The study program consists of three elements: Core Module (1st and 2nd semester), Working Group (1st–8th semester), and Engagement Lab (1st–8th semester, with a focus on the 5th and 6th semesters). Each of these three elements brings together shared theoretical and conceptual foundations, intensive support from multiple perspectives for the dissertations-in-progress, and elements of transfer.
The Core Module ensures the basic working ability of the PhD candidates, promotes their rapid networking with one another, and provides the theoretical and conceptual grounding of the Graduate Research Training Group.
At the outset of the Core Module, a two-day orientation program is held, consisting of an onboarding meeting with the advisor (Initial Meeting), the establishment of a supervision agreement, an orientation workshop in which fellows present their projects to each other, and the creation of a project-specific data management plan. The orientation phase is supplemented by a one-day key competencies workshop introducing doctoral work and good academic practice (“Get Started”). The first public conference organized by the RTG (Opening Workshop) follows in the same semester.
The central component of the Core Module is a weekly, mandatory seminar for all PhD candidates that runs during the first two semesters. This structured PhD seminar is led primarily by two Principal Investigators and each semester is dedicated to two of the four fields of research of the Graduate Research Training Group (aesthetic orders, aesthetic action, aesthetic objects, aesthetic experiences). In the seminar, key texts are read and discussed from an interdisciplinary perspective, helping to contextualize the program’s overarching theoretical and methodological foundation in the “Aesthetics of Democracy,” while also introducing methods specific to the participating disciplines.
2) The Working Group component focuses primarily on the production of dissertations. The central working instruments are small workshop groups, each comprising two to four doctoral researchers working on thematically related topics and issues, meeting regularly with their responsible PI to discuss shared challenges.
The progress of the dissertations and their implications for the RTG’s overarching research program are further enhanced through colloquia led by Principal Investigators, which alternate with workshop group meetings.
From the 3rd to the 7th semester, doctoral researchers also take part five times in masterclasses in small groups with invited Mercator Fellows. In these masterclasses, international guest scholars and PhD candidates manuscript chapters and relevant scholarship and thus stimulate the development and completion of dissertations; for the doctoral researchers, these masterclasses also serve as a deadline for submitting longer texts.
Twice per cohort, a two-day retreat is held, attended by all PhD candidates, all Principal Investigators, as well as fellows and guests. Doctoral researchers are involved in selecting these guests as well. The retreat is a forum for Principal Investigators and PhD candidates to collaboratively advance research on the RTG’s overarching question. In addition, at the start of each cohort, the RTG hosts a “Get Started” workshop, followed by a communications and media training and a reflection workshop on social media in the fourth semester. Depending on individual needs, Principal Investigators recommend that PhD candidates attend additional GRADE workshops, especially in the areas of literature research and management, and also seek out supplementary career counseling services.
3) The Engagement Lab is where the doctoral researchers interact with the wider academic world and civil society outside the Graduate Research Training Group. The premise is that it is advantageous for all dissertations to reflect on and, where possible, empirically engage with the practical implications of their research. The Engagement Lab is also a key site for intensive networking with civil society and public partner institutions. In the spirit of the Public Humanities, these serve as platforms for transfer and exchange with actors from civil society and public institutions.
The Working Group component focuses primarily on the production of dissertations. The central working instruments are small workshop groups, each comprising two to four doctoral researchers working on thematically related topics and issues, meeting regularly with their responsible PI to discuss shared challenges.
The progress of the dissertations and their implications for the RTG’s overarching research program are further enhanced through colloquia led by Principal Investigators, which alternate with workshop group meetings.
From the 3rd to the 7th semester, doctoral researchers also take part five times in masterclasses in small groups with invited Mercator Fellows. In these masterclasses, international guest scholars and PhD candidates manuscript chapters and relevant scholarship and thus stimulate the development and completion of dissertations; for the doctoral researchers, these masterclasses also serve as a deadline for submitting longer texts.
Twice per cohort, a two-day retreat is held, attended by all PhD candidates, all Principal Investigators, as well as fellows and guests. Doctoral researchers are involved in selecting these guests as well. The retreat is a forum for Principal Investigators and PhD candidates to collaboratively advance research on the RTG’s overarching question. In addition, at the start of each cohort, the RTG hosts a “Get Started” workshop, followed by a communications and media training and a reflection workshop on social media in the fourth semester. Depending on individual needs, Principal Investigators recommend that PhD candidates attend additional GRADE workshops, especially in the areas of literature research and management, and also seek out supplementary career counseling services.
The Engagement Lab is where the doctoral researchers interact with the wider academic world and civil society outside the Graduate Research Training Group. The premise is that it is advantageous for all dissertations to reflect on and, where possible, empirically engage with the practical implications of their research. The Engagement Lab is also a key site for intensive networking with civil society and public partner institutions. In the spirit of the Public Humanities, these serve as platforms for transfer and exchange with actors from civil society and public institutions.