Since 2023, the DFK Paris has been awarding full-time, three-year contracts to doctoral candidates. The funding is intended to facilitate the completion on-site in Paris of doctoral dissertations that demonstrate a particularly forward-looking character. The institute seeks thereby to support the shaping and networking of German and French art historians in a lasting way.

The funding of doctoral candidates complies with the standard French contracts for funding a doctoral project (contrats doctoraux). The funding term is three years. An extension for another year is possible. The aim of the funding is the successful realization of the candidate’s doctoral dissertation.

Support is granted to projects engaging issues in the field of art history that prove innovative at the levels of content and methodology, advancing the discipline’s perspectives and undertaking more than just to address a gap in previous research. A connection to the DFK’s current research priorities is preferred.

The selected doctoral candidates will make use of the institute’s excellent working conditions and international contacts, while also themselves supporting – within the limited period of the contract – the infrastructure necessary for research.

Applications are open to junior scholars who are at the beginning stages of their doctoral dissertation and are enrolled in a Ph.D. program at a German or French university. The doctoral advisor in a letter of recommendation must expressly support the applicant’s stay at the DFK Paris. In addition to outstanding academic achievements and qualifications, the applicant must have either very good knowledge of German with at least good knowledge of French or very good knowledge of French with at least good knowledge of German. Good knowledge of the English language is also desirable.

The research funding conforms to the rates for funding a doctoral project that are standard in France. In the first year of funding, the award amounts to €2,300 gross per month; this increases by €100 gross in subsequent years. The funding agreement provides the usual social security benefits in France (pension contributions, health insurance, unemployment insurance, etc.). Payment of taxes, if any, takes place in Germany.

The call for applications will usually take place in the spring.