Co-Funding for Research Stays - Incoming Doctoral Researchers

The program provides doctoral researchers from foreign universities/research institutes with the opportunity to conduct a research stay at the Cluster of Excellence “The Politics of Inequality” of 2 to 5 months’ time. They benefit from its vibrant academic community and participate in its numerous activities such as different colloquia, training series on methods and early career development, and round table discussions. Incoming doctoral researchers are hosted by one of the Cluster’s PIs and integrated in the respective working group. They are provided with a workspace at the University of Konstanz and granted access to its IT and library services. The Welcome Centre of the University of Konstanz supports incoming doctoral researchers in the organizational aspects of their stay in Konstanz.

Incoming doctoral researchers may enroll as a visiting student at the University of Konstanz, if they would like to. Application documents are to be submitted to the Welcome Centre. They may then participate in the courses offered within the Inequality Specialization of the Graduate School of the Social and Behavioural Sciences.

The purpose of the program is to foster international academic exchange, especially among the Cluster and its network of foreign partner institutions.

Available funding

Funding is available to cover for travel and accommodation expenses related to the applicant’s stay at the Cluster. Funding may be granted up to a maximum amount of 3.000 EUR per incoming doctoral researcher depending on the duration of the stay and the costs incurred.

Please note that the Cluster does not offer employment contracts for research stays, incoming doctoral researchers need to use own funding for their positions.

When applying for the program, incoming doctoral researchers need one of the Cluster’s PIs who has agreed to act as host during the research stay and to integrate the applicant in his/her working group.

Applicants should be aware of the semester dates of the University of Konstanz. The winter term starts in October and lasts until March with lectures ending mid-February. The summer term starts in April and lasts until September with lectures ending at the end of July.

Eligibility criteria

Doctoral researchers from foreign universities/research institutes, who are at least in their second year of doctoral studies when conducting their research stay at the Cluster.

Application Process and Deadline

Applicants are requested to provide the following documents.

  • Letter of motivation explaining the project the applicant wants to work on during the research stay and detailing how the project and the applicant as well as the Cluster would benefit from the applicant’s research stay at the Cluster and from the resulting collaboration.
  • Confirmation letter of a Cluster PI that he*she supports the application and will integrate the applicant in his*her working group
  • Updated CV
  • Confirmation of applicant’s supervisor that she*he supports the research stay
  • Confirmation of financial means to finance the research stay
  • Calculation of the expected costs of the research stay (travel and accommodation costs)

Please submit your application as one PDF file via via e-mail.

Selection Procedure

The Selection Committee reviews applications once a year. The deadline for applications for conducting a research stay at the Cluster during the academic year 2022/23 is 31 May 2023.

Additional information

Questions concerning the call may be directed to the Cluster’s Managing Office via e- mail: application.inequality@uni-konstanz.de.

The University of Konstanz is committed to ensuring an environment that provides equal opportunities and promotes diversity as well as a good balance between university and family life. As an equal opportunity employer, we strive to increase the number of women working in the field advertised (https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/equalopportunities/equal- opportunity/). Persons with disabilities are explicitly encouraged to apply. They will be given preference if appropriately qualified (contact + 49 7531 88–4016).

The University of Konstanz is one of eleven Universities of Excellence in Germany. Since 2007 it has been successful in the German Excellence Initiative and its follow-up program, the Excellence Strategy. The Cluster “The Politics of Inequality” includes researchers from political science, sociology, economics, linguistics, psychology, law, and education studies. They study how people perceive these inequalities, how they lead to collective mobilization, and how political actors respond to them.

This Call is Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG - German Research Foundation) under the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments

EXC-2035/1 – 390681379 and is in accordance with the Bylaws for the Cluster of Excellence “The Politics of Inequality: Perceptions, Participation and Policies” of the University of Konstanz.