contemporary history. We’re especially interested in projects with a comparative or cross-border approach, on European history, including its global connections, or on topics related to the history of religion and ideas. There are no specific thematic requirements.
Application
Applications must be submitted online via our application portal. To apply, please fill out the online application form linked in the call for applications.
Application documents PhD students: 1. CV and, if applicable, list of publications 2. Table of contents of the dissertation project 3. Project description of the dissertation project (max. 15,000 characters, excluding footnotes and spaces) 4. Detailed work and time schedule for the research stay at the IEG 5. Copies of university certificates 6. Language certificates, if applicable
Application documents Postdocs: 1. CV and list of publications 2. Table of contents/structure of the research project 3. project description of the research project (max. 15,000 characters, excluding footnotes and spaces) 4. Detailed work and time schedule for the research stay at the IEG 5. Copies of university certificates 6. full dissertation script 7. Language certificates, if applicable
You can submit your application in either English or German. We recommend choosing the language you are most proficient in.
References
For your application, you will need two references for your research project in German or English, which you are responsible for obtaining yourself. The first reference should be from your primary academic supervisor for your dissertation, and the second from an external referee (from another university or a related discipline). Both should be authorized to supervise doctoral theses at a university.
Please inform the reviewers of your application well in advance.
The reviewers should send the current reference in PDF format directly by email to application@ieg-mainz.de by the application deadline.
The references should contain information about the research question, methodology, results, and presentation of your research project and provide an assessment with regard to the current state of research on the topic. They should address the applicant’s academic qualifications as well as the exposé and the work and time schedule for the fellowship stay in Mainz.
Awarding
The selection process may take some time due to the thorough review. We kindly ask for your patience. The selection meeting will take place in June. We will inform you of the selection committee’s decision by email after the selection meeting. Please refrain from making inquiries in the meantime.
In the event of rejection, you are welcome to reapply if your project has developed significantly and differs substantially from the initial application.
FAQs
We have summarized important information and frequently asked questions in our FAQs.
Please direct research related questions to the head of the research group, Thorsten Wübbena: wuebbena@ieg-mainz.de.
General questions will be answered by the Fellowship Office: fellowship@ieg-mainz.de.
