PhD Studentship at the Institute for German Studies, University of Birmingham

Application deadline: 15th December 2014


The Institute for German Studies (IGS) at the University of Birmingham is seeking to support a three-year PhD Studentship as part of the DAAD-funded project: ‘(Not) Made in Germany: Imagining Germany from the Outside’<http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/institute-german-studies/research/projects/from-the-outside.aspx>.

The successful candidate will complete a doctoral thesis on a topic related to the project and will provide administrative and research support to the project team. Opportunities to teach may become available in the second and final years of the doctoral studentship. The stipend attached to the studentship will be at the level determined by the UK Research Councils (currently a maintenance allowance of £14,921 per annum, plus UK/EU fees of £4,301 per annum). Supervision will be provided by the most appropriate member(s) of the project research team. The studentship will commence on 1st March 2015 and continue for three years.

The successful candidate will hold an MA or equivalent in a relevant discipline. Fluency in German would be an asset.

Prospective candidates should send a CV and research outline (no more than 2 sides of A4) indicating their fit with the project to: Dr Nicholas Martin ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>). The deadline for applications is 15th December 2014. Informal enquiries prior to full applications are welcome. For further information on the Institute for German Studies, see www.igs.bham.ac.uk<http://www.igs.bham.ac.uk>


‘(Not) Made in Germany: Imagining Germany from the Outside’

Through this project – which will begin in January 2015 – the IGS will continue to consolidate and expand its role as a primary hub for the support and inspiration of German Studies in the UK as well as its reputation as a leading global research centre. Funding has been awarded by the DAAD to establish a high-profile academic network: (Not) Made in Germany: Imagining Germany from the Outside. This interdisciplinary research network will focus on views of Germany from abroad. Specifically, it will seek to analyse how images of contemporary Germany are constructed “from the outside” in the areas of economics, politics, education, history, and culture. The network will bring staff and postgraduate students from German universities and the worldwide DAAD German Studies Centres to the IGS in a series of research visits focused around these five core strands.

Particular research questions to be addressed by the network include:

• To what extent do Germany’s self-perceptions of its political standing differ from the perceptions of Germany’s reputation, power and influence held by its European neighbours and the wider world?
• What roles do governments, the press, and museums outside Germany play in mediating and shaping processes of commemoration and of rethinking German history?
• What are the benefits of the ‘outsider’s’ perspective and what impact do these have on self-images and on policy-making decisions in Germany?

The project research assistant will write a PhD thesis on the topic of imagining Germany from the outside with a focus on one or more of the core research strands (economics, politics, education, history, and culture). S/he will be supervised by appropriate members of the core research group, depending on the precise focus of the research thesis, and s/he will also benefit from interaction and engagement with the international group of experts involved in the network.


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Josefin Graef
Doctoral Researcher and Project Assistant
Institute for German Studies
Department of Political Science and International Studies
Muirhead Tower
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
B15 2TT