Doctoral Programme in History and Civilization, European University Institute, Florence

Doctoral Programme in History and Civilization, European University Institute, Florence

Institution
European University Institute
Location(City)
Florence
Country
Italy
Deadline
31.01.2020
By
Corinna Unger

The Department of History and Civilization encourages our Ph.D. researchers to think beyond boundaries, offering them exceptional opportunities to study global connections within early modern and modern European history. Each of our researchers works closely with both a supervisor and a second reader in the department. The careful and expert supervision that we provide gives researchers the necessary support for their research, as well as confidence to work independently, to shape their research, and to develop their careers. Our Department encourages a culture of conversation among researchers and faculty. Professors and researchers work together to develop ideas and each year, we invite experts from around the world in numerous fields to visit our department to discuss their research. Their presence offers our researchers remarkable possibilities to interact with a range of experts in their different fields. It encourages Ph.D. researchers both to increase their understanding of their own topics as well as to join scholarly networks, as they learn to develop and discuss their work.

To qualify for a national PhD grant , you must meet the specific requirements set by the national grant authorities. These may include conditions with regard to your nationality, residence, degree and its time of award.

The application for admission to the EUI doctoral programme is automatically an application for a national grant, with the following exceptions: Greece, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom. If you apply for a grant from one of these countries, your application to the EUI can ONLY be accepted if you separately file with the grant authority an application or a specific set of documents by the deadline specified by the relevant grant authority.

Research proposal

Applicants are selected for interviews on the basis of their academic record and their research proposal. Your research proposal shows that you are ready to write a PhD dissertation that can be supervised at the EUI. The proposal must be written in English or French and must be no longer than 2500 words (including footnotes, references and bibliography). Longer proposals may be excluded from further consideration.

The proposal should outline the project that you wish to pursue in your PhD dissertation. It should demonstrate command of the state of the art in the field (with references to the literature) and of research methodology within the discipline, formulate a research question and include a short bibliography. Where appropriate it should also include the theory or hypotheses that will be examined or a description of the empirical content and sources of the research project.

The policy of the EUI is not to offer individual guidance and advice on dissertation proposals. You should not contact potential supervisors and ask them to support your application or to provide you with advice. You can instead read the information on research themes supervised by the department and by individual professors. In the application form and in your research proposal you can indicate one or more professors who you think could supervise your dissertation.

Please also consider the following points when framing your research proposal for a PhD in History and Civilization:

The Department focuses primarily on the History of Europe from XIV century to the present, and will not therefore consider proposals on the Classical World or the Early Medieval Period.

We particularly welcome projects on comparative history and transnational history, as well as global history (namely Europe and the World). This should be taken into account by prospective students when formulating a research proposal. Though not refused categorically, projects strictly dealing with national histories do not fit with our priorities.

You should identify a research question that you aim to explore and present your argument with clarity, while also attempting to demonstrate the feasibility of the project. Please remember that ours is a four-year programme and you will need to limit your subject, explain its rationale and clearly focus your research and writing.

The title of your proposal should be well-defined and fully express its content. It is equally important to produce a good abstract, which will be included in the summary of your application file. Your abstract will be read first and faculty members will often decide on that basis whether to read your full application more carefully.

You are expected to elaborate on the approaches, methodologies and tools that you are planning to adopt and explore. Besides giving an overview of the relevant bibliography for your topic and underlining why the project is innovative vis-à-vis the existing literature, you also are advised to briefly write about the nature and accessibility of the primary sources you will need.

We also encourage you to produce a brief statement detailing your particular historical interests, and the ways you think the EUI’s Department of History and Civilization—both individually and communally—is suited to support you in working towards your research goals.

The overall length of your proposal must not exceed 2500 words (including footnotes, bibliography and references). Longer proposals may be excluded from further consideration.

Please also note that you will be required to write a Short Abstract of your research proposal (max 1000 characters) directly on the online application form.

Required documents

Before starting your online submission, prepare the required documents:

- one or two page CV
- research proposal of 2500 words (see above)
- degree transcript(s) issued by your university listing the exams/courses taken at university, grades/marks awarded and (if applicable) the final degree result. You should also attach your degree transcript(s) from previous degree(s). Do not attach or send supplementary documents that are not strictly requested, such as traineeships diplomas etc.
- International English language certificate (see above)
- Copy of an identity document (such as passport or ID card) - JPG format. If you hold dual nationality, you should attach the copy of a second passport/ID card proving your second nationality. The copy of your ID document(s) will be only processed by the EUI Administration and the relevant grant authority(ies), it will not be distributed to the EUI Departmental selection committee.

Note that attachments must be PDF using standard international fonts (max size 1MB). Do NOT use macros, special characters, password-protected attachments, electronic signatures. The EUI reserves the right to verify the authenticity of the certificates you provide with the competent issuing authorities.

How to apply

You must submit your application and all required documents via the interactive online application form which will be available on 1 November.

The deadline for completing the application form and for the submission of references and all required documents is: 31 January. Applications may be submitted until midnight (24:00 - CET) on that day.

There are two distinct phases in the application process:

1. Register as early as possible

You are encouraged to register, inserting your personal and referee details as soon as possible after the application form will be activated on 1 November. This is important to allow sufficient time for your referees to submit the reference letters before the deadline. Reference letters will not be accepted after the deadline 31 January (24:00 - CET).

2. Complete and submit your application by the deadline 31 January (24:00 - CET)

Once you have registered you may continue to work on your application (including required documents) until the deadline. Submit the application only when you have filled in all the information correctly and have successfully uploaded the final version of the required documents. References can be submitted at any time up until the deadline, before or after you submit your application.

By registering/submitting an application, you give your consent for processing the data as specified in the Privacy Statement for Application and Selection Procedures for EUI Post-Graduate Programmes and in accordance with the EUI’s Data Protection Policy outlined in the Decision of the President No. 10 of 18 February 2019 (EUI Data Protection Policy)