Objective

The primary aim of this programme is to promote research projects within the context of doctoral programmes.

Who can apply?

Excellently-qualified doctoral candidates and young academics and scientists (except postdocs) who have completed a Master's degree or Diplom, or in exceptional cases a Bachelor's degree at the latest by the time they begin their grant-supported research.

What can be funded?

A research project or course of continuing scientific education at a state or state-recognised institution of higher education in Germany or a non-university research institute, which is being carried out in coordination with an academic adviser in Germany.

Duration of the funding

  • 7 months to a maximum of 12 months; the length of the grant is decided by a selection committee and depends on the project in question and the applicant's work schedule.
  • The grant is non-renewable.

Value

  • Depending on academic level, monthly payments of
    euros 861.- for graduates,
    euros 1,200.- for doctoral candidates
  • Payments towards health, accident and personal liability insurance cover
  • Travel allowance, unless these expenses are covered by the home country or another source of funding
  • One-off research allowance
Under certain circumstances, grant holders may receive the following additional benefits:
  • monthly rent subsidy
  • monthly allowance for accompanying members of family
  • In the case of a disability or chronic illness: subsidy for additional costs which result from the disability or chronic illness and are not covered by other funding providers: Further information

To enable grant holders to learn German in preparation for their stay in the country, DAAD offers the following services:
  • Payment of course fees for an online language course after receipt of the Scholarship Award Letter
  • if necessary: Language course (2, 4 or 6 months) before the start of the research stay in Germany; the DAAD decides whether to fund the grant holder's participation and for how long depending on language skills and project. If a language course scholarship is granted and the working language at the host institute is German, participation is compulsory. Due to the pandemic, German courses may take place online.
  • Allowance for a personally chosen German language course during the grant period
  • Reimbursement of the fees for the TestDaF or DSH test which is either taken in the home country after receipt of the Scholarship Award Letter or in Germany before the end of the funding period

Selection

An independent selection committee consisting of specialist scientists reviews applications.

Central selection criteria are:
  • a convincing and well-planned research or training project
  • academic achievements
Furthermore, additional documents submitted that prove the applicant's professional aptitude or provide information about extracurricular commitment will also be included in the evaluation.

In addition, in order to ensure equal opportunities, the selection committee may take into account special life circumstances, about which you can provide information in the application form.
For further information on the selection procedure, please refer to the Important Scholarship Information / Section E.

What requirements must be met?

  • As a rule, you should not have graduated any longer than six years before the application deadline. If you have already started your doctorate, it also applies that the start of the doctorate should not be longer than 3 years ago..
  • Your application cannot be considered, if you have been resident in Germany for longer than 15 months at the application deadline.
Note:
For applicants from the fields of human medicine, veterinary medicine and dentistry, other regulations are applicable. Please refer to www.daad.de/extrainfo.

  • Applicants from third countries or German applicants, who live in a foreign country, are asked to get in touch with the responsible branch office or section within the DAAD before they hand in an application to discuss possible special application requirements.
  • The scholarship should start with the winter semester (October); an earlier/later beginning is only accepted in very exceptional cases and should be discussed with the responsible branch office respectively section within the DAAD before submitting the application.

Language skills

  • The required language level depends on the applicant's study plans and subject: In the arts, social sciences and in law, at least a good knowledge of German is usually expected. For the natural sciences and engineering, proof of good English language skills may also be accepted if English is spoken at the host institute.
  • Good German language skills – especially for researchers taking arts subjects – are usually a requirement for a research project in Germany. Exceptions are possible if research grant holders are participating in a programme which is taught in English.

Application documents

Certificates, proof of credits, certifications and translations may be scanned in non-certified form and uploaded to the DAAD portal. The DAAD reserves the right to request certified copies of the documents.

Documents to be uploaded to the DAAD portal
  • Online application form
  • Full curriculum vitae in tabular form (max. 3 pages)
  • List of publications (max. 10 pages), if applicable
  • A proposal, prepared and formulated by yourself, as well as a description of previous research work (max. 10 pages in total). A proposal is an extensive and detailed description of the research project which has been discussed with the academic adviser. Please also read our Important Scholarship Information / section B, point 2.
  • Schedule of planned research work
  • Letter confirming supervision by an academic adviser in Germany, which refers to the applicant's proposal and confirms that the host institute will provide a workplace
  • University degree certificate indicating final grade(s): the certificate must be subsequently submitted before the grant-supported research begins if it is not available at the time of application.
  • Other documents which support your application (example: certificates of employment, proof of practical training/internships or social commitment etc. )
  • German or English translations of documents submitted in the national language (to be uploaded with the corresponding documents)
  • All university certificates on all annual examinations with individual grade(s), incl. explanation of grading system.
  • An up-to-date German language certificate (exception see "language skills")
  • Proof of admission to a doctoral programme at the home university insofar as the applicant intends to take a doctoral degree there
Current note: If a language certificate is part of the application documents, please note the following: In the absolute exception, if you are unable to submit a language certificate due to Corona (e.g. due to the closure of universities or language test centres and if no digital language test is possible either), please upload an appropriate justification with a self-assessment of your current language level according to the CEFR instead of the missing document (tips for self-assessment of your language skills can be found here, under section A, point 8).
In these cases, the absence of a language certificate does not lead to a formal rejection of your scholarship application by the DAAD. However, submitted language certificates are included in the assessment. If you acquire language certificates after the application deadline, please submit them later.
Please note that you will still need proof of language proficiency in order to apply for a place at a German higher education institution and thus to be able to take up the scholarship.

To be submitted by post
One recent reference from a university teacher which provides information about your qualifications (hand-signed, no digital or scanned signature). Please regard the instructions given on the tab “Submitting an application“.


The application procedure occurs online through the DAAD portal.

Please note that the access to the application portal only appears while the current application period is running. After the application deadline has expired, the portal for this programme is not available until the next application period.
The access to the DAAD portal generally opens about 6 weeks before the application deadline at the latest.

Application deadline

Application deadlines are updated at least once a year. In most cases, they are in the same period as the previous year. You can find the current dates here:

17.01.2022
For funding periods starting in the upcoming wintersemester 2022/23.

Application location

Branch Office London
German Academic Exchange Service
9 Gower Street
WC1E 6HB London
United Kingdom
Tel.: +44 (20)/7831-9511
E-Mail.: scholarships.london@daad.de
WWW.: http://www.daad.org.uk

Please note

  • Your application is only valid if you submit all the required documents to the DAAD portal on time.
  • For submitting references by post, the postmark date serves as proof that they have been dispatched on time.
  • (If further documents are to be submitted by post, please send them as soon as possible.)
  • The DAAD portal closes at 24.00 hrs. (CET or CEST) on the last application day.
  • Incomplete applications cannot be considered. You are responsible for ensuring that your applications are complete.
  • The application documents remain with the DAAD. Your personal data is saved by the DAAD in accordance with the Federal Data Protection Act and with the EU Data Protection Regulation insofar as this data is needed to process the application.

Information and advisory centres

Branch Office London
German Academic Exchange Service
9 Gower Street
WC1E 6HB London
United Kingdom
Tel.: +44 (20)/7831-9511
E-Mail.: scholarships.london@daad.de
WWW.: http://www.daad.org.uk

After the selection process:
DAAD - Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst
German Academic Exchange Service
Section ST24 - Western, Northern and Southern Europe
Mr. Luca Richardt
Phone: +49 (228) 882-241
Mail: richardt@daad.de

More detailed information

Further information


Please note:
As the DAAD Portal is not fully compatible with mobile devices please use a desktop or laptop computer to submit your application. Technical requirements

General information on the application via DAAD portal

You can access the DAAD portal by clicking "Application portal" at the end of the page. Here you will find an online application form in which you can enter your application data.

This is what you have to do:

1. Register in the DAAD portal (Read notes about registering in the portal >>)

2. Request references
The form, which has to be completed by a referee, has to be generated in the DAAD portal in the section "Request reference" after registration and downloaded. Please send the form by e-mail to your referee and ask for the completed reference form to be returned to you in a sealed envelope. In each case, please provide your referee with the application address thus enabling him/her to send the recommendation letter there direct.

Please note that the form for completion by a referee can only be generated during the application period (from about 6 weeks before the application deadline).
Please generate one form for each referee.
The reference is confidential and may not be viewed by the applicant!

3. Applying online in the DAAD portal (Read notes on applying in the portal >>)
  • Download and complete the online application form
  • Prepare application documents
  • If necessary, translate documents (unless they are already in German or English).
  • Scan paper documents (except references) and save in PDF format. Please note that you can only upload PDF files to the portal.
  • Upload the completed application form and the other application documents to the portal in PDF format. Translations, if applicable, should be uploaded together with the document issued in the original language.
  • Submit the uploaded application documents online.

4. Sending application documents by post
References must be sent in the unopened envelope to the application location.


Information for applicants from non-EU countries:
Please remember to specify the exact contents of your postal consignment in the documents for the customs authorities, e.g. "Application for a scholarship with application documents, a reference and a DVD with work samples (no commercial goods, no merchandise value, no insurable value)".

Please note:
If you have any technical questions or problems your local information and advice centres could not help you with, please do not hesitate to contact our technical Portal hotline: +49 (0228) 882-8888 or via e-mail portal@daad.de, open every weekday from 9.00 am to 12.00 pm and from 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm (CET).
Please consider this when you are planning your application.

The Portal is currently closed for this programme. Please look up Application Procedure to find the relevant application deadline.