DAAD Research Grants – Doctoral Programmes in Germany 2024 for Young Foreign Academics

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.

Application Deadline: 20th October 2023

Eligible Countries: International

To be Taken at (Country): Germany

Type: Research

Eligibility: 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.

• As a rule, applicants should not have graduated any longer than six years before the application deadline. 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 application deadline cannot be considered.

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

Selection Criteria: 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.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award:

• Depending on academic level, monthly payments of:
  euros 850.- for graduates,
  euros 1,200.- for doctoral candidates
• Payments towards health, accident and personal liability insurance cover
• Travel allowance
• 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) 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
• As an alternative to the TestDaF for scholarship holders who have taken a language course beforehand: the fee for a DSH examination taken during the scholarship period may be reimbursed.

Duration of Award:

• a maximum of 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.

How to Apply:

• It is important to go through all application requirements in the Award Webpage (see Link below) before applying.
• GOODLUCK

Visit Award Webpage for Details