Funding opportunities

With a Master's/Magister/Diplom degree, you can be employed as a graduate assistant (WHK) or as a research assistant (WiMi) at the University of Paderborn or at any other university. Here are the general conditions for both types of employment:

…as a Graduate Assistant:

• maximum of 3 years
• maximum of 19 hours per week
• currently: 15€ gross wage per hour
• requirement: completion of a master’s degree (or equivalent)
• after the completion of your PhD, an employment as a graduate assistant is no longer possible

…as an Research Assistant:

• requirement: completion of a master’s degree (or equivalent)
• pay-scale employment according to the wage agreement for the public service of the federal states of Germany (TVL)
• usually limited to a maximum of 6 years
• for the maximum time of employment during further scientific/academic qualification see the German law on fixed-term contracts in academia (WissZeitVG) (website only available in German).

Job opportunities at Paderborn University can be found through the job portal of Paderborn University (website only available in German).

Pursuing a doctoral project is also possible while working outside of an academic context/university. Therefore, you can work in any occupational field of your choice and still complete your doctorate concurrently.

• e.g. in a previously trained profession
• in the form of a freelance teaching position within your academic field (e.g. Lehrauftrag)
• in the form of a teaching employment at a school
• Internal and external job portals:
  • Paderborn University Career Service
  • Zeit online job market (website only available in German)
  • academics (website only available in German)
  • WissenschaftsKARRIERE (website only available in German)
  • Netzwerk Wissenschaftsmanagement (website only available in German)

• Paderborn University PhD scholarships (find further information in the PhD scholarship guidelines)
• Paderborn University Gender Studies PhD scholarship (find further information in the PhD scholarship guidelines)
• Further information on the Committee for Research and Junior Academics

Begabtenförderungswerke in the field of cultural studies:

• Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (German Academic Scholarship Foundation)
• Konrad Adenauer Foundation
• Heinrich Böll Stiftung
• Hans Böckler Foundation
• Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung
• Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft (only available in German)
• Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (only available in German)
• Hanns Seidel Foundation

Further information on the contact persons for the Begabtenförderungswerke at Paderborn University and on PhD funding in general

Important:

• Some scholarships are subject-specific/specific to a certain academic field
• When receiving a scholarship, social insurance must be paid by the scholarship recipient themselves if the combination with employment is not possible.

• generally, a concurrent employment with a maximum of 9.5 hours per week is allowed
• important: Always check with the respective scholarship provider and the respective scholarship guidelines!

Generally, it is possible to receive a PhD scholarship simultaneously to an employment. This, however, depends on the regulations of the respective scholarship provider (resp. scholarship regulations). For the scholarship of the Paderborn University Committee for Research and Junior Academics, the following also applies: employment averaging 9.5 hours per week (per annum) is permitted if carried out outside of the university.  

The Committee for Research and Junior Academics (FK) annually awards doctoral degree completion grants. The guidelines define the application requirements.

The Office for Equal Opportunities of Paderborn University annually grants initial funding for female doctoral candidates in the form of a one-time employment as a research assistant (100 percent for 1 year). Find further information about the application conditions etc.

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities receives an annual Research Fund (Forschungsreserve), which is used in particular to provide financial support for research projects (small projects, starting aid) and travel expenses of scientific staff members, as well as to promote scholarships.

Further information

The Postgraduate and Doctoral Student Support is preparing several events and workshops for funding consultation and advice. In this context, both doctoral funding programs via funding organizations are presented and advice on how funding can be obtained is given in events and workshops regarding specific subjects/academic fields.

The subject-specific funding consultation is given by professors of the respective subjects. They provide an overview of how to obtain funding, such as individual scholarships and third-party funding for individual and cooperative projects.

In order to get an idea of these consultations, you can have a look at past consultation offers.

Information on funding opportunities for stays abroad during your doctorate.