Prizes and Fellowships

This fellowship will enable students to study at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin for the 2025-2026 academic year (October through July). The fellowship carries a monthly stipend of 934 euros. The Department of German Studies at Cornell will provide an additional stipend to assist with fees and other costs while in Germany. Fellows may be expected to carry out modest RA duties to be determined in consultation with our faculty contact at the Humboldt University.

The graduate exchange fellowship to Humboldt is primarily reserved for advanced graduate students who are ready to embark on their dissertation research.  Applications should include a CV, project outline and/or rationale for study abroad, transcript and two letters of recommendation from professors in the student's field. 

Applications are solicited from graduate students working in the field of German Studies at Cornell University. Graduate students from the Department of German Studies are given priority. 

All application materials should be sent to Keeley Boerman (kse6@cornell.edu, 255-4047), Department of German Studies, 183 Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University on or before Monday, March 10, 2025.

Two Exchange Fellowships for study at the University of Heidelberg cover tuition and fees plus provide a monthly stipend of 900 euros for ten months.  In addition, the University of Heidelberg will cover the fees for a preparatory language course beginning in September (participants will receive an additional monthly stipend) and, if desired, for a language course (4 hrs per week) that is offered throughout the academic year.

The German academic year customarily runs from mid-October through July with a two-month break from mid-February to mid-April between semesters.

The competition is open to graduating seniors and current graduate students from all academic units in the university.  Courses in medicine are not available to exchange students and some courses in biosciences may be restricted. Applicants must have a good knowledge of the German language (e.g. advanced/B2 level) by the beginning of the German academic year in October.

Application material must include a CV (complete with local address, telephone number and e-mail address), transcript, a rationale for study at the University of Heidelberg (circa 1-2 pages, single-spaced), and one letter of recommendation from a professor in the student’s field.  If selected, an additional application form from Heidelberg will be required.

Students interested in the exchange can find extensive information online at www.uni-heidelberg.de/international-exchange and can contact Gunhild Lischke at gl15@cornell.edu.

DEADLINE:  All application materials should be sent to Keeley Boerman (kse6@cornell.edu, 255-4047), Department of German Studies, 183 Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University on or before Monday, March 10, 2025.

All 2022–23 international programming is subject to change based on health, safety, and travel assessments. https://global.cornell.edu/travel/pandemic-travel-policy-guidelines-and-recommendations

APPLICATIONS INVITED FOR DAAD/CORNELL EXCHANGE FELLOWSHIPS ACADEMIC YEAR 2025-2026

APPLICATIONS are now invited for DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service (www.daad.org ) Graduate Scholarship for the Academic Year 2025-2026. The Graduate Scholarships enable students to study at a German university (Study Scholarships) or to work on a research project in Germany (Long-Term Research Grants).  DAAD fellowships include monthly stipends ranging from 992 euros to 1,300 euros, health insurance and travel stipend.

DAAD offers the following Graduate Scholarships. Please click below to see the general application guidelines/checklist:

• STUDY SCHOLARSHIPS are available to highly-qualified final year undergraduate students or those who have received an undergraduate degree of all disciplines for a full master's degree program at a German university, or for a study at a German university as part of a postgraduate or Master's degree program completed in the home country.

• RESEARCH GRANTS IN GERMANY are available to highly qualified candidates who have completed a master’s degree or in exceptional cases a bachelor's degree at the latest by the time they begin their grant-supported research in Germany.

In general, applicants should be US or Canadian citizens or permanent residents. Foreign nationals are eligible if they have been full-time students at a US or Canadian university for more than one year at the time of application.  German nationals must have been affiliated full-time with a US or Canadian institution for at least six years. 

Applicants submit all requested documents, including supporting letter of reference, via the Online Portal. Applicants will receive a PDF version of their completed application summary.

• SUBMIT: one pdf of the application summary to Keeley Boerman at kse6@cornell.edu
• DEADLINE: Friday, October 18, 2024

* Please note the department deadline is earlier than the dates posted on the DAAD website to allow for review and submittal by Cornell DAAD Campus Advisors.

Questions?  Contact Keeley Boerman (kse6@cornell.edu; 255-4047) or Anette Schwarz (as163@cornell.edu)

PLEASE NOTE Candidates selected by the Cornell Selection Committee will be entered into the national competition and evaluated by DAAD appointed international selection committee.  Their decisions are binding and no reasons for decisions will be given.

Graduate Students:

Win up to $500 with an essay on any topic connected with German literature or culture (10-20 pages in German or English)

Juniors, Seniors:

Win up to $250 with an essay on any topic connected with German literature or culture (7-15 pages in German or English)

First-years, Sophomores:

Win up to $250 with an essay on any topic connected with German literature or culture (5-10 pages in German or English)

The Goethe Prize, endowed in 1935 by Ludwig Vogelstein, is awarded annually for the best essay. The committee may award a first prize in each category, and possibly a second prize.

Essays should be submitted under an assumed name and real identities will not be shared with readers until winners are selected. Please submit essays in an attachment via email, listing only your class (first-year, sophomore, etc.) and assumed name on the essay itself. 

• Each student may enter only one essay. 
• 2nd prize winners are eligible to enter again.
• You cannot win the same prize in the same category more than once.
• Essays that have been accepted for publication or have already been published will not be considered.

Deadline and submissions

• Deadline: Noon, Wednesday, April 16
• Submit to: Anne Chen (aac262@cornell.edu)
• For further information, contact Anne Chen, 183 Goldwin Smith Hall, 255-5265, aac262@cornell.edu

Franz Peter Hugdahl (1968-2013) was a valued member of the German Studies community at Cornell University, with primary interests in 20th-century German literature, radio, film, and intellectual history, who cared deeply about his fellow students at all levels and about educational opportunities to study German language, literature, culture, and thought.  Awarded his M.A. in German Studies in 2003, he went on to write a doctoral dissertation on public intellectuals and essay writing in the service of democratization after the defeat of German fascism in 1945. Authors of special significance for his teaching, research, and published translations included major literary, intellectual, and political figures such as Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Theodor Adorno, Jürgen Habermas, Ulrike Meinhof, Arno Schmidt, and Boris Groys. Keenly interested in professional venues for academic publishing as well, he worked for a time at Columbia University Press and later served as both Assistant Editor (1999-2005) and Managing Editor (2012-2013) for the interdisciplinary journal New German Critique.

Thanks to several generous gifts from anonymous donors, two memorial awards have been established to honor Franz Peter Hugdahl and his ongoing legacy of dedicated support for German Studies in the conjoined causes of higher education and international understanding. Bestowed annually by the Department of German Studies, Cornell University’s Franz Peter Hugdahl Memorial Travel Award in German Studies is reserved for deserving undergraduate or graduate student members of Cornell’s German Studies community. Bestowed annually by the editorial board of New German Critique, New German Critique’s Franz Peter Hugdahl Memorial Award supports doctoral candidates in German Studies or History for participation in academic conferences or professional meetings such as the German Studies Association, the Modern Language Association, or the American Historical Association. Preference for the New German Critique award is given to applicants from Columbia University, Cornell University, or Princeton University. (Applications for the New German Critique award should be submitted directly to the journal at new_german_critique@cornell.edu in response to the journal’s annual call.) Cornell University graduate students are eligible for consideration for both awards.

Everyone involved with these awards is especially pleased to be able to honor Franz Peter Hugdahl and his living legacy by supporting the educational opportunities, student experiences, and cross-cultural understanding he himself held so dear. The memorial awards established in his name will enhance German Studies for many grateful student generations to come.