The IGK is constantly looking for highly qualified students with outstanding study records. The number of open doctoral fellowship positions and research student positions varies however.

Interested students should submit their applications to

For a list of possible doctoral projects see "projects". Questions concerning the scientific aspects of a possible doctoral fellowship should be directly adressed to the corresponding scientific group.

• academic degree compatible with the requirements for a doctoral student status in one of the participating faculties, or at least for a "Qualifizierungsstudium" ,
• grades well above-average,
• proficiency in English,
• compliance with the age restriction of 28 years,
• willingness and capability to actively participate in the IGK.

A more fundamental necessary precondition is detailed knowledge in at least one and preferably both central research fields of an interdisciplinary dissertation project within the IGK´s research programme. The applications of remaining suitable candidates are forwarded to potential host research groups who in turn negotiate with the candidate and, if appropriate, help her or him to work out a detailed dissertation proposal.

When applying, please submit

• certificates of academic qualifications,
• CV,
• photography,
• two letters of recommendation,
• a written dissertation proposal and a work programme (External applicants will be allowed to formulate such a proposal after a first meeting with the possible supervisors).

Candidates with a promising background and convincing application material will be invited to present themselves in front of a selection committee. The selection committee of the IGK then decides about acceptance of the candidate, based on

• the written dissertation proposal and a work programme,
• a 15 minutes oral presentation of the candidate with following discussion,
• the certificates of academic qualifications and CV,
• the two letters of recommendation,
• a written statements of both envisaged supervisors that the project has been worked out with their active participation and that they are committed to act as supervisors.

The most important decision criteria are

• the scientific qualifications and the personality of the candidate,
• the excellence of the proposed project and work programme, in particular their degree of interdisciplinarity and innovation,
• the success prospects of the project depending on the qualifications of the candidate and the prospective engagement of the advisors.

The selection committee can impose conditions on or modifications of the project, such as additional or different supervisors, major revisions and additional review or resubmission of the project etc. Members of the IGK can file an objection against decisions of the selection committee within two weeks. Fellowships are granted for two years with a possible extension for one more year.

The IGK also accepts doctoral students without fellowships following the same procedure. These doctoral students are associated members of the IGK who benefit from the study programme, the workshops etc. but have external funding.

The application for the postdoctoral fellowship should contain:

• letter of application with CV and a photo,
• certifications of the scientific degree (Abiturzeugnis, Vordiplomzeugnis, diploma and doctoral degree certificate),
• description of the research project,
• two letters of recomendation.

Excellent graduate students ( im Hauptstudium ) can participate in the IGK as research students. Different from an assistant (Studentische Hilfskraft), they perform independent scientific work usually directly related to a dissertation project of a doctoral student, or a research topic of one of the postdocs. The payment amounts to a salary of 301.20 Euro per month. From July 2005 on, four open research fellowship positions are expected.

Below there are four examples for interesting project areas for research students:

• Projects around "Optimization with Partial Differential Equations by Adaptive Discretization and SQP-Multigrid Methods",
• Questions connected to the project "Numerical Methods for Large Eigenvalue Problems for Modeling Intermolecular Coulombic Decay",
• Projects in the area of "Nonlinear Mixed Integer Optimal Control",
• Problems related to the "External Control of Self-Organizing Chemical and Biochemical Reaction Systems.