BGHS

Profile

The Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology (BGHS) offers young researchers at the doctoral and postdoctoral level an innovative research environment that fosters creativity through interdisciplinary exchange. The Graduate School, supported within the framework of the Excellence Initiative, is a joint institution of the Faculty of Sociology and the History Department of the Faculty of History, Philosophy and Theology at Bielefeld University.

Diverse disciplines under one roof

Under the umbrella of the Graduate School, international doctoral programmes in sociology and history are offered. However we accept not only historians and sociologists, but explicitly welcome doctoral candidates from other fields whose research contains a promising sociological and/or historical focus. The Graduate School is founded on the bottom-up principle and places great value on the independent initiative of its doctoral candidates.

Career development and employment prospects

One of our explicit aims at the BGHS is to prepare our doctoral candidates for the academic or non-academic labour market in Germany and abroad. The Graduate School collaborates with foreign researchers, promotes the participation of our doctoral candidates in international conferences, integrates studies abroad into our doctoral programme and helps build key skills so that our doctoral candidates can position themselves well in the international scientific community. As preparation for work in a non-academic context, the Graduate School provides Career Service and programmes to enhance key qualifications.

Interdisciplinarity and internationality

At the Graduate School, intellectual and interdisciplinary exchange across national borders is promoted through a guest lecturers programme and through short-term visiting fellowships for foreign researchers. We also host an Annual Seminar in History and Sociology which draws international young researchers to Bielefeld each year.