Opportunities for Visiting Scholars

Students and researchers at any level are welcome to visit the Center HWPS. While some of the results produced by the Center HWPS are open to everyone online, our extensive database and library of primary and secondary literature, archival materials, and our researchers themselves reside in Paderborn. An extended research stay at Paderborn University as a visiting scholar at the Center HWPS might be worthwhile for your research project.

If you are considering a research stay at the Center HWPS, there are external scholarship opportunities available that might provide you with the necessary financial aid. While anyone hoping to come to Paderborn should first look for support from their home institution and scholarship opportunities in their country of origin, there are a number of German programs that offer financial support for international students and researchers visiting German universities and research institutions. How these programs work depends on your country of origin and academic degree. Below is a general overview of the most important programs for international researchers within the Humanities planning to come to Germany.

Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD)

• The DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) is Germany’s largest international program supporting the exchange of students and researchers from and to Germany. To find out whether your stay in Paderborn can be funded by the DAAD, their homepage offers a comprehensive database of initiatives that you can browse, sorted by country and academic qualification. These are primarily aimed at researchers with a PhD, but some opportunities are available for students.
  https://www.daad.de/deutschland/stipendium/datenbank/en/21148-scholarship-database/

Erasmus-Program

• The Erasmus-Program is the best-known opportunity for exchange within the borders of Europe and among Erasmus-Partner countries. There is a wide variety of possible scholarships, which you should first discuss with your home university, as the sending institution must handle the application process. It is important to note that Erasmus+ offers not only scholarships for students who want to study abroad, but also possibilities for staff and university teachers to stay at a partner university.
• Erasmus-Internships are also worth considering. If you are interested in an Erasmus-Internship, please contact the Center HWPS beforehand. The sending institution must approve of the respective destination, and we will provide you with the material you need.
• If you are a student considering a stay at Paderborn University and the opportunity to visit all the events and courses at the Center HWPS, you can take a look at the important information provided by our International Office.
  Outgoing Students – Erasmus Partner Universities of Paderborn University, Department of Philosophy

Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung

• The Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung offers scholarships mainly to post-docs in the categories of “young researchers” – who obtained their Ph.D. no longer than 4 years ago – and “experienced researchers” – whose Ph.D. was awarded not longer than 11 years ago.
  https://www.studying-in-germany.org/phd/
• The Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung also provides a search tool for content specific opportunities and existing cooperation projects.
  https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/sponsorship.html

Heinrich Hertz-Stiftung

• The Heinrich Hertz-Stiftung is a smaller institution supporting those who want to temporarily conduct research in North Rhine-Westphalia. Scholarships of 12 months are available for research on any topic, independent of field. Note that all the information available online is in German, and applications must be written in German as well.
  http://www.heinrich-hertz-stiftung.de/de/foerderung/intention.html

Where possible, the Center HWPS will help in assisting you with your applications and with finding accommodations in Paderborn. Please contact us is you have any questions.

Further information for students planning to come to Paderborn University is available through the International Office.