Qualified applicants are eligible for a five-year funding package that includes an annual stipend (comparable to, if not surpassing, stipends from peer institutions), plus full tuition and medical benefits. The Department furthermore pledges to do everything in its power to secure support for one or two years beyond the initial awards for each student in good standing. Our record shows success in supporting our students for the full period needed to complete the degree.

Our students are regularly successful in securing funding from the DAAD, Fulbright, Leo Baeck Institute and other funding agencies. Internships abroad are also possible.

Throughout the year, the department receives numerous requests for translation and tutoring services. Our graduate students can pick and choose and are compensated at good rates. We've even been approached by a film studio for German voice-overs. The long and short of it is that graduate students in our department have many ways of enhancing their incomes.

Each year the Department awards the Arthur M. Daemmrich and Alfred Guenther Memorial Prize to a deserving graduate student. This prize has a value of approximately $2500 per recipient. We also regularly nominate one of our teaching assistants for the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching. Finally, the Graduate Student Association and the School of Arts and Sciences subsidizes trips to conferences for the presentation of scholarly papers. 

Internal Travel Funds: The Jusserand Fund and the Adolf Klarmann Fund

The Germanic section maintains two funds dedicated to supporting graduate student travel abroad: The Jusserand Fund and the Adolf Klarmann Fund. Graduate students may apply for financial support for activities that require extended summer travel. Eligible activities include:

• Archival research in European countries (typically Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but archives in other countries will also be considered)

• Participation in a Doktorandenkolloquium or other research group at a European university upon the professor’s invitation

• Participation in workshops, conferences, symposia

• Pedagogical or other academic training

• Formal language enhancement training in German or another language required for dissertation research or as part of the student’s academic profile

• Unpaid (full funding) or paid internships (supplemental funding)

Jusserand and Klarmann funds can be used to pay for air travel, domestic travel, monthly bus passes, accommodations, registration fees, and tuition. A per diem or food expenses are not allowed. In exceptional circumstances, Klarmann funds can be used for extended research travel during the academic year at the discretion of the faculty and with approval from the Graduate Chair. Jusserand and Klarmann funds cannot be used for domestic travel. 

To apply, students should first discuss plans with their advisor, then prepare a brief proposal that describes summer plans and rationale as well as a budget showing all estimated eligible expenses. Proposals are due by March 1 and can be sent to the Graduate Coordinator (flippin@upenn.edu). Awards will be announced within a week.