Reference Letters
You are applying for a PhD programme in the social sciences, so, in order to assess your academic abilities, it is highly recommended to ask academic representatives, such as your thesis supervisor, to write a letter of reference.
A reference letter should contain a short description of your academic performance and discuss your qualifications and interest in the PhD programme.
We will consider other references, provided that they can give us fundamental information about your suitability to the PhD programme.
It is recommended that the letters of reference need to show the letterhead of the corresponding institution, and preferably should be signed.If your referees live in a country without regular internet access or if they have technical problems, they are allowed to send pdfs or postal letters to the GEAS Application team.
Postal letters will not be accepted after the application date, as you will not be able to submit your application without both letters having been uploaded.
It is highly recommended that you ask for a reference letter in advance. Please explain to your referees that you are going to apply for GEAS and that they themselves have to upload their letters of reference online and in time (!).
*Update*Nov 2020: The application system will automatically send an e-mail with a generated link to your supervisors after you have submitted your application.The field is case-sensitive and sends out the links for upload of the reference letters to the email addresses provided. Please also spell-check the address and correct mistakes if necessary.
Your referees will receive a link for upload to the application system to upload the letters in PDF format (not larger than 2 MB). The file can only be uploaded once. A successful upload will be immediately confirmed on screen. A second upload is not possible. If they fail to upload their file for the first time, or if there is no onscreen confirmation, they should contact application[at]geas.fu-berlin.de to await further instructions.
If any other technical mishap occurs, they can also contact the above email address. You will be able to see if your referees have uploaded their letters during the time of application at the portal.