Deadline: 6 May 2011
Open to: Holders of master’s degree in the field of sociology, political science, social policy, economics, social and economic psychology and/or statistics
Scholarship: €1,103 per month for 3 years and travel grants for the visiting of conferences, summer schools etc.
SOCLIFE is an interdisciplinary Research Training Group at the University of Cologne which offers, beside other things, a structured doctoral program at the Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences. It is sponsored as a prestigious Research Training Group by the German Research Foundation. SOCLIFE focuses on quantitative cross-national comparisons in the social and economic sciences. Its research is characterized by simultaneously analyzing influences of individual factors and of country-level factors – such as social order of politics, economics, civil society or the history of countries – on people’s attitudes or behaviors.
Eligibility
SOCLIFE is looking for talented and ambitious team players who have a Master’s degree (or a national equivalent, e.g. University Diploma, German Magister, Swiss Linzenziat) in the field of sociology, political science, social policy, economics, social and economic psychology and/or statistics. Applicants should have a good proficiency in English, statistics and multivariate data analysis and a research interest, which is in line with the research promoted at SOCLIFE.
Scholarship
Selected students will be funded with a scholarship of €1,103 per month for 3 years and provided with travel grants for the visiting of conferences, summer schools etc. During their time at SOCLIFE, doctoral students work in fully equipped offices, have access to all institutions of the University of Cologne, enhance their knowledge through the SOCLIFE course program (all courses offered in English) and benefit from an internal mentoring program. The next funding period starts in October 2011, when SOCLIFE will offer 8 scholarships.
After successful completion of the program, students will receive a German Doctoral Degree (Dr. rer. pol.). SOCLIFE scholars will be working in a collaborative group. They are supposed to finish the PhD thesis within three years, to take courses specified by SOCLIFE, to use the opportunity of presenting scientific output at conferences and to publish scientific output within the 3 years of funding.
Application
Applicants are selected on the basis of their academic credentials and a research proposal, which has to be in line with the research focus of SOCLIFE. Therefore, the prospective applicants are advised to familiarize themselves with the SOCLIFE research program and its areas of research.
Within the online application procedure, you will have to attach all required documents listed below as a softcopy to your application. The maximum size for your documents is 32mb.
Your application requires the following documents as soft copies:
- Curriculum Vitae;
- Notarized copies of your academic degrees and your final school certificate (A-level, Abiturszeugnis or equivalent);
- A transcript of Records or a diploma supplement;
- A summary of your Master’s thesis (2-3 pages);
- Evidence of English language proficiency (e.g. Toefl, Ielts, Cambridge ESOL or a certificate by an English language lector or teacher, not required for native speakers);
- A research outline related to the overall topic of SOCLIFE and the research areas defined at the official website (2-3 pages).
Important notes: Make sure that you attach all documents listed above! Your application will not be considered if you do not attach all of them. Applications without research outlines will not be considered in the selection process.
Deadline for applications: May 06, 2011 (date of receipt)
SOCLIFE Application – Step 2
Ask two full professors of your choice to send the standard recommendation form in a sealed envelope by mail to:
University of Cologne
GK SOCLIFE – Hawal Shamon
Venloer Straße 151-153
50672 Köln
The deadline for the recommencdation forms(!) is May 11, 2011 (date of receipt).
