Qualification Programme

Goals

• Raising a future generation of highly qualified Israeli and Palestinian multiplyers who are both experts in reconciliation, peace and conflict research and capable as well as willing to reach out across the conflict divide to allow concord to grow among their communities, be it as scholars, activists, journalists, teachers, politicians or others.

• Countering wide-spreading political extremism, religious fanaticism, terrorism, Anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia. Both Palestinian society and Israeli society will benefit from the work of the graduates who will work to create a better society for all, with less fear of other, fewer hate crimes, more trust, more secure living, and better intercommunal relations. 

Field of Study

The field of reconciliation, peace, and conflict research is highly interdisciplinary; relevant for peace, conflict research and reconciliation are disciplines such as political science, sociology, applied ethics, interreligious studies, communication studies, German, English, political econnomy, and human geography. The programme will not solely focuss on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but also choosing topics that are relevant for understanding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is preferable (such as intractable or ethnic conflicts, narratives, stereotyping / images, mediation etc.), as might be choosing relevant cases from other parts of the world. Equipped with these skills, while at the same time studying and encountering "the other" abroad, might open up a pathway towards constructive dialogue and mutual rapprochement on topics directly related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

Duration

Ideally and as a goal, a Ph.D. degree should be completed within the period of three years, given adequate prior qualification and full dedication to working on the thesis. 

Language

In general, classes will be conducted in English and dissertations will be written in English or German; still, students are invited to enroll in German language classes and be willing to immerse in German culture; students fluent in German may deviate from that rule and write their theses in German if they would wish so. 

Finances

At Flensburg University, the Ph.D. students do not have to pay tuition fees, only a small administrative fee ("Semestergebühr") that all students have to cover (currently EUR 245,- per term). However, students are responsible for financing their stay in Germany with all the costs associated with such a stay (including insurance, housing, etc.). Excursions and conferences are covered by the programme. 

Supervisors

Supervisors will be recruited from a pool of professors from relevant departments and disciplines who are in principle available and willing to supervise thesis of the Ph.D. programme. They would mainly provide profound knowledge of theories, methods, research designs and strong overall expertise in their discipline. 

Schedule

PhD-Regulations of Europa-Universität Flensburg

"The doctoral proceedings start when the applicant is accepted as a doctoral candidate by the Doctorate Committee of Europa-Universität Flensburg. As a prerequisite for acceptance, applicants must have a relevant university degree (Master, Magister, German academic degree of "Diplom," or German state examination at a university, research university, or university of applied sciences) with a minimum overall grade of "good" and a final thesis for that degree with a minimum grade of "good." In justified cases, the Doctorate Committee may allow exceptions to this rule." 

"If the applicant has presented foreign degrees, the Doctorate Committee will check to make sure that they are equivalent to the corresponding German degrees. This assessment must be based on legally binding intergovernmental conventions as well as on the federal accreditation recommendations issued by the KMK (German Central Office for Foreign Education) and the HRK. Acceptance of a foreign degree may depend on certain requirements and conditions, such as the submission of a missing diploma thesis or participation in knowledge-based examinations. If the prospective doctoral candidate has applied for a binational doctorate or other joint doctoral procedure, the chair of the Doctorate Committee will seek to enter into a corresponding cooperation agreement with the selected university." 

For full regulations click here.