Funding is provided for research stays in Germany as part of a doctoral programme or individual doctorate in France or Poland. The research projects may be conducted at universities or non-university research institutions in Germany.

In addition to promoting mobility, a central component of the programme is the establishment of working groups designed to identify common interests and research areas, support interdisciplinary projects, and build long-term networks. The working groups consist of programme fellows, doctorate candidates, postdocs, relevant DAAD alumni, partners and university faculty, thereby forming an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary community.

This programme funds exchanges between scientists and researchers from Germany and partner countries. Applications may also be submitted as a tandem. Please indicate this in the comments field of the application form if you have organised a research project jointly with other applicants.

 

Duration of the funding: 

• Funding is provided for three to twelve months.
• The funding must commence between 1 April and 30 September 2027.
• The scholarship may be used flexibly for several shorter stays within a 12-month period starting in April 2027, if necessary. When applying, you must provide a timetable outlining the breakdown of the stays (see ‘Application documents’). If the funding period is divided into several stays, you must provide concrete confirmation of supervision for at least the first period with your application.

The grant is non-renewable. 

The scholarship includes the following financial benefits:

• a monthly scholarship instalment of 1,400,00 euros
• a lump sum towards international travel costs (see important information for scholarship applicants, section F, point 2)
• payments towards health, accident and personal liability insurance cover
• a monthly lump sum for research expenses of 102,00 euros

Under certain circumstances, you can apply for the following additional benefits after start of funding:

• lump sum grants for attending conferences in the countries of the Weimar Triangle (Germany, France, Poland)
• monthly allowance for accompanying members of family, only for a funding period of more than six months; please also read our important information for scholarship applicants / section F, point 3
• monthly rent subsidy, only for a funding period of more than six months (see important information for scholarship applicants, section F, point 9)
• Allowance for language courses taken in during the scholarship period
• In the case of a disability or chronic illness: subsidy for additional costs which result from disability or chronic illness and are not covered by other funding providers
• Funding for an annual in-person networking meeting organised by the selected working group

As part of the 'Weimar Triangle Future Network: Science for Europe programme, three major science forums will be held in person, in Warsaw in 2027, Paris in 2028, and Germany in 2029. These events will bring together partner organisations, grant recipients, alumni and active programme participants, providing an opportunity to present projects and results and establish further collaborations. 

Alongside the current programme participants, partner organisations, grant recipients and alumni will also be invited.

Furthermore, outstanding trilateral projects will be awarded a research prize at the closing forum in Germany.

 

The selection committees are composed based on academic and, where applicable, regional criteria. The volunteer committee members are appointed by the DAAD Executive Board and are primarily professors and lecturers at German universities and research institutions. They review the applications and decide on the awarding of scholarships. Former DAAD scholarship recipients may also participate in the selection process. DAAD staff members chair the meetings but do not have voting rights.

 

The selection criteria are:

Academic qualifications

• academic performance and progress (incl. grade point average, grade progression)

• Knowledge of the language of instruction or working language

• If applicable, scholarly achievements after graduation, (e.g. publications, lectures, conference papers)

Quality of research project

• Quality of research proposal and preparation (originality, topicality and relevance of the project, choice of host institution and first contacts)

• Feasibility and consistency of research plan and schedule (analysis and evaluation stages)

• Incorporation of project within the overall doctorate (in terms of content and time)

Potential of the applicant

• Suitability of the applicant’s profile and the research project to the objectives of the programme (potential for personal and professional development, use of international networking in the working groups as well as own active contributions in the working groups)

• Career prospects: significance of the research project and stay in Germany for the applicant’s academic, professional and personal development

• Motivation: professional and personal reasons for the stay in Germany and the host university/institution, motivation of taking advantage of the international network within the working groups, as well as demonstrating a willingness and commitment to actively contribute to the success of the working groups; knowledge of the local language (if different from the working language); regional knowledge

• Extracurricular commitment: extracurricular knowledge and skills, social commitment

In addition, to ensure equal opportunity, the selection committee may consider special life circumstances, which you can describe in the online application form. Please refer to the important scholarship information / section E, point 3.

 

General requirements:

• If you have already started your doctorate, 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

 Language requirements:

Very good English language skills are essential. However, we do not require an official language test. The confirmation from the host university or host institute must confirm that your language skills are sufficient to pursue the research project in Germany.

After registering on the DAAD portal, please complete the online application in full. Then upload the application documents listed below to the DAAD portal in the section ‘Attachments’.

👉 All application documents must be submitted in English!

Documents to be uploaded to the DAAD portal:

• Full curriculum vitae in tabular form (max. 3 pages)
• Letter of motivation (1-3 pages) considering the following question: What do you hope to gain from your project in Germany (personally, professionally, for your career)?
• Letter of motivation for the chosen working group on the future-oriented topic (approx. 1 page), referring to the following points:
  • An explanation of which working group, amongst the five future-oriented topics, you would like to coordinate in a specialist capacity, and why you wish to contribute to that particular topic
  • An explanation of your motivation to become an active member of the Future Network
  • Ideas on how you intend to contribute to the working group’s success
  • Contribution of the own project to the success of the working group
  • If applicable: any previous experience of working in or leading working groups
  • Any existing contacts, where relevant
• A detailed description of the PhD project (5–8 pages):  Outline of the current status of the research and work undertaken, and justification of the need for a research stay abroad. Please also read our important scholarship information / section B, point 2.
• Schedule of planned research work
• University degree certificate and transcripts of records of your last academic degree (as a rule, Master or equivalent; Bachelor, if you have not yet completed your Master at the time of application). If the documents of your last academic degree are not yet available at the time of application, please be sure to submit them subsequently as soon as possible.
• Declaration from the scientific supervisor in Germany [docx-file] on safety-relevant and ethical aspects of the research project. Please upload the document in addition to the confirmation from the academic host in the portal under ‘acceptance of host institution‘.
• Confirmation from the academic host or the host institution in Germany; the confirmation must refer to your project including details of the working language, the applicant’s language skills in English and guarantee that the host institute will provide you with a workplace. Also read our important scholarship information / section C, point 3.
• Proof of admission as a doctoral candidate at the home university. 
• Summary of your final thesis (Master or equivalent) (approx. 1 page). If your degree programme did not require a final thesis, please upload a brief (informal) explanation of this to the portal instead of the summary.
• List of publications (max. 10 pages), if applicable
• Proof of language proficiency is required only if you plan to conduct fieldwork or interviews in a language other than the working language at the host institution. Otherwise, you do not need to submit proof of language proficiency. If you do submit proof of language proficiency, you will find all further information in the important scholarship information (A.9 and D.5).
• One recent letter of recommendation from a university teacher which provides information about your qualifications. The letter of recommendation consists of a freely written section and the DAAD cover sheet, which you can download from the DAAD portal. Both must be submitted together with the rest of the application documents via the DAAD portal. Please regard the instructions given on the tab “Submitting an application” in the DAAD scholarship database.

 

Documents that are not yet available by the application deadline (e.g. letter of admission) can be submitted later. Please upload a free form statement to your application in which you explain why the documents are not at hand yet and when they will be available.

• Application deadline second intake: November 2, 2026
• Selection: November 2026 - January 2027
• Funding begins: April - September 2027

The next call for applications will open in February 2027 (begin of funding between October 2027 and March 2028).

Application only via the DAAD Portal.

• 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.
• Your application is only valid if you submit all the required documents to the DAAD portal by the application deadline.
• 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.
• A subsequent application after the application period has expired is no longer possible.
• Incomplete applications cannot be considered. You are responsible for ensuring that your application is complete.

Data protection: 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.