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01. Oct 2027 for 4 years

15. Nov 2026

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International Relations, Political Science, Gender Studies, Social Economics, East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies, Korean Studies, Chinese Studies, Asian Studies, International Law, Public Law, Economic Sciences, Economics, Cultural Studies, Early Modern History, Modern History, Theatre Studies, Performing Arts, Cultural Anthropology, Social Anthropology, Business Administration

Every year, GEAS opens its programme to a new group of doctoral candidates. GEAS offers a structured three-year doctoral programme embedded within a four-year PhD process, with a regional focus on East Asia (China, Japan, Korea). Doctoral dissertations analyse modern or contemporary East Asia in the fields of politics, society, economy, culture, law or history.

Doctoral candidates are admitted for the fall semester, starting 1 October 2027.

Successful applicants hold an above-average master’s degree in either area studies (Chinese, Japanese or Korean Studies) or a discipline represented at the Graduate School with a focus on East Asia — Political Science, International Law, Public Law, History, Cultural Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Business and Economics, Performance Studies or Transregional Studies. Applicants are not expected to contact potential supervisors before applying, but are encouraged to review the profiles of GEAS members to check that their project fits a supervisor’s research profile. For full details, see Requirements.

The language of communication is English (C1). Successful candidates also have skills in Chinese, Japanese or Korean at B2 or higher. Applicants with native skills in English or one of the East Asian languages have another modern foreign language at B2 or higher.

Please note: dissertation topics in Linguistics, Literary Studies, Education, Film, Media and/or Communication Studies cannot be supervised.

Applications for the 2027 intake are open from 15 September 2026 to 15 November 2026. Please register and apply online through the Dahlem Research School Application Portal.