Finding Scholarships

Application requirements

What requirements must be met?

At the time of their application, applicants for a DLR-DAAD Fellowship must

• not be of German nationality, or must be able to proof that the main place of residence lies outside of Germany for at least six years,
• be able to prove their outstanding study or research achievements in the field of research corresponding to the fellowship offer,
• Type A –have completed a first qualifying degree (Bachelor's, Diploma, equivalent) and must be enrolled in a Master's programme at a foreign or German university,
• Type B – have completed their studies or research with a university degree not more than six years ago,
• Type C – have completed their studies with a doctorate/PhD/Candidate (Russia) not more than two years ago,
• Type D – applicants are working in higher education or at a research institute; positions are open to outstandingly-qualified academics and scientists who should generally hold a doctorate/ PhD, additional prerequisites may differ and are stated in the fellowship offers,
• Type E – PhD applicants have completed a first qualifying degree and are currently enrolled in PhD studies; Postdoc applicants must have completed their studies with a doctorate/PhD/Candidate (Russia) not more than two years ago.

Language skills

An excellent knowledge of English; knowledge of German is advantageous.

Application Procedure

Application deadline

If an application deadline exists, it is mentioned in the current offers.
The DLR-DAAD scholarships are awarded with the principle 'first come first serve', therefore fellowship offers may sometimes be allocated to other applicants while your application is still processed.

Application documents

Type A
The following documents must be uploaded to the DAAD portal:

• Online application form;
• Cover page;
• Statement of the reasons for applying for a certain fellowship: Appendix;
• Complete curriculum vitae;
• Abstract of the final Bachelor (or equivalent) thesis;
• Bachelor or similar degree certificate indicating final grade(s): the certificate must be subsequently submitted before the grant-supported research begins if it is not yet available at the time of application;
• German or English translation of documents submitted in the national language;
• All university certificates on all annual examinations with individual grade(s), incl. explanation of grading System;
• Proof of Enrolment for Master's programme;
• Proof of English proficiency;
• One letter of recommendation from a professor of the applicant’s home institution.
  The reference letter must be sent to the DAAD by post or can be submitted digitally by the referees via the reference database.

Type B and Type C
The following documents must be uploaded to the DAAD portal:

• Online application form;
• Cover page;
• Statement of the reasons for applying for a certain fellowship: Appendix;
• Complete curriculum vitae;
• List of publications, if applicable;
• Abstract of the final Master or PhD thesis (max. 3 pages);
• University degree certificate indicating final grade(s): the certificate must be subsequently submitted before the grant-supported research begins if it is not yet available at the time of application;
• English language certificate giving evidence of the applicant's Level of proficiency (e.g. TOEFL IBT min. 79, IELTS min. 6.5);
• German or English translation of documents submitted in the national language;
• All university certificates on all annual examinations with individual grade(s), incl. explanation of grading System.
  Applicants are not required to submit any confirmation of academic supervision.
• Two letters of recommendation which should be written by a senior academic of the applicant’s own choice.
  The reference letters must be sent to the DAAD by post or can be submitted digitally by the referees via the reference database.

Type D
The following documents have to be uploaded to the DAAD portal:

• Online application form;
• Cover page;
• Statement of the reasons for applying for a certain fellowship: Appendix;
• Complete curriculum vitae;
• List of publications.

Type E
The following documents have to be uploaded to the DAAD portal:

• Online application form;
• Cover page;
• Statement of the reasons for applying for a certain fellowship: Appendix;
• Complete curriculum vitae;
• All university certificates on all annual examinations with individual grade(s), incl. explanation of grading System;
• List of publications.

Important notice for all applicants:
Within the DLR-DAAD programme, you can only apply for a DLR institute, not for a university or any other institution.

By applying for a fellowship within the 'DLR-DAAD Research Fellowhips' Programme you give your consent to the DAAD to forward your documents and your personal details to DLR and its relevant institutions. The DAAD and the DLR will not pass on your details to third parties.

Application location

Please ask the referees to send the letters of recommendation to:

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
Section ST43/DLR
Kennedyallee 50
53175 Bonn
Germany

Please note

• The application documents remain with the DAAD. Data relating to applicants is saved by the DAAD in accordance with the Federal Data Protection Act and the EU Data Protection Regulation insofar as this data is needed to process the application.
• Please be aware that only complete applications will be accepted. Applicants are responsible for their applications' completeness.

Contact and Consulting

Information and advisory centres

Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst
German Academic Exchange Service
Section ST43 – Research Fellowship Programmes
Kennedyallee 50
53175 Bonn

Ms Katrin Bußmeier
E-Mail: dlr-daad-program@daad.de

Submitting an application

General information on the application via DAAD portal

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 (Read notes about registering in the portal >>)

2. Request recommendation form
You can generate the recommendation form in the DAAD portal as a writable PDF under 'Request recommendation form'. Please send it to your referee and ask him or her to complete the form in full. The letter of recommendation can be submitted digitally by the referees via the reference database. Provide your referee the link to the reference database or application address (see tab 'Application procedure' under 'Application address') so that he/she can send the letter of recommendation directly to the DAAD.

Please note that the form for completion by a referee can only be generated during the application period. Please generate one form for each referee.
The document is confidential and may not be viewed by the applicant!

3. Applying online in the DAAD portal (Read notes on applying in the portal >>)

• Prepare application documents
• If necessary, translate documents (unless they are already in German or English).
• Scan paper documents and save in PDF format. You can only upload PDF files to the portal.
• Fill out the application form and upload the 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 application online.

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.
You can also call the technical portal hotline on weekdays from 9-12 and 14-16 (CET/CEST) on +49 (0) 228 882-8888.
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.