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BIGS-DR aims to attract scientists from all over the world with outstanding master's or equivalent degrees in economics, social sciences, sociology, political science, economics, agricultural and resource economics, agronomy, biology, ecology, forestry, mathematics or earth sciences. Candidates preferably have work experience in national or international research institutions, governments, or the private sector. Interest in interdisciplinary research is a prerequisite.
The deadline for the BIGS-DR internal scholarship is August 31st annually for the following academic year. The admissions period for the next intake usually begins in early spring.
For independent and external scholarship applicants, completed application documents may be submitted at any time during the open admissions period. The admissions period lasts from March to September annually. Please note that these funding institutions often have their own deadlines, so be sure to inform BIGS-DR accordingly by including any deadlines in your motivation letter.
The BIGS-DR courses start on October 1st annually.
Academic qualification
An excellent master's or equivalent degree (GPA higher than 3.0 in the American system, or a grade higher than 2.0 in the German system or equivalent).
Applicants who have finished a one year master's degree are also eligible under the condition that they have written a master's thesis.
Your last academic degree should have been obtained relatively recently prior to application. This guarantees the competitiveness of your application. A gap between your previous academic degree and your application to BIGS-DR means that you should demonstrate how you have maintained your academic rigor (e.g. a longer and current list of publications). There is no age limit in applying.
Innovative research ideas
Your application must contain a Graduate Research Statement. The statement should describe a development problem you consider interesting and important. Include your main research questions and the proposed methods linked to them and have literature references. The statement should be a maximum of four pages. Your Graduate Research Statement may relate to ZEF's research areas in a broad sense or may address a topic in another development research area. The selection committee will assess all research statements on the basis of orgininality, analytical rigor, and relevance.
Language proficiency
BIGS-DR is conducted in English. We therefore require the following English language skills:
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