Applying for a doctoral position: the first three steps
If you are thinking of writing a doctoral dissertation at the Chair of International Relations, read this before contacting me. This note was not written to discourage you from submitting a letter of interest. My primary motive in formulating this is to avoid misunderstandings and to help easing the process towards a successful application.
First, please consult the general rules of admission to our doctoral programme and/or the Graduate School of Decision Sciences. I generally expect that you have some basic knowledge in international relations and/or international or comparative political economy and that you have successfully attended university level classes in econometrics, research design and/or game theory. It would be helpful to receive detailed information on the advanced methods classes that you have attended so far.
Second, read some of the stuff that my collaborators and I have written over the years. You can find many of my articles and chapters at KOPS (search for "Schneider, Gerald" under person). If you find at least some of my stuff marginally exciting and if you are willing to learn some advanced methods, then please write a dissertation prospectus (around 15 pages). (And please continue to surf elsewhere if these readings are terribly boring or too technical).
Third, please ask three of your current or past supervisors for a reference and send me the prospectus and the references together with an email address of these colleagues.
Of course, contact me if you have a special situation not addressed here, and I will do my best to help. You can also pay me a visit before applying, but please send me in this event some recent paper that you have written.