Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies (FSGS) is a structured program for doctoral candidates, which has been funded by the Excellence Initiative of the German federal and state governments since 2007. The Graduate School belongs to Freie Universität Berlin. In 2012 Humboldt University has joined the program as an important co-operation partner.

The application process is open to all young scholars working on a research project in literary studies. Every year up to 20 scholarships are awarded for doctoral research studies, their preparation and post-doc-projects.

An excellent infrastructure is at the scholarshipholders' disposal. They are part of an international and interdisciplinary network of research and teaching and, using the multitude of structured support offerings, are given the opportunity to create their own individual program for realizing their project.

Together with the professors associated with the Graduate School, they organize conferences and workshops, invite international guests and thus contribute to shaping their curriculum.

The interdisciplinary doctoral colloquia in the winter semesters are compulsory, providing room to present the projects and discuss work progress. Associated scholars and guests of the Graduate School put their research up to discussion in the weekly noon forum.

It is part of the program to spend one semester abroad at an international partner university. Besides, every year many visiting doctoral candidates from the international partnerships come to the Graduate School for a semester stay.