The Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School received the main award of the Einstein Foundation Berlin, endowed with €360,000 for the best doctoral programme in Berlin. The prize was first awarded in 2016 with the aim of expanding doctoral training for early-career researchers and supporting structural development. It enhances the international visibility of successful doctoral programmes in Berlin and helps attract outstanding early-career researchers to the city.

The Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School uses the award for:

• three-year dissertation grants with the thematic focus Global Literature
• the new funding format Einstein Project Scholarships
• three international Summer Schools about pivotal fields of research in literary studies, organized by FSGS doctoral candidates
• establishing a new cooperation with a selected international partner. Within this context, travel expenses and short-term scholarships for international doctoral candidates are funded.

The award ceremony took place on 19 January 2017 on the occasion of the Einstein Foundation’s New Year’s reception at the Rotes Rathaus. The Governing Mayor of Berlin and Senator for Higher Education and Research, Michael Müller, presented the award together with Olaf Kübler, Deputy Chair of the Foundation Council. In the autumn, the Einstein Foundation had nominated six of nineteen programmes, which presented themselves to the selection committee in December at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. The FSGS was represented by Jutta Müller-Tamm (Director), Andrew James Johnston (Deputy Director), and Anja Hallacker (Manager). The outcome remained uncertain until the very last moment: none of the nominated programmes knew on 19 January whether they would receive an award.

Pictures of the award ceremony