DAAD Graduate Scholarships for Study/Research in Germany

Overview

DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) is a registered members association made up of German institutions of higher education and student bodies.  DAAD provides young people with the opportunity to gain international academic and research experience in Germany.  Since it was founded in 1925, DAAD has provided funding to more than 1.9 million scholars in Germany and abroad.

DAAD has invited UC Irvine to nominate two priority candidates for the Research Grants in Germany Program (formerly the short-term and long-term grant programs).  Candidates who aren’t selected as UC Irvine’s priority applicant are still able to apply; however, they will run in the open competition with candidates with all over North America.  DAAD also offers many additional opportunities for students to study or do research in Germany which students are free to apply for directly. For information on our DAAD funding please visit the Scholarship Database.

Award Information

• Study Scholarships(USA): final year undergraduate students or those who have received an undergraduate degree of all disciplines for a full master’s degree program at a German university, or for study at a German university as part of a postgraduate or Master’s degree program completed in the home country.

• Research Grants in Germany (USA): doctoral students in a US/Canadian program (or those who will be enrolled by the beginning of funding) interested in a research project in Germany for funding between 2-12 months, or those who have already completed a PhD (postdocs) for funding between 2-6 months
• Research Grants-Bi-nationally Supervised Doctoral degrees/Cotutelle (USA): doctoral students who have admission to a doctoral program at the time they begin their grant-supported research. The aim of this program is the funding of bi-national doctoral projects at the home university and at a university in Germany.

*After selecting  the scholarship in the scholarship database above, students can view regional-specific information from the US and Canada including the checklists.

Important Dates

Application Opens:  August 19, 2024
UCI Submission Deadline (for priority candidate consideration): September 27, 2024 by 5:00pm PST
Priority candidate will be notified by October 18, 2024
DAAD External Deadlines:  October 31, 2024

Please note: applicants for the Short-Term Research Grant and applicants in the artistic fields do not apply via the internal process and should follow application instructions on the DAAD website. 

Eligibility Criteria

Detailed eligibility criteria can be found on the DAAD Website.

You can apply if you:

• are doing your doctorate at a university or research institution outside Germany or
• have already completed your doctorate (post-doc, up to 4 years after completing your doctorate)
• You cannot apply if you are doing your entire doctorate at a German university.

Candidates will be evaluated on:

• General and subject-related preparedness, and suitability of the applicant
• Subject-related quality, preparation, and feasibility of the proposal
• Reasons for wanting to study/conduct research in Germany
• Quality of reference/recommendation letter

German language ability is not a requirement for this grant. Students should demonstrate language skills commensurate with their study and research needs. German universities are increasingly offering courses of study that are conducted in foreign languages and because DAAD wants to support such developments, applications may also be submitted for these programs.

Application Process

Applicants should submit the following by the UCI internal deadline of September 27, 2024 by 5:00pm:

1. Submit all requested documents via the DAAD online-portal
2. Send the reference form (available on portal) to your professors and ask them to email a signed copy to Turner Dahl at tdahl@uci.edu
3. Once the applicant has submitted all required documents via the online portal, a PDF file of the application summary will become available. Please send this to Turner Dahl (tdahl@uci.edu) at the Graduate Division.

Contact

Fellowship Inquiry Form or email gd-fellowship@uci.edu