Humboldt University Berlin, Inst. of Mathematics, 
Section Stochastics and Mathematical Finance
Prof Dr. Dirk Becherer, becherer<<AT>> math.hu-berlin.de

Outline for prospective doctoral students or postdocs about 
the Berlin research environment, funding possibilities, 
and usual requirements for successful applicants.

First information, including several opportunities for 
Scholarships and funding, and formal application requirements, 
can be found on the following web pages. Scholarships generally
cover living costs and student fees.  
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a) www.math-berlin.de/about-bms  (BERLIN MATHEMATICAL SCHOOL: graduate school program, scholarships)
b) www2.mathematik.hu-berlin.de/~rtg1845 Research Training Group/Graduiertenkolleg 1845 Stochastic Analysis (graduate school in stochastics, PhD scholarships, Postdoc positions)
c) www.matheon.de/ (Matheon Research Centre) (research positions for PhDs/Postdocs)
d) www.mathematik.hu-berlin.de/org/job/Welcome.html 
   (Inst. of Mathematics, Humboldt University)
e) www.hu-berlin.de/promovierende-en (general information for foreign doctoral students)
 
As a successful applicant to phd/graduate programs 
associated to our section, you will 
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*  have an excellent degree in mathematics, with some specialization in an area
   of stochastics (eg. stoch.processes,stoch.finance,optimal stoch.control) or
   a related field of mathematics 
*  be proficient in English; We offer structured training in English, 
   so knowledge of German is not a prerequisite; 
   of course we recommend to you to learn German when here;
*  provide at least one academic reference letter, CV, cover letter, 
   a statement of research interest, and copies of your master thesis (or
   other scientific work) and academic degrees;
*  Advanced students (4 or 5 years study program at master/diploma level) could be 
   admitted straight to graduate studies (phase II of the BMS), while 
   Bachelor students can apply to phase I of the BMS program
   with the possibility to obtain a Master degree before the PhD.
*  Candidates should be able to visit Berlin to attend an interview; 
   Usually, candidates can't be admitted solely on basis of 
   application papers.

Sidenotes
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You may know already that Berlin is a very attractive city to live in and
that excellent groups in probability and applied mathematics in general are here. 
If you are from abroad, you might not yet be aware that living costs in Berlin are low in comparison to other European capitals like London or Paris or German cities like Munich.