Application Guideline

The Leibniz Graduate School on Ageing and Age-Related Diseases (LGSA) offers frequently fellowships for PhD students. Open positions can be found here.

Applications to PhD positions are always welcome.
Applicants should carefully follow the guidelines. Incomplete or non-fitting applications will not be considered.

• Please fill out the application form completely. Do not submit any other documents at this point. You will get an acknowledgement of receipt within one week. If you do not receive such an e-mail, please check the mail address and try again.
• Have two referees fill in the recommendation form an have them send in to us.
• Do not submit your application to individual group leaders. Send the completed application electronically to

lgsa@fli-leibniz.de

The application form can be downloaded here as PDF. Fill out the form with Adobe Reader.
Download the recommendation form for the two referees here as PDF.

Selection of PhD Students

1. Only selected applicants will be invited to submit a full application. Please be prepared to submit your full application within two weeks following the first selection including CV and copies of certificates. From this preselected cohort we will invite candidates for an interview at the FLI.
2. All PhD student candidates are interviewed and selected by the PhD recruitment committee, irrespective of the source of financial support (FLI budget or grant).
3. The recruitment committee consists of three elected group leaders (not necessarily those whose labs the candidate has expressed an interest in).
4. Interviews for the selection of PhD candidates are scheduled twice per year, in May and in October. At least three members of the interviewing committee have to be present at these meetings. As an exception, additional interview dates may be scheduled.
5. In general, PhD students are allotted to a project/research based on their declared project preferences, provided acceptance by the group leader.

PhD contracts

Unless students obtain their own fellowship, we offer a working contract with a salary according to German TV-L E 13/2 (salary agreement for public service employees) including health insurance and social insurance. PhD students receive initially a one-year contract which reminds the thesis committee to meet within the first year. The contract can be extended to three years with the possibility of an additional one-year extension, provided that a written positive statement from the thesis committee supports the extensions.