MWK-FELLOWS COFUND International Fellowships at University of Erfurt in Germany, 2018-2019

Applications are invited for MWK-FELLOWS COFUND International Fellowship Programme of the Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies for Experienced Researchers to study in Germany. Applicants of all nationalities are eligible to apply for this fellowship program.

The Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies (Max-Weber-Kolleg Erfurt) at the University of Erfurt is a highly ranked international research centre. It is unique in its organizational structure by combining the functions of an institute for advanced study and a graduate school.

In order to be eligible German skills are not obligatory, unless they are required for conducting the research project. However, it is recommendable to have the basic knowledge of everyday life and integration.

Course Level: Fellowships are available to pursue research.

Study Subject: The program offers fellowships to excellent experienced researchers who fulfil the European Unions mobility rule and who are conducting interdisciplinary research in cultural and social studies. The core disciplines at the Max Weber Kolleg are sociology, economics, religious studies, law, philosophy, history, and theology.

Scholarship Award: MWK-FELLOWS will be appointed on the basis of a regular employment contract with the University of Erfurt according to the German Civil Service Collective Agreement (TV-L, pay grade E 13). Alternatively, fellows have the opportunity to stay in a current employment contract with their home universities under the precondition of an accepted leave of absence. The University of Erfurt will compensate the home universities for their costs of replacement as well as the fellows for their additional costs up to a defined sum.

MWK-FELLOWS will receive an individual research and a training budget. They will be provided with a fully equipped workplace and have full access to the academic infrastructure (e.g. library loan, web space).

Number of Scholarships: University offers up to 10 fellowships each year.

Scholarship can be taken in Germany

Eligibility: The following criteria must be met in order for applicants to be eligible for the scholarship:

Research Experience: Applicants must have a doctoral degree or at least four years of full-time equivalent research experience at the application deadline. Full-time equivalent research experience is measured from the date when a researcher obtained the degree which would formally entitle him or her to embark on a doctorate, either in the country in which the degree was obtained or in Germany, irrespective of whether a doctorate is or was ever envisaged.

EU Mobility Rule: Applicants can be of any nationality, but at the time of application researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Germany for more than twelve months in the three years immediately prior to the application deadline. Compulsory national service and short stays such as holidays are not taken into account.

Nationality: Applicants of all nationalities are eligible to apply for this fellowship program.

College Admission Requirement

Entrance Requirements: Applicants must have a doctoral degree or at least four years of full-time equivalent research experience at the application deadline.

English Language Requirements: German skills are not obligatory unless they are required for conducting the research project. However, it is recommendable to have the basic knowledge of everyday life and integration.

How to Apply: The mode of application is online.

Applicants are strictly required to submit all necessary documents in German or English via the online application portal:

Completed online application form
Curriculum vitae including a list of publications (Please make sure that for all periods in which you were employed, received a stipend, fellowship or grant, or stayed abroad you mention the exact dates on which the period started and ended)
Copy of the degree certificate and transcript of the most recently completed university degree (Degree certificates which are not originally issued in German or English have to be translated. The translation has to be officially certified. You must submit both the scan of the original degree certificate and the scan of the officially certified translation)
Electronic copies of either three reviewed journal publications or one individually authored book, or a copy of the doctoral thesis
Motivation letter which explains the reasons for the application for the program, particularly why the proposed research project can be excellently supported at the Max-Weber-Kolleg
Names and contact details of three proposed independent external referees
Outline of the research proposal (up to 3000 words). The proposals must include a working program and an overview of the most important project-specific publications
Completed and signed Ethical Issue Form
Proof of research experience: in case applicants do not hold a PhD-degree, a minimum of 4 years full-time equivalent research experience at the call deadline has to be documented

Application Form

Application Deadline: Fellowship application deadline is October 1, 2017.

Scholarship Link

About the Author

Aptly described by the Independent newspaper as “a man of many parts”, Prof. Mahfouz A. Adedimeji is a Fulbright scholar, interdisciplinary researcher, university don, public affairs analyst, communication consultant, peace advocate, interfaith worker and public intellectual. He obtained his academic degrees from the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, where he was a Professor of English (Pragmatics and Applied Linguistics) before his appointment as Vice Chancellor as the pioneer Vice Chancellor of Ahman Patigi, Nigeria, in February 2021. He started his academic career in 2000 at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, shortly after which he joined the services of his alma mater, the University of Ilorin. A man of eclectic academic background, Prof. Adedimeji was educated in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Markaz Shabaabil Islam, Iwo, Osun State and Markaz Ta’aleemil Araby, Agege, Lagos. He obtained advanced training in Education, Political Science, Communication and Media, Research and Peace Studies at the National Universities Commission’s (NUC) Virtual Institute for Higher Education Pedagogy (VIHEP); the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) Virtual Institute for Higher Education in Africa (VIHEAF); Governors State University, University Park, Illinois, USA; University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana; and Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana, USA. Apart from serving as a cultural ambassador to the US under the auspices of the Institute of International Education (IIE), New York, Prof. Adedimeji had won or co-won the research and conference awards/grants of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) of the National Research Council, Nigeria, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU). He has written extensively for a wide range of newspapers and periodicals including “Unilorin Bulletin”, “Unilorin Watch”, “DeLight”, “National Pilot”, “Daily Independent”, “Daily Newswatch”, “New York Parrot” and “New Telegraph”, among others. A versatile academic and award-winning scholar, Prof. Adedimeji has attended academic conferences and undertaken research in several universities across Nigeria as well as in Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Malaysia, Sierra Leone, Australia, France and United States of America, among others. His hundreds of academic, Islamic and general/opinion articles have been published across outlets in Nigeria and beyond. He has also facilitated and participated in seminars and workshops both nationally and internationally. A former Head of the Directorate of Corporate Affairs of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Adedimeji was the Director of the Centre for Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ilorin, between 2013 and 2017. Apart from serving as Rapporteur-General to the Presidential Committee that organised the 2017 Federal Executive Council’s Retreat on Education in Nigeria, he has consulted for the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence and Corps (NSCDC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). For years, he was a Coordinator and Facilitator of the Executive Management Course of the Nigerian Army Education Corps (NAEC) and Editor-in-Chief of the “Journal of Peace, Security and Development”, University of Ilorin. He has also served as a resource person to agencies like the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), National Orientation Agency (NOA), National Institute for Security Studies as well as a number of Civil Society Organisations. He is a recipient of several awards and honours including those of the International Chartered World Learned Society, American Biographical Institute, National Congress of Nigerian Students (NACONS), Union of Campus Journalists, University of Ilorin, the Nigerian Army Education Corps, Postgraduate Students Association, UNILORIN, Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), UNILORIN, Students’ Union, UNILORIN, and National Association of Osun State Students (NAOSS), just to mention a few. A Fellow of bodies like the International Association of Research Scholars and Administrators (FIARSA), Institute of Corporate Administration, Nigeria, (FICAN), Society for Peace Studies and Practice (fspsp) and World Institute for Peace (FWIP) , Prof. Adedimeji is a former Member of the Governing Council of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) and until recently a Member of the Executive Council of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN). He is a member of the Editorial Boards of Research in Pragmatics, journal of the Pragmatics Association of Nigeria (PrAN) and ANUJAT, an international multidisciplinary journal of the All Nations University, Koforidua, Ghana. He has about 15 books to his credit as author, co-author, editor and co-editor.