Dissertation Research

The Graduate School encourages doctoral candidates to analyze specific topics within East Asia in the fields of politics, society, economy, culture, law and history. Possible dissertation topics address concrete topics in contemporary or modern settings in Chinese, Japanese or Korean societies. Research at GEAS is not limited to the study of the three major countries in East Asia, China, Japan, and Korea. It is also interested in transnational contexts and ways in which developments in and phenomena from East Asia affect other regions of the world. The Graduate School supports doctoral candidates in developing their research projects based on their individual interests and skills with colloquia, research design and tutorials for fieldwork.

Different disciplines contribute distinctive approaches to a common range of topics. Principla Investigators at GEAS are experts in: Chinese Studies, Japanese Studies, Korean Studies, Political Science, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Human Geography, Business and Economics, Law, Gender Studies, Cultural Studies, Theatre and Performance Studies.

Infrastructure

The members of GEAS have an excellent infrastructure at their disposal. They are integrated into an international and interdisciplinary network of research and teaching and offer a structured research programme. The interdisciplinary colloquia and summer and homecoming symposia, during which the projects are presented and the progress of the work discussed, are mandatory.

The overview of the structure of our doctoral programme shows you how many credit points you have to earn in the individual areas (writing your doctorate, seminars, summer school, workshops on transferable skills, colloquia). It is not possible to transfer CPs from one area to another, but it is possible to earn CPs in transferable skills at other educational workshops.

In addition to the curricular offers, you can participate in all workshops and conferences and also make an organisational contribution or give your own lecture. You are also welcome to suggest inviting international specialists and organizing graduate conferences.

You can also participate in Dahlem Research School (DRS) and BUA workshops.

Upon request, the Graduate School will assign you a place in the doctoral student rooms. We can provide a limited number of PC desktops to work with. If you need to install programmes, please ask the coordination office and the student assistants for help.