How to apply for a PhD in History and Civilization
The Information currently on the website is subject to change for the 2015 call for applications, which will open by the end of October 2014
In order to apply to the EUI Doctoral Programme, you must have an academic degree at the MA level. Please read carefully the pages on national admission requirements.
The expected level of English proficiency is level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Please read carefully the pages on language requirements.
To qualify for a national PhD grant, you must meet the specific requirements set by the national grant authorities. These may include conditions with regard to your nationality, residence, the country where you have studied as well as the kind of degree and time of award.
For more details. please consult the pages Grant Information for Ph.D. Candidates.
The application for admission to the EUI doctoral programme is automatically an application for a national grant with the following exceptions:.
If you apply for a grant from one of these countries, your application to the EUI can ONLY be accepted if you apply also for the national grant by the deadline specified by the relevant grant authority.
Applicants from countries who do not fit in with any of the grant programmes may be admitted on condition they are able to secure an external sponsorship or under the special EUI-funded grant programme.
Applicants are selected for interviews on the basis of their academic record and their research proposal. Your research proposal shows that you are ready to write a PhD dissertation that can be supervised at the EUI.
The proposal must be written in English or French and must be no longer than 2500 words (including footnotes and references). Longer proposals may be excluded from further consideration.
The proposal should outline the project that you wish to pursue in your PhD dissertation. It should demonstrate command of the state of the art in the field (with references to the literature) and of research methodology within the discipline, formulate a research question and include a short bibliography. Where appropriate it should also include the theory or hypotheses that will be examined or a description of the empirical content and sources of the research project. Please read carefully the detailed instructions for research proposals
The policy of the EUI is not to offer individual guidance and advice on PhD applications and dissertation proposals. You should not contact potential supervisors and ask them to support your application or to provide you with advice. You should instead read the information on research themes supervised by the department and by individual professors. In the application form and in your research proposal you can indicate one or more professors who you think could supervise your dissertation.
Before starting your online submission, prepare the required attachments:
- a one or two page CV (electronic size max 400 KB)
- the research proposal of 2500 words (See above)
- a degree transcript, issued by your university listing the exams/courses taken at university, grades/marks awarded and (if applicable) the final degree result (electronic size max 1 MB). Submit your transcript as a scanned file to the on-line application. If pertinent, you may attach more than one transcript from previous degree/s. Do not attach or send supplementary documents that are not strictly requested, such as the copy of your official diploma, traineeships diplomas etc.
- International English language certificate (See Language Requirements)
- Recommended: GRE general test scores (EUI code 7395 – departmental code 2704)
Note that attachments must be PDF using standard international fonts.
Do NOT use macros, special characters, password-protected attachments, electronic signatures or logos.
Applicants should provide the names of 2 academic referees and ensure that two letters of reference are sent on-line directly by the referees by the 31 January deadline. More precise details may be found on the pages Information about References.
References from current full-time or part-time EUI professors will not be accepted except where the application is from a researcher already registered for an EUI degree (e.g. a transfer from LLM to PhD ), or where the professor is in a different EUI department from that applied to by the candidate, but is able to comment on the academic qualities of the candidate.
The interactive online application will be available in October 2014.
In the online application form you will find detailed explanations on how to complete it. A temporary mock up of the application form will be available when the application process will be open.
There are two distinct phases in the application process:
i. Register your application
You are encouraged to register your application, by submitting your personal details, grant authority and referee details, as soon as possible. This will allow sufficient time for your referees to submit the reference letters before the deadline.
It is NOT necessary to register and submit your application at the same time.
ii. Submit your application
Once you have registered your application you may continue to work on the application details and attachments until the deadline of 31 January. Submit the application only when you have filled in all the information and have the final version of the attachments in hand.
After submission, you will not be able to update or modify your application.
Should you need any further clarification on the application procedure please consult our Frequently Asked Questions on:
Page last updated on 17 August 2017