Finding Scholarships

Application requirements

What requirements must be met?

Please check if the following criteria are fulfilled:

• As a rule, your university degree should not date back more than 6 years at the time of the application deadline. Please read our important information for scholarship applicants / Section A, point 2.
• Please note that you yourself are responsible for ensuring your application for admission to the German university for your chosen study programme is submitted by the due date. It is therefore important that you find out about admission requirements, application and enrolment deadlines at your host university and regulations regarding entry into Germany in good time. If you have not yet received notification of admission at the time of application, you must submit this before the funding period begins. A Scholarship Award Letter from the DAAD is only valid if you have been admitted to study at the host university named in your application.
• If the degree programme includes a period of study or work placement outside Germany lasting several months, this period abroad is usually only funded under the following conditions:
  - The study visit is essential for achievement of the scholarship objective,
  - the visit does not take place in the home country, and
  - it is no longer than a quarter of the scholarship period. Longer periods cannot be funded, even partially.
• Your application cannot be considered, if you have been resident in Germany for longer than 15 months at the application deadline.

Language skills

The language of instruction for study programmes in Germany is German. In international programmes, the language of instruction is English, or German and English.

When you apply to the DAAD for a scholarship, you must provide proof of your level of proficiency in the language of instruction (German, English, or German and English) in your chosen study programme.

• If the language of instruction is German, the following certificates are usually eligible: TestDaF, DSH, Deutsches Sprachdiplom der Kultusministerkonferenz (DSD), Goethe-Zertifikat, Österreichisches Sprachdiplom, telc Deutsch and onSET Deutsch.
• If the language of instruction is English, the following certificates can be submitted, for example: Cambridge English, Cambridge Business, IELTS, ISE, TOEFL iBT, TOEFL Essentials, TOEIC, PTE Academic and onSET English.

In the section 'Application procedure' under 'Application documents', find out whether specific certification is required for your country of origin.

Application Procedure

Application deadline

Application deadlines are updated annually in the second quarter. In most cases, they are in the same period as the previous year. You can find the current dates here:

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)
• Statement about academic and personal reasons for the planned study project in Germany (letter of motivation; 1 - 3 pages). Please also read our important information for scholarship applicants / Section B, Point 1. Please upload the letter of motivation under 'study project/motivation' in the DAAD portal.
• Letter of admission to the study programme at the host university in Germany. If you have not yet received notification of admission at the time of application, you must submit this before the funding period begins.
• If you are planning to do a second degree or Master’s programme in Germany, you must submit the form 'Information about your preferred master programmes'. Please upload the form duly completed under 'course profile' in the DAAD portal.
• If you are planning to spend time studying in Germany as part of a second or Master's degree programme abroad, you must submit proof that credits acquired in Germany will be recognised by your home university.
• Current overview of grades/ transcript of records with individual grades (to be uploaded under 'university degree certificates' in the DAAD portal)
• University degree certificate indicating final grade(s): the certificate must be subsequently submitted by the time funding starts if you have not yet completed your programme at the time of application. Please upload your certificate under 'university degree certificates' in the DAAD portal.
• Proof of knowledge of language(s) of instruction in the chosen study programme (should be no older than 2 years). Please refer to 'Application requirements' to find out which proofs can generally be submitted. Depending on the country, specific documents may be required, which are listed below, if applicable. Please submit certificates via the DAAD portal even if the university does not require proof of language skills.
• One recent, supporting letter of recommendation (previously: 'reference form') from a university teacher which provides information about your qualifications. Please regard the instructions given on the tab 'Submitting an application'.
  In the current application procedure, the recommendation can be sent to the DAAD by post as an alternative to uploading it on the portal. Please note the information given under 'Application location' for this purpose.
• Other documents you think might be of relevance to your application (e.g. certificates of employment, proof of extracurricular engagement)

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If you submit documents in your national language, please include German or English translations.

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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.

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. If possible, please do not send your application on the final date in case technical problems occur.
• 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.

Contact and Consulting

More detailed information

• DAAD website section 'Important information for scholarship applicants'
• DAAD website section 'Study programmes and language courses'
• DAAD website section 'Plan your studies' to help you prepare for your stay in Germany
• Campaign website https://www.study-in-germany.de/en/

Submitting an application

General information on the application via DAAD portal

Applications for this scholarship programme are possible in the period June until the stated application deadline.
Click on 'Application portal' at the bottom of the page to go to the DAAD portal. There you will be provided with an online application form to enter your application data.

This is what you have to do:

1. Register in the DAAD portal

2. Request recommendation form
You can generate the recommendation form (previously: 'reference form') in the DAAD Portal as a writable PDF under 'Request reference form'. Please send it to your referee and ask him or her to complete the form in full. When you have received it back, please upload it in the portal under 'Letter of Recommendation'.
Alternatively, the referee can send the form by post to the application address (see tab 'Application procedure' under 'Application location'). The postmark will then be used to ensure that the form was sent by the deadline.
Please note that the form for completion by a referee can only be generated during the application period.

3. Applying online in the DAAD portal

• Prepare application documents
• If necessary, translate documents (unless they are already in German or English).
• Scan paper documents and save in PDF format. Please note that you can only upload PDF files to the portal.
• Fill out the application form and upload 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
Letters of recommendation can be sent to the application location (see tab 'Application procedure') as an alternative to uploading them in the portal.
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The postmark date serves as proof that they have been dispatched on time.

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 documents for scholarship (contains no commercial goods, no merchandise or 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 portal@daad.de via e-mail.
Please consider possible processing times of your request when you are planning your application.

Currently you cannot apply for this programme. Please note the application deadline specified under the Application procedure tab.