You do not need to contact the supervisors before submitting your application. Please make sure to choose a supervisor from our list who has expertise in the research area of your dissertation project and who is working in your discipline. This is important because in Germany, professors working in political science often cannot supervise PhD projects in history, for example. Please also make sure that your research matches the research interests/areas of our Principal Investigators. The final decision on your supervisory team will be made when you have started the programme in Berlin.