Funding an individual doctorate PhD? (Berlin)

Hi all,

I'm planning a move to Germany in Protected content Melbourne, Australia) to start a PhD in social sciences / political philosophy. I've been trying to navigate my way around the info on scholarships and funding, but it can be a bit confusing so if anyone has advice/insight on the following points it would be much appreciated.

I have a proposal, but no supervisor (Doktorvater/mutter) organised yet. Any suggestions for finding a supervisor? I'm not in a rush, so my plan is to come over and go to conferences and campus events at various institutions and meet people to find a suitable fit.

The deadline for DAAD scholarships is end of October, for commencement in October the following year, as far as I can tell. But in the application they want to see that you have a supervisor already lined up and have made all the arrangements already.

If I come over next year and organise something, will I then have to wait until potentially October Protected content start, or will I be able to start and then apply for a scholarship having already started the PhD?

Will it make any difference if I am in country already and/or how long I have been in Germany?

I'll be travelling on a UK passport so I should have EU national status with work/study rights.

Are there other well-known funding opportunities for individual doctorates besides DAAD? Everything I've found seems to point back to them.

Is teaching/research work a common path that people take also? How willing/helpful are universities in facilitating this?

Any advice on best universities in my discipline? FUB and HU both seem suitable, but I'd also consider unis outside Berlin.

Any other thoughts/advice?

Many thanks,
Danu