The Cluster of Excellence “Contestations of the Liberal Script (SCRIPTS)” is a research consortium that analyses the contemporary controversies about the model of liberal democracy and the market economy. The term “liberal script” relates to a set of ideas and institutional prescriptions about how society is organised based on the core principles of individual and collective self-determination. The main purpose of SCRIPTS is to describe and explain why the liberal script is being challenged and deeply contested despite its political, economic, and social achievements.
SCRIPTS has been operating since and is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) until the end of as part of the Excellence Strategy of the German Government and the Federal States. The Cluster is hosted by the Freie Universität Berlin and unites eight major Berlin-based research institutes. Cluster research teams are made up of doctoral researchers, postdoctoral researchers, and professors from social, political, and area studies. SCRIPTS is well connected with research institutes and knowledge exchange partners throughout the world, including political and cultural organisations, as well as civil society actors. In addition, SCRIPTS brings renowned visiting scholars from all over the world to Berlin.
The Berlin Graduate School for Global and Transregional Studies (BGTS) is the full-time PhD programme of the Cluster of Excellence “Contestations of the Liberal Script” (SCRIPTS) The BGTS offers a rigorous and dynamic English-language PhD programme for exceptionally talented and motivated graduate students in the field of global and transregional studies, bringing together a broad spectrum of disciplines and methodological approaches.
The selection is done according to the SCRIPTS Diversity Rules & Guidelines: should be uploaded via the BGTS application portal at: