At Paderborn University and generally at all universities, you can be employed as a research assistant (WHK) or research associate (WiMi) with a Master's/Magister/Diplom degree. The following information applies to the general conditions for both types of employment:

...as a graduate assistant:

• max. 3 years
• max. 19 hours per week
• current: 15 €/hour gross
• Prerequisite: completion of the Master's programme
• after completion of the doctorate, employment as a WHK is no longer possible

...as a research assistant:

• Prerequisite: completion of Master's degree (or comparable degree)
• Salaried employment according to TVL
• usually limited to a maximum of 6 years
• for the maximum fixed-term employment period of further qualification positions, see the WissZeitVG (website only available in German).

Job offers at Paderborn University can be found in the job portal of Paderborn University (website only available in German). Here you will find calls for proposals for positions at institutes as well as at central facilities of the university.

It is also possible to pursue a doctoral project while working. Accordingly, you can work in a professional field of your choice and do your doctorate while doing so.

• e.g. in a previously learned training occupation
• in the form of a freelance teaching position in your own subject area
• in the form of employment at a school
• At this point we refer to internal and external job portals:
  • Career Service UPB
  • ZEIT ONLINE job market (website only available in German)
  • academics (website only available in German)
  • WissenschaftsKARRIERE (website only available in German)
  • Network Science Management (website only available in German)

• Doctoral scholarships of the UPB (Information on the graduate scholarship (Award Guidelines) of the Paderborn University can be found on this page).
• Doctoral Scholarship in Gender Research of the UPB (Information on the Gender Scholarship (Award Guidelines) of the Paderborn University can be found on this page).
• At this point you will find further information on the Commission for Research and Young Academics.

Cultural Studies Scholarships:

• Study Foundation of the German People
• Konrad Adenauer Foundation
• Heinrich Böll Foundation
• Hans Böckler Foundation
• Rosa Luxemburg Foundation
• Foundation of the German Economy (only available in German)
• Friedrich Ebert Foundation (only available in German)
• Hanns Seidel Foundation

Subject-specific doctoral scholarships:

• Funding area music education
  • Gisela and Peter W. Schatt Foundation (website only available in German)
• Funding area History of Knowledge, Prehistory and Early History, Art History, Historical Islamic Studies, Historical Sciences
  • Gerda Henkel Foundation (website only available in German)

Important:

• Some scholarships are subject-related.
• When receiving a scholarship, social insurance must be paid by the scholarship recipient him/herself if a combination with employment is not possible.

• As a rule, employment of max. 9.5/10 hours/week may be pursued on the side.
• Important: Please inform yourself at the respective scholarship provider and in the respective scholarship guidelines.

In principle, it is possible to receive a doctoral scholarship with simultaneous employment, depending on the regulations of the respective scholarship provider (scholarship regulations). For the scholarship of the Research Commission at Paderborn University, the following also applies: Gainful employment averaging 9.5 hours per week is permissible if it is pursued outside of the university.

The Commission for Research and Young Academics (FK) awards graduation scholarships annually. The award guidelines define the application requirements.

Once a year, the Equal Opportunities Office of Paderborn University invites applications for start-up funding for female doctoral candidates, which provides one-time funding in the form of employment as a research assistant (at 100 percent for 1 year). Further information on application modalities, etc. can be found on the Equal Opportunities pages.

The Faculty of Cultural Studies receives an annual research reserve, which is used in particular to provide financial support for research projects (small projects, start-up aid) and travel expenses for staff, as well as to fund scholarships.

Further information on the allocation guidelines can be found on the pages of the research reserve.

The Graduate Centre prepares several programme lines for funding advice. In this context, on the one hand, doctoral funding programmes of organisations for the gifted are presented and, on the other hand, advice on how to obtain funding is given in subject-specific events.

Subject-specific funding advice is provided by professors of the respective subjects. They provide an overview of how to apply for funding such as individual scholarships and third-party funding in the context of individual and cooperative projects.

We have compiled information for you on funding opportunities for stays abroad.

Paderborn University researchers can receive financial support from the University's new Open Access Publication Fund for the publication of research results in OA journals, articles in OA anthologies and OA monographs. The open access publication of a doctoral dissertation with a specialist publisher is also eligible for funding, provided that no other means of publication are available. The prerequisite for applying for funding from the Open Access Publication Fund is that the submission of the manuscript takes place at the time of the activity at Paderborn University and that the researcher acts as 'corresponding author' or 'submitting author' vis-à-vis the publisher. Further information, including information on funding contributions and applications, can be found on the website of the University Library (only available in German).