Study Program

Qualification

The IRTG “Belongings” qualification program is based on three guiding principles intended to create a supportive environment that enables doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers to conduct high-quality research, develop skills for a successful academic or non-academic career, and establish strong international networks. First and foremost is the emphasis on international experience: IRTG participants are encouraged to live in the German-Israeli exchange and to draw as much as possible from it for their personal and professional development. Second, the program is designed to strike a productive balance between a curriculum that offers a wide range of opportunities for acquiring academic and professional skills, fostering interdisciplinary intellectual dialogue, and providing space for focused research, reflection, and writing. Third, since the research topic invites and requires close collaboration with museums, archives, and libraries preserving Jewish material culture, the program encourages partnerships between doctoral candidates and cultural institutions, thereby opening career paths beyond academia.

The program is divided into two phases: a mobility phase (years 1 and 2) and a writing phase (years 3 and 4). All participants share the conviction that the program’s primary goal is the completion of high-quality doctoral theses. Accordingly, special emphasis in the final two years will be placed on providing sufficient time for research and, above all, writing.

Throughout the program, doctoral candidates will participate in an IRTG-specific study program as well as mandatory and optional courses aimed at developing key academic and professional skills such as academic writing in English, research data management, and methods of historical analysis. They will also meet regularly in internal seminars to discuss the current state of their work. These formats will ensure excellent qualification outcomes within a supportive feedback culture.

Winter Semester 2024/25

11.-14.November 2024 – Introductory week
Hebrew language courses by Nomi Drachinsky
Reading Seminar by Dani Schrire and Tanja Zimmermann
Workshop on Research Data Management by Eva Olmert
Workshop on English Academic Writing by Melinda Johnston

Summer Semester 2025

Reading Seminar by Elisabeth Gallas and Enrico Lucca
Hebrew language courses by Nomi Drachinsky
Workshop on Oral History by Alex Weidle und Andrea Althaus
Proposal Workshop
Lecture and Seminar by and with Prof. Yohanan  Petrovsky-Shtern

Winter Semester 2025/26

22.-23. October 2025 Welcome Days
Reading Seminar by Anna Artwińska, Maren Möhring and Dani Schrire
Workshop on Oral History by Alex Weidle und Andrea Althaus
Workshop on English Academic Writing by SOCIOTRANS
Workshop on Research Data Management by Eva Olmert

Summer Semester 2026

6.-15 July  2026 Summer School Warsaw – POLIN
Proposal Workshop
Reading Seminar by Elisabeth Gallas and Enrico Lucca
Hebrew language courses by Nomi Drachinsky