To the Editor:
The German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD (from the initials of the German name of the service, Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst) recently sent us the following communication:
Contrary to Martin Mulford’s statement in his article, “Ageism and Hiring in the History Profession,” published in the December 2009 issue of Perspectives on History, the DAAD does not have an age restriction in place for PhDs and/or postdoctoral scholars who are planning to apply for a DAAD scholarship to study or do research in Germany. While the DAAD did have such an age limit in place until 2008, this is no longer the case. The age limit was replaced with a model for career phases. The requirements based on this model are as follows:
- For PhDs: they should not have had ABD status for more than four years at the time of their application for a DAAD scholarship
- Postdoctoral scholars: they should not have obtained their PhD no more than two years before the time of their application for a DAAD scholarship.
Martin Mulford writes further that U.S. funding sources ‘in general follow the DAAD’s lead in determining grant/funding recipients.” We would like to emphasize that there are no formal or informal arrangements between any U.S. scholarship organizations or other funding sources and the DAAD to follow each other’s lead regarding the selection of scholarship recipients. DAAD scholarship recipients are chosen based on a standard procedure including multiple reviews by scholars in the relevant academic field. We are confident that the same is true for all U.S. funding organizations.
German Academic Exchange Service
