Shaping Art History’s Future Doctoral program at the Institute of East Asian Art History
Students conducting research at the Institute of East Asian Art History (IKO) cover a variety of research topics and time periods related to Asian modernities, Buddhist and funerary art and architecture, calligraphy, painting, and artistic practice.
The IKO offers joint PhD degree programs with Università Ca’Foscari, Venice and the Sorbonne, Paris.
The Institute of East Asian Art History has a large cohort of doctoral students working on diverse research topics. Doctoral students are encouraged to attend lectures and seminars at the institute, and to further develop their language skills through Heidelberg University’s Language Center (Zentrales Sprachlabor). Doctoral students regularly take part in the colloquium meetings with their supervisor and colleagues to present and discuss their work, and they can get additional training to develop soft skills and succeed as academics through the Graduate Academy.
Applying for a PhD in East Asian Art History
Step-by-step instructions on how to apply for a PhD position at any institute that belongs to the Faculty of Philosophy can be found on their page.
Applicants should read the doctoral regulations of the Faculty of Philosophy before applying.
Doctoral students of the Faculty of Philosophy are expected to conclude their dissertation within 3 to 5 years.
Finding a supervisor
The first step when applying for the PhD, is to find a professor who supervise your doctoral research topic. More information on this process can be found on the Faculty of Philosophy's page.
At the Institute of East Asian Art History, Prof. Sarah E. Fraser is eligible to act as doctoral supervisor for projects in the field of East Asian Art History. To inquire on the possibility of conducting research under her guidance, please prepare a research proposal draft of 4 pages and submit this with your inquiry via e-mail.
Promising applicants will then be asked to submit a full proposal with approximately 20-30 pages with images and extensive bibliography. A full proposal should be structured as follows:
- Overview of the research question [1-2 pages]
- Project Description [2-6 pages]
- Literature review [4-5 pages]
- Methodology [2-3 pages]
- Overview of Chapters [3-4 pages]
- Research Plan and Timeline [2-3 pages]
- Bibliography [3 pages, Chicago Manual of Style format]
- Images [3 pages minimum, with captions]
Internal requirements of the Institute of East Asian Art History
To apply for a PhD at the Institute of East Asian Art History, internal requirements must be met in addition to the requirements established by the Faculty of Philosophy.
- Students must be able to provide proof of language proficiency for all languages required for the project, including Chinese or Japanese language.
- Students planning to write their dissertation in English, must provide an English language certificate. The expected level is IELTS 7.0 or equivalent.
- Students who intend to write their dissertation in German must pass the German language exam “Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang (DSH)” on level 2.
- Students must provide documents to show their academic expertise in the field of East Asian Art History. Students who have not studied East Asian Art History during their graduate studies, or who graduated from a program predominantly equivalent to East Asian Art History, such as Global Art History with a regional focus on Asia, will have to pass an oral qualification exam called “Kolloquium” before being accepted to the doctoral program. The minimum grade to be accepted is 2.0 (“good”) and the exam can only be taken once. Students may enrol as short-term students to prepare for the exam for up to two semesters after consulting with the professor and academic advisor at the Institute of East Asian Art History.
Doctoral agreement
Students who have found a supervisor must complete a doctoral agreement with the professor. The template is provided by the Faculty of Philosophy and should be filled out and submitted to the professor for approval.
Grants and Scholarships
Unfortunately, the Institute of East Asian Art History cannot offer scholarships for doctoral students. Students hoping to apply for external scholarships, such as CSC, will receive the required support from the institute, but are asked to inform the supervisor at least 4 weeks before the application deadline.
Students at the Institute of East Asian Art History are eligible to apply for two travel grant programs. The Heinz-Götze-Stiftung travel stipends allow our MA and PhD students to conduct fieldwork related to their research on Chinese art, while the Ishibashi Foundation accepts MA and PhD nominees from the Institute of East Asian Art History for a scholarship to conduct fieldwork in Japan for up to two years. Interested students should get in touch with the Assistant Professor for Japanese Art History to discuss a possible nomination.