Graduate School, Arts

Aarhus University Seal
 Forside For Applicants Open and Specific Calls

Vacant PhD positions

Calls for PhD scholarships (4+4) and PhD fellowships (5+3)

Announcement of calls

The calls will be announced on the web no later that one month before the application deadline. The application form will be available at the same time as the call. See the deadlines on this page.

Who can apply
All calls are open to both Danish and international applicants unless otherwise stated in the call.

Meetings for potential PhD students

Information for potential PhD students about the PhD degree programme and general student life.

  • PhD programme Learning and Education and PhD programme Didactics
    Wednesday 18 February 2026 at 13.00-14.30 (GMT+1)
    For further infirmation please see this page

    PowerPoint from the meeting from the meeting at DPU on 18 February 2026.

  • School of Culture and Society
    An information meeting for potential applicants is held 13.00-14.30; 17 February 2026 at Auditorium 1482-105 (Nobelauditoriet), Jens Chr. Skous Vej 4 , 8000 Aarhus C

    Join us in person or online via Zoom: https://aarhusuniversity.zoom.us/j/62601476487

    This meeting covers three PhD programmes:
    -     Anthropology, Global Studies and the Study of Religion
    -     History, Archeology and Classical Studies
    -     Theology, History of Ideas and Philosophy

    PowerPoint from the meeting at School of Culture and Society on 17 February 2026.

Calls and application forms

You can find the application form via the link for the application facility in each of the open and specific calls below.

- Open call

Apply with your own PhD project

  • The graduate schools own PhD scholarships (4+4)/fellowships (5+3).
  • When applying for the open call you apply for both enrolment and a PhD scholarships (4+4)/fellowships (5+3).
  • You are not allowed to apply for more than one PhD programme when you apply for the open call.

See the deadlines on this page: https://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/open-and-specific-calls/deadline

Open call, March 2026 (4+4/5+3)

- Specific calls (predefined PhD projects)

The topic for the PhD project is described in the call

  • When applying for a specific call you apply for both enrolment and PhD scholarship (4+4)/fellowship (5+3).
  • The application must be written in the language mentioned in the call you apply for (see the section "Application").
  • Although the topic has already been defined you must write a project description in which you explain the research you propose to conduct within the larger project.

Probabilistic Methods in NLP: Representation Learning or AI Alignment (4+4 or 5+3)

  • Application deadline:  1 April 2026 at 23.59 Danish time (CET/CEST) 
    Enrolment start: 1 September 2026

  • Call incl. link to the application facility:  English version 
    Application guide and forms

    Please note that the application deadline for this call has changed. The new deadline is 1 April 2026 as written above!

Differentiation of Early Childhood Institutions in Denmark (5+3)

  • Application deadline:  1 April 2026 at 23.59 Danish time (CET/CEST) 
    Enrolment start: 1 September 2026

  • Call incl. link to the application facility:  English version
    Application guide and forms

HEALENAE: Health and Environment in Africa and Europe

Four fully-funded 3-year PhD fellowships in anthropology will be announced on this page on 5 January 2026. 

Applicants can be of any nationality. However, in order to be eligible, candidates must not have resided more than 12 of the last 36 months in Denmark before the starting date (1 September 2026).

  

Dual PhD degree between Aarhus University and Makerere University

Dual PhD degree between Aarhus University and University of Nairobi

  

Application deadline:  1 March 2026 at 23.59 Danish time (CET/CEST)  - The application deadline has been postponed to 15 March 2026 at 23.59 Danish time (CET/CETS).

Enrolment start: 1 September 2026

Guide and forms: Application guide and forms

Locally Crafted Empires (LoCiS): Intersecting identities under Imperial rule in Western Asia as expressed in local portrait cultures (1st c. BCE-5th c. CE), (5+3)

  • Application deadline:  1 April 2026 at 23.59 Danish time (CET/CEST) 
    Enrolment start: 1 September 2026

  • Call incl. link to the application facility:  English version
    Application guide and forms

The Development of Democratic Trust Culture in the Grundtvigian Movement (5+3)

MCSA Doctoral Network DEMINE (5+3) (5+3)

  • Application deadline:  1 April 2026 at 23.59 Danish time (CET/CEST) 
    Enrolment start: 1 September 2026

  • Call incl. link to the application facility:  English version
    Application guide and forms

PAY4PLAY: Entrepreneurial Organizing in the Platform Society (5+3)

  • Application deadline:  1 April 2026 at 23.59 Danish time (CET/CEST) 
    Enrolment start: 1 September 2026
  • Call incl. link to the application facility:  English version
    Application guide and forms

- External calls

PhD fellowships/scholarship from a company, foundation, museum etc.

These calls are normally not funded by Aarhus University. 

There are no calls at the moment

Deadline, Reply and Enrolment start

Please see the deadlines on this page.

Important information before you apply

We strongly urge you to submit your application in good time before the deadline expires.

  • We do not grant extensions due to problems with your own computer or internet.
  • Read the application guide thoroughly before you fill out the application form!
  • We reserve the right to transfer your application between calls, PhD degree programmes (4+4 or 5+3) and PhD programmes if we find that your application has ended up in the wrong pile.
  • In case of significant errors in your application, you should send in a new application with the correct details before the application deadline. We will only assess the application received last.
  • You cannot apply or send additional documents to your application after the application deadline.
  • We reserve the rights to assess your application on the basis of the documents received before the application deadline.
  • Your application will be rejected if it is missing any of the mandatory attachments or if the project description is too long.

How to apply

Application form

It is important that you read the actual call, the application guide before you fill out the application form.

You can find the link for the application form in each call (both Open call and Specific calls). See the section in the call named "Application" in the relevant call.

Guideline for the application form

In the application guide you will find the answers to 99% of your questions. Please read the guide before you contact the PhD administration.

Mandatory attachments

If your application is missing one or more of the mandatory attachments your application will be rejected without assessment.

Please see this page for the full list of the mandatory attachments.  

Other important information

On the page How to apply you can find information on how to merge documents into one PDF file and what to do if you cannot send your application.

Applying with non-Danish qualifications

If you want to apply for a PhD scholarship/fellowship at Arts but you are not sure if you should apply for 4+4 or 5+3 you can get your non-Danish qualifications assessed by the Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education.

Please see this page for further information.

Difference: Having a Master's degree or still enrolled?

What is the difference between having a Master's degree and still being enrolled as a Master's student when applying for a PhD scholarship/fellowship?

 
This section contains information about:

  • Danish Master's degree or equivalent non-Danish Master's degree (still enrolled)
    • 60-90 ECTS credits after application deadline
    • 90 ECTS credits at the time of application
  • Master's degree (passed og will be passed before PhD enrolment)
    • Danish Master's degree (120 ECTS)
    • Non-Danish Master's degree (equivalent to a Danish Master's degree)
    • Non-Danish Master's degree (NOT equivalent to a Danish Master's degree)

Danish Master's degree or equivalent non-Danish Master's degree (still enrolled)

  • 60-90 ECTS credits after application deadline:
    You can apply for a 4+4 scholarship if you have already acquired 60 ECTS credits or will have acquired 60 to 90 ECTS credits in a Master’s degree examination after the deadline for application.
     
  • 90 ECTS credits at the time of application:
    If you have already earned 90 ECTS credits at the time of application you cannot apply for a 4+4 scholarship. You can apply for a 5+3 fellowship as long as the Master’s degree programme is completed no later than the day before the PhD enrolment starts.

 

Master's degree (passed)

  • Danish Master's degree
    If you have a Danish Master's degree (120 ECTS credits) you can apply for the 5+3 fellowship (NOT the 4+4 scholarship).
     
  • Non-Danish Master's degree - equivalent to a Danish Master's degree:
    If you have a Master's degree and it is equivalent to a Danish Master's degree you can apply for the 5+3 fellowship (NOT the 4+4 scholarship).
     
  • Non-Danish Master's degree - NOT equivalent to a Danish Master's degree:
    If you have a Master's degree and it is only equivalent one year at Master's level in Denmark you can apply for the 4+4 scholarship (NOT the 5+3 fellowship).

    If your Master's degree is not equivalent to a Danish 2-year Master's degree you will be contacted by the Study Centre Arts (if you get one of the PhD scholarships). They will find a new Master's degree programme at Arts for you and make a credit transfer for the courses previously completed as part of your degree programme at Master’s level. On this page you can see all the Master's degree programmes at Aarhus University (choose "Faculty" - "Arts" to see the programmes at Arts): https://kandidat.au.dk/en/ 

    This means that you will be both a Master’s degree student and a PhD student during part A of the PhD degree programme (4+4).

 


Not yet passed but will be passed before PhD enrolment

If you have not yet submitted your Master’s thesis for assessment or if you have other outstanding examinations you must upload a list of the courses you have passed and any examinations you are signed up (inkl. the deadline for your Master's thesis). Your Master’s degree programme must be completed no later than the day before the PhD enrolment starts.

Further information:

For further information about the PhD degree structure at Arts please see this page.

 

Assessment

Your application will go through an academic assessment. Please find information on the assessment process and the assessment criteria here:

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.

Do you need help?

Please see How to apply and Application guide.

Questions about the application facility

Please read all section of the Application guide before contacting the graduate school.

If you do not find the answers to your questions/problems with the application form in the Application guide please contact Bettina H. Acthon (acthon@au.dk) in good time before the application deadline.  

 

Application form

You can find the link for the application facility in each of the calls (open call and specific calls) under the section "Application".

In the application facility, you have to choose the correct application form depending on which call you want to apply for.

You may only send one application per call. 
The open call is one call. This means that you have to choose which PhD programme you want to apply for. You can only apply for one of them!

Timeout when applying

If you are uploading large PDF files you may encounter a timeout after 2 minutes because it takes too long to upload the application incl. the PDF files. Try reducing the files and upload again. It could also be your internet connection that is not fast enough and therefore times out after 2 minutes.

If you still have problems sending your application please see this page for help.

Errors when sending application

What to do?

Please see the page "How to apply" for further information on what to do if you cannot send your application. See the section "Errors when sending your application".

Receipt

Please notice that you will get a message on your screen when you have sent your application.

If you do not get the receipt on the screen your application has NOT been sent.

You will also receive an e-mail with a return receipt. Please contact us before the application deadline if you do not get a return receipt. After the deadline we cannot help you. See the page mentioned above.

Receipt for application

You should get a receipt on your screen right away if you have been successful in sending the application.

Later you will receive an email with a receipt. It is therefore very important that your email address is entered correct otherwise you will not get a receipt via email.

Due to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) you will not get a link for your application in the email. This means that you can no longer check your application and documents once you have pressed the Send button.

If you do not get a receipt within a few hours after sending your application please check your spam filter for the mail. 

Please do not reply to the receipt sent from the application facility because these mail will only be read once a week.

No application fee

There is no application fee when you apply for a PhD scholarship/fellowship via an open call or specific call.

Please refrain from contacting the head of the graduate school and more than one person in the PhD administration if you have any technical questions about your PhD application.

Revised 10.03.2026
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Bettina Holmbo Acthon