Students normally take the Ph.D. examination at the end of the second year of doctoral studies. To be admitted to candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, students must have completed all course work, fulfilled the foreign language requirement, passed the Ph.D. examination, and developed a satisfactory dissertation prospectus. All students must write an acceptable dissertation based on independent research. The department nominates outstanding students for competitive non-service fellowships awarded by the Graduate School. A varying number of teaching assistantships are awardedannually to qualified graduate students.
Duties involve instructing German at the elementary or intermediate level.
To receive priority consideration for financial aid, applications must be received by January 31. The duration of financial aid is usually two years at the master's level and three to four years at the doctoral level. Each year, the department selects one Ph.D. student to go to Mannheim, Germany, to take part in an educational and teaching exchange program. A graduate student from Mannheim spends the year here, studying at UNC-Chapel Hill, teaching in the department, and acting as the resident assistant for the German Haus. Since 1949 the department has published a monograph series, The University of North Carolina Studies in the Germanic Languages and Literatures , in collaboration with the University of North Carolina Press.