The Graduate School, Arts offers doctoral education for the research disciplines of the Faculty of Arts within all areas of the humanities, theology and education studies.
Research and research training cover both classical humanities disciplines such as classical archaeology and art history as well as new, interdisciplinary research areas such as cognition, IT and international area studies. The Graduate School has extensive research collaboration with public institutions and the private sector.
This site provides you with information about the graduate school and its programmes and courses, current open calls, the PhD degree structure, application procedures requirements, financing, conditions of employment, contacts etc. Please find more information in the menu on the left.
As of October 2025, we expect that applicants for our open calls will be required to upload an additional mandatory document in their PhD application. The application must include a formal letter of commitment from the prospective principal supervisor. The principal supervisor must be an active, recognised researcher within the relevant research area, and must be employed at the Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University as a professor or associate professor.
The letter of commitment (max one page) must be written on Aarhus University's official letterhead. Detailed requirements for the letter will be available in the application guide before the call is announced in September 2025
Aarhus University is committed to protecting the rights of PhD students and ensuring optimal conditions throughout the entire PhD study. For Aarhus University, it is crucial that PhD students have the freedom to conduct research without fear of economic sanctions or reprisals. This is essential for PhD students to develop their academic independence and skills and contribute to new knowledge in their research area, as described in the basic principles of PhD education at Aarhus University.
The Graduate School, Arts does therefore not accept third-party contracts (for example in connection to international scholarships) that limit the freedom or mobility of PhD students during and after the PhD study at the graduate school. PhD students who are not employed by Aarhus University are required to sign a document stating that no such third-party contracts exist.
Erroneous or misleading information may result in rejection of an application for a PhD study or termination of the PhD study.
The Graduate School adheres to the national Danish guidelines for international research and innovation.
Please find more information her:
The electronic application form varies depending on the funding and PhD degree programme (4+4 or 5+3 scheme).
Applying for:
If you wish to apply for a PhD degree programme at the Graduate School, Arts, please see our application guide before you apply. Find more information about the eight PhD programmes at the Graduate School here.
The Graduate School, Arts offers two degree programmes:
(4-year integrated Master with SU-PhD scholarship)
(PhD fellowship)
For further information on our PhD degree programmes please see this page.
If you wish to enroll in the PhD degree programme at the Graduate School, Arts, you should pay attention to the following:
Your previous education decides which type of scholarship you can apply for:
Carlsbergfondet giver en særlig håndsrækning med finansiering af 45 ’Carlsberg Foundation Humanities PhD Fellowships’. 15 af dem bliver ved Faculty of Arts.
Læs mere på denne side.
Staff members, including PhD students, employed in a Ukrainian Higher Education Institution (HEI) who have fled Ukraine due to the Russian aggression are eligible to apply for an Erasmus+ grant of up to 60 days’ duration at Aarhus University.
For further information please see this page.
If you would like to apply for a Novo-Mads-Øvlisen scholarship/fellowship please see:
Making an agreement with a University College is a prerequisite for submitting an application for prequalification at the Danish School of Education (DPU). Please note that DPU’s internal deadline for applications for prequalification is typically two months prior to the official deadline in the PhD Council, and the deadline of the University College is typically in January/February.
If you would like to apply for a PhD fellowship from the PhD Council for Educational Research please see: https://phdraadetforuddannelsesforskning.dk/
If you would like to apply for a New Carlsberg Foundation scholarship/fellowship please see:
