The Graduate Centre Humanities and Social Sciences offers the framework for structured and interdisciplinary qualification of junior scholars from a wide range of disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences represented at the University of Leipzig. With regard to its regional competences the Graduate Centre brings together expertise on the various parts of Europe, the two Americas, Sub-Saharan and Northern Africa as well as Asia. This allows research and study programmes with empirical foundation on all these areas as well as comparative approaches and the study of an increasing global connectedness.

Thematically, the focus of the five classes established so far is on global and transnational entanglements, the analysis of territoriality under the conditions of a globalising modernity and the resulting cultural processes, including their linguistic forms.

The study programme comprises special research seminars, working groups, colloquia and workshops on key qualifications. Further integral parts are the annual summer school and the winter conclave. Numerous co-operations with leading institutions around the world and the participation of internationally renown guest lecturers enrich the research and study programme.

Currently, more than 100 PhD-students are enrolled at the Graduate Centre and more than 40 professors from four faculties of the University and several extra-university research centres supervise their work.

An overview on the results achieved in 2009 is given by the Annual Report of the Graduate Centre Humanities and Social Sciences that you can find here.

You find further informations on the performance of the single classes of all three Graduate Centres in the Annual Report of the Research Academy Leipzig 2009 .

Director of the Graduate Centre: Prof. Dr. Matthias Middell

Coordination: Maren Seidler