Welcome to the Russian sub-department at the Department of Translation, Language, and Culture of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz!
Our department is one of the world's most renowned translation schools and the largest in the German-speaking countries, offering courses in numerous languages as well as translation and interpretation from and into German. Although part of the University of Mainz, it is located in the small town of Germersheim, roughly 110 km south of Mainz.
Our sub-department's focus is on the Russian language and translation from and into Russian, with an emphasis on the diversity of uses of Russian in different countries. Our research and teaching also covers post-Soviet countries other than Russia and other languages spoken there, such as Armenian, Kazakh, Ukrainian, and Uzbek. In addition, members of our teaching staff speak various other languages, from Spanish to Urdu.
Beyond topics related to language and translation, we host doctoral and post-doctoral researchers working on a variety of topics related to the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet countries, with a special emphasis on language, war, and memory; dissertations are supervised by Mischa Gabowitsch, Professor of Multilingual and Transnational Studies and head of our sub-department. We also regularly invite guest lecturers who present their work in a variety of languages, and organize conferences, workshops, exhibitions, poetry readings, theater performances, and other events, including a regular online forum titled "Identity and diversity in the Russian-speaking world" hosted by Olga Gleiser and Daria Shirokova.
Our website is mostly in German. Pages of potential interest to those who do not read German include the presentation of our team and our calendar of events. Mischa Gabowitsch's personal website is available in English, German, Russian, and French versions.
For prospective PhD students
Like most German universities, our department does not offer a structured U.S.-style PhD program with a competitive application process, or full PhD scholarships. If and when fully or partly funded PhD positions become available, they will be widely advertised and a competitive application process will be held; other than that, you will need to find your own third-party funding, and it is strongly recommended that you research eligible sources of funding before applying. The registration process itself is relatively straightforward if you have an M.A. degree and consent from your prospective supervisor, although you should note that the process of having foreign diplomas recognized by our university typically takes approximately six weeks.
Mischa Gabowitsch is happy to supervise doctoral theses in history and sociology on the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the successor states since the end of the 19th century, and in particular on the topics of memory and commemoration, education, visual culture, language policy, protest, and social movements. Applications should include a dissertation project of at least two pages, a CV, and information on how you plan to fund your research.
In addition to the languages relevant to the dissertation, applicants should be able to demonstrate very good knowledge of German or English; however, application documents in the following languages can also be sent without translation: Belarusian, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian. Please do not enclose copies of diplomas. Please note that while you can write your dissertation in English, having or acquiring at least a basic knowledge of German will be very helpful for dealing with our university administration and getting settled in Germany.
For a list of ongoing and past dissertations at our department, see here.
Questions about formal aspects of becoming a PhD student (registering, matriculating, recognition of diplomas etc) should be directed to the student office at our department. You might also want to get in touch with the Gutenberg Council for Young Researchers or the Gutenberg Graduate School of the Humanities and Social Sciences at Johannes Gutenberg University.