Doctoral Scholarship (GSN)

Doctoral Scholarship at GSN

You can apply for a neurophilosophy doctoral scholarship in an annually recurring call for scholarships (application period Dec 1 - Feb 15). The GSN offers a structured doctoral program with an independent PhD (GSN Doctoral Program), in which you can choose from a wide range of interdisciplinary courses together with your TAC (Thesis Advisory Board) to put together an interdisciplinary study program tailored to your individual research interests. This gives you a sound neuroscientific insight into the (natural) scientific contexts that are important for your neurophilosophical doctoral project. In addition, there is an extensive range of “soft skills” and an attractive social program.

Call for PhD scholarships in Neurophilosophy

The application round for 2023/24 is closed. Information for the next round will be published soon.

The Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences (GSN) at LMU Munich invites applications for several PhD scholarships in Neurophilosophy. The GSN is the teaching entity for the Munich Center of Neurosciences - Brain & Mind (MCN). Through creating an interdisciplinary network of research the GSN provides a stimulating environment for students and faculty to produce novel formulations of current concepts and theories. Successful applicants will be affiliated with the Research Center for Neurophilosophy and Ethics of Neurosciences (http://www.neuro.philosophie.lmu.de) at the GSN.

Projects in the research center fall in the following areas:

• philosophy of cognitive neuroscience (explanation, reduction)
• philosophy and cognitive science of agency (mental causation, free will, moral psychology, abilities)
• philosophy and cognitive science of reasoning (e.g. deductive and non-deductive reasoning, logic and neural networks, decision making)
• ethics of neuroscience (research ethics, enhancement)
• philosophy of perception
• philosophy and social cognition

In the new application round we encourage applications in smaller focus areas in order to build research groups. In the 2023/24 round the focus areas are:

• reasoning and decision making (esp. deductive and non-deductive reasoning in science and ordinary life, individual and collective decision making)
• human agency (esp. mental causation, complex action, multi-tasking, attention, reductive and non-reductive explanation of agency)
• metacognition (esp. metacognition in perception, self-evaluation and sense of self)
• group cognition (group epistemology, collective decisions and group responsibility)

However, single exceptional and independent projects in one of the other areas are also encouraged.

Applicants should have advanced training in philosophy (typically a Master’s degree in philosophy) and a genuine interest in the neurosciences. This includes the willingness to acquire substantial knowledge of empirical work relevant to their philosophical project. Cooperative projects with empirical scientists in the network of the MCN are strongly encouraged. The reasoning and decision-making projects are closely linked to research conducted at the MCMP and at least one supervisor will be a member of the MCMP.

The application period will open on December 1st 2023 and will close on February 15th 2024, 12:00. Please check our website and the GSN website for details concerning the application procedure. The application includes an outline of your proposed research project, a CV, an official transcript of your academic work (list of attended courses; grades), diplomas and two separate academic reference letters. Please also name two potential supervisors (possibly including one non-philosopher) from the core or affiliated neurophilosophy faculty of the GSN.

How to apply for a GSN PhD scholarship

Please follow the standard application process for GSN PhD applications:

• Details of the process and application form

In addition to the application form, please submit a short exposé (max. 3000 words) that

• gives an outline of your main project
• explains how your project fits with the focus topic or one of the other topics listed in the call for applications
• names two or three potential supervisors (at least two in the GSN faculty)
• sketches an interdisciplinary cooperation project (an empirical study that relates to your theoretical work)