General information

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.

Application

The electronic application form varies depending on the funding and PhD degree programme (4+4 or 5+3 scheme).

Applying for:

Enrolment and scholarship
- Open call
  Fully funded by the Faculty of Arts.
  Announced twice a year on this page.
  See the application deadline on this page.
- Specific call
  Fully funded by an external partner or co-funded by an external partner and the Faculty of Arts.
  Announced twice a year on this page.
  See the application deadline on this page.
Enrolment only
- Ad hoc application
  Full funding must be in place before applying for enrolment.
  No application deadline.
  Please contact the PhD administrator at the PhD programme you want to be affiliated in order to get a direct link to the application facility.
  For further information please see this page.

Application guide

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.

PhD degree programmes (4+4 and 5+3)

The Graduate School, Arts offers two degree programmes:

4+4 scheme

(4-year integrated Master with SU-PhD scholarship)

Admission requirements
- before completion of a 2-year Master’s degree (60-90 ECTS credits) or
- with a 1-year Master’s degree or
- with a 2-year Master’s degree that is only equivalent to one year of Master's study in Denmark.

5+3 scheme

(PhD fellowship)

Admission requirements
- with a 2-year Master’s degree equivalent to a Danish 2-year Master's degree.

For further information on our PhD degree programmes please see this page.

PhD scholarship/fellowship and enrolment

If you wish to enroll in the PhD degree programme at the Graduate School, Arts, you should pay attention to the following:

Open call
Fully funded PhD scholarships/fellowships from the Faculty of Arts.
You apply via a call for both enrolment and employment. This means that you can only apply for the PhD scholarships/fellowships when a call has been announced on our website. Please see the page Open and Specific calls.
You apply for both the grant (scholarship/fellowship) and enrolment at the Graduate School at the same time (one application form).
The topic for your PhD project has not been given. You apply with your own project. The project description uploaded to your application must explain the research project you propose to conduct as a PhD student.
Specific calls
Fully funded PhD scholarships/fellowships with full external funding or with partial external funding and co-funding form the Faculty of Arts.
You apply via a call for both enrolment and employment. This means that you can only apply for the PhD scholarships/fellowships when a call has been announced on our website. Please see the page Open and Specific calls.
You apply for both the grant (scholarship/fellowship) and enrolment at the Graduate School at the same time (one application form).
The main topic for your PhD project is stated in the specific call. The project description uploaded to your application must therefore explain the research project you propose to conduct within the larger project when you apply for a specific calls.
Ad hoc application
If you are already holding a PhD scholarship/fellowship from another partner, or if your PhD project has some other kind of funding, you only have to apply for enrolment at the Graduate School.
There is no deadline when you apply for enrolment with your own funding.
Please apply in good time before expected enrolment start. See the page Applying for enrolment with external funding.
You should expect the casework time to be at least one month.

Your previous education decides which type of scholarship you can apply for:

The 3-year PhD fellowships (5+3)
You will be enrolled in the 5+3 scheme after finishing a Bachelor's degree (180 ECTS) and a 2-year Master's degree (120 ECTS).
The 4-year PhD scholarships (4+4)
You will be enrolled in the 4+4 scheme after finishing a Bachelor's degree (180 ECTS) and 60-90 ECTS of a Master's degree programme.

Flere ph.d.-stipendier ved Faculty of Arts støttet af Carlsbergfondet

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.

Erasmus+ grants for PhD students affected by the war in Ukraine

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.

Application procedure for Novo-Mads-Øvlisen applicants

If you would like to apply for a Novo-Mads-Øvlisen scholarship/fellowship please see:

School of Communication and Culture

Application procedure for the PhD Council for Educational Research

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/

Application procedure for New Carlsberg Foundation applicants

If you would like to apply for a New Carlsberg Foundation scholarship/fellowship please see:

School of Communication and Culture