As a member of a Berlin-based university consortium chosen for funding through the German Excellence Strategy with the Freie Universität Berlin as the host institution, the Hertie School offers doctoral training focused on challenges to the liberal model of the political and economic order (SCRIPTS "Contestations of the Liberal Script"). The Berlin Graduate School for Global and Transregional Studies (BGTS) is the doctoral programme of SCRIPTS.

The BGTS helps PhD researchers to unravel the manifold contestations and transformations in the economy, politics and society, as well as in national and international law, over the course of history and across various areas of the globe. The SCRIPTS project fosters collaboration by gathering top researchers from a range of disciplines at prominent research institutions in Berlin. The Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin are, for instance, internationally recognised for their work in the social sciences and area studies. The Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) is among the most internationally renowned research centres in the area of social sciences. In addition, the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), the Hertie School (Hertie School), the Berlin branch of the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), the Center for Eastern European and International Studies (ZOiS) and the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) are excellent partners with a focus on various aspects related to the contestations of the liberal script in important global regions.

The BGTS has a separate application process. The deadline for applications is 31 January 2024. Please find more information under 'Find out more'.

PhD candidates that are admitted by the BGTS and have a first supervisor from the Hertie School usually matriculate at the Hertie School.

Associated Hertie School faculty