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Research Grants – Doctoral Programmes in Germany • DAAD

DAAD research grants provide young foreign academics and scientists with an opportunity
to carry out research and continue their education in Germany. There are funding
programmes for various qualification phases and stages in a career. The grants also
promote the exchange of experience and networking amongst colleagues.

The aim of this grant programme is to support doctoral projects in Germany.

Who can apply?

Excellently-qualified young academics and scientists 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?

Doctoral programmes at a state or state-recognised institution of higher education or a non-
university research institute in Germany:

individual projects under the supervision of a university teacher or academic adviser

or

participation in a structured doctoral study programme

Note:
Doctoral theses in the areas of human medicine (Dr. med.), veterinary medicine (Dr. med.
vet.) or dentistry (Dr. med. dent.) cannot be supported.

Duration of the funding

Usually a maximum of three years, in exceptional cases up to four years; the length of
the grant is decided by a selection committee and depends on the project in question and
the applicant's work schedule.

Grants are initially awarded for a maximum of one year. Extensions depend on whether
the selection committee considers the previous award period to have been successfully
completed.

For doctoral projects in Germany that require several years of research, research phases
outside Germany can be supported if these are critical for the successful completion of
the doctoral degree. Planned stays must be specified in the application in the work and
time schedule and should not exceed a quarter of the anticipated total funding period.
Value

Depending on academic level, monthly payments of:

euros 750.- for graduates,
euros 1,000.- 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 completing an uninterrupted stay of over 6

months may receive the following additional benefits:

monthly rent subsidy

monthly allowance for accompanying family members

To enable grant holders to improve their language skills in preparation for their stay in
Germany, DAAD offers the following services:

Payment of course fees for the online language course "Deutsch-Uni Online (DUO)" (
www.deutsch-uni.com [http://www.deutsch-uni.com]) for six months after receipt of the
Scholarship Award Letter

if necessary: Language course (2, 4 or 6 months) before the start of the research stay;
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 fees for the TestDaF test which has either been 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.
The most important selection criteria:

a convincing and well-planned research project or course of continuing education

academic achievements

Additional documents that prove academic suitability or provide information about

extracurricular activities will also be considered in the assessment.

What requirements must be met?

 As a rule, applicants should not have graduated any longer than six years before the time
of application. If you are already working on a doctoral degree, you should not have
started your degree any longer than three years previously.

Applicants who have been resident in Germany for longer than 15 months at the time of
application cannot be considered.

Language skills

Applicants are generally expected to be able to prove that they have a basic knowledge
of German at the time of application and must prove that they have a good knowledge of
English (TOEFL iBT 80 resp. IELTS 6.0), too

The application procedure occurs online through the DAAD portal. You are also required
to send 2 copy/copies of the "Application summary" (PDF file), which is generated in the
DAAD portal after the online application procedure has been completed, and other
appendices by post to the application address.

Please note that the "Submitting an application" tab in the scholarship database 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.

To apply, please select the call for applications for this programme in the scholarship
database (www.funding-guide.de). From here, you can enter the portal by clicking the tab
"Submitting an application".

Application documents
Certificates, proof of credits, certifications and translations may be scanned in non-certified
form and uploaded to the DAAD portal. DAAD's Head Office in Bonn will only request
certified copies of the submitted documents in paper form if a grant is awarded!

1. 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

Extensive and detailed description of the research proposal and a description of previous
research work (max. 10 pages)

In the case of individual projects supervised by a university teacher (academic adviser)

Letter confirming supervision by a university teacher in Germany (academic adviser)

Schedule of planned research work

In the case of planned participation in a structured doctoral study programme:

Letter of admission to a study programme; this can be subsequently submitted before

the grant-supported research begins if it is not available at the time of application.

Proof of existing contacts to the coordinator of the doctoral programme in the form of
copies of correspondence

Also for all applicants:

Diplom or 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 placements, etc.)

Language Certificate (TestDaF or TOEFL iBT/IELTS)

2. To be submitted by post:

The "Application summary", which is generated in the portal in PDF format and which can
be printed out after the online application procedure is completed; please send 2
copy/copies to the application address.

Two recent references from university teachers which provide information about your
qualifications; please enclose the references in envelopes with each copy of your
application

A health certificate; this is only required, if you are selected for a scholarship. Therefore,
please submit this document not before requested to do so by the DAAD Head Office.

Application deadline
15.10.2014

Application location
Information Center Kuala Lumpur
German Business Center, Suite 47.03, Menara AmBank, No. 8 Jalan Yap Kwan Seng
50450 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
E-Mail.: info@daadkl.org [mailto:info@daadkl.org]
WWW.: http://ic.daad.de/kualalumpur [http://ic.daad.de/kualalumpur]

Please note

Your application is only valid if you submit all the required documents to the DAAD portal
(see Item 1) and by post (see Item 2). The postmark date serves as proof that the
application has been dispatched on time.
 The DAAD portal closes at 24.00 hrs. Central European Time (CET) on the last application
day.

Late or incomplete applications cannot be considered. Applicants are responsible for

ensuring that their applications are complete.

The application documents remain with the DAAD. Data relating to applicants is saved by
the DAAD in accordance with the Federal Data Protection Act insofar as this data is
needed to process applications.

Information and advisory centres

Information Center Kuala Lumpur
German Business Center, Suite 47.03, Menara AmBank, No. 8 Jalan Yap Kwan Seng
50450 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
E-Mail.: info@daadkl.org [mailto:info@daadkl.org]
WWW.: http://ic.daad.de/kualalumpur [http://ic.daad.de/kualalumpur]

More detailed information

DAAD website section "PhD studies and research"

[https://www.daad.de/deutschland/promotion/de/]

Website "Research in Germany" [http://www.research-in-germany.de/dachportal/en.html]

Website "Research Explorer" [http://research-explorer.dfg.de/research_explorer.de.html]