Application Deadline: 24.09.2025
LOCATION: Germany
This scholarship programme offers you the opportunity to complete your doctoral degree in Germany. The scholarships are funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.
ELIGIBILITY:
As a rule, applicants 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.
Please also read our Important Scholarship Information / Section A, point 2.
Your application cannot be considered if you have been resident in Germany for longer than 15 months at the application deadline.
For applicants from the fields of human medicine, veterinary medicine, and dentistry, other regulations are applicable. Please refer to www.daad.de/extrainfo.
a Licence or maîtrise degree of “assez bien” level and a DEA/DESS degree or a Master corresponding to the LMD system are required; or
A Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree of 2nd class upper division level and a Master of Arts/Master of Science degree are required
You can apply if you have above-average qualifications and you completed your Master’s degree or Diploma, or in exceptional cases a Bachelor’s degree, at the latest by the time the funding period begins.
Language skills: Good German language skills—especially for students taking arts subjects—are usually a requirement for study and research projects in Germany. Exceptions are possible if the project is carried out in English.
A prior language course of 4 to 6 months is generally included in the scholarship
BENEFIT:
Monthly payments of 1,400 euros
Payments towards health, accident, and personal liability insurance cover (see also our important information for scholarship applicants / section F, point 4)
Travel allowance: annual research allowance of € 460
Under certain circumstances, you can apply for the following additional benefits after the start of funding:
monthly rent subsidy (please read the important scholarship information / section F, point 9)
monthly allowance for accompanying family members. Please also read our important information for scholarship applicants / section F, point 3.
In case of a disability or chronic illness: on application, a subsidy may be provided for justified additional costs incurred abroad that are necessary to realise the project in Germany and that are not covered by a third party; whether and to what extent a subsidy will be paid, will be reviewed and determined on an individual basis (see important information for scholarship applicants, section F, point 8)
To enable you to improve your language skills in preparation for your stay in Germany, 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.
Allowance for a personally chosen German language course during the grant period
Reimbursement of the fee for a TestDaF or DSH test, which you can take either in your home country after you have received your Scholarship Award Letter or in Germany during your funding period.
Benefits from third parties are partially credited towards the DAAD scholarship. Information on this can be found in the important scholarship information in section F, point 6.