PhD Programme
The Research Training Group (RTG) operates under the supervision of professors at three higher education institutions in Cologne. These are the University of Cologne, the TH Köln, University of Technology, Arts, Sciences and the Academy for Media Arts Cologne. The synergies resulting from this alliance benefit the supervision of the PhD candidates in the RTG, and serve to align the disciplinarity of the participating doctoral fields with the transdisciplinary approach and its critical epistemological and ontological objectives which constitute the basis of the RTG’s research programme.
Although the RTG’s members are assigned to a single specific doctoral field, they retain access to the other members of the RTG at all times for the purposes of consultation and discussion. Furthermore, the RTG’s members have access to all disciplinary colloquia. The dialogical and transcultural orientation of the research programme is reflected in its supervisory format, with the RTG’s members benefiting from the expertise of adjacent fields. This approach serves to legitimise their research as it intersects multiple fields of enquiry.
The fields contributing to the PhD programme include German Philology, Ethnology, Comparative Studies, Art History, Romance Philology, Regional Studies China, Regional Studies Latin America, Sinology/Chinese Studies, Theatre and Media Studies.
↗ https://artes.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/promotion
Postdoc Programme
The Graduate Research Group (GRG) allows for selected PhD graduates to further enhance their qualifications by researching a topic at depth within the parameters of the RTG’s research programme. Postdoctoral career planning is overseen by the Albertus Magnus Center (AMC) at the University of Cologne, which offers a range of services tailored to the specific needs of individual target groups. These services include individual consultation, workshops, networking events (such as the “Advanced Talents Day”), self-assessment measures and coaching.
The funded postdoc position plays an important role within the RTG. Its purpose is to maintain a dialogue between the participating disciplines, cultures and higher education formats and to initiate topical and methodological overlaps. The holder of this position plays a key role in ensuring the open and explorative methodological character the RTG strives to achieve. They contribute to shaping a theory and methodology of connecting and excluding.
↗ https://phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/fakultaet/habilitation
Research Master’s Programme
The Research Master’s Programme is open to highly ambitious young academics who already have a strong research focus in their master’s studies and who are subsequently looking to embark on a PhD. This programme of study is aligned with the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities programme at the University of Cologne. Participating students take their degree in one of the master’s programmes in the Department of Philosophy are receive an outstanding education in their chosen field.
In order to ensure students’ smooth transition from the master’s to the PhD programme, the Research Master’s Programme supports students in formulating their own complex, independent research problems for a potential future dissertation project on a subject they can research at depth within the RTG. The RTG’s colloquium also supplements the regular course offerings of the master’s programme. Master’s students are also free to participate in the RTG’s events and projects. This provides students with an insight into the research programme of the RTG at an early stage. Students are supervised by the participating professors.
↗ https://artes.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/master/research-master