DAAD: research scholarships for doctoral candidates

These grants support graduates who:

• Have completed a Master's degree, or are already taking a doctoral degree 
• Plan to work on any research project except for human medicine, veterinary medicine and dentistry
• Know the language of instruction of the desired study programme and have a language certificate to prove it

• Completed application form
• CV in tabular form — up to 3 pages 
• Letter of motivation — up to 2 pages 
• A list of publications, if so
• A detailed description of a research project you want to implement  — up to 10 pages. Please indicate how long you wish to receive funding
• University degree certificate indicating final grades 
• Letter of recommendation
• A language certificate confirming knowledge of the language in which the Master's program is taught
• Other documents that will strengthen your application: certificates of internship, etc.
• If you will work on research — a project schedule plan and confirmation from the scientific supervisor
• If you are applying for a doctoral program — a module plan, contact details of the coordinator and a letter of admission to a study programme

Please note that all documents must be in PDF format. For papers submitted in Ukrainian, please provide German or English translations.

By 15 November, apply via the DAAD online portal. You can find step-by-step instructions here.

If you need help with the application portal, contact portal@daad.de. 

You will find out the results in April 2025.

• You should find an academic host in Germany yourself. Choose a state-funded, state-recognised university or a non-university research institute, which is being carried out in agreement with a supervisor in Germany. 
• You may apply if you completed your Master's degree no later than six years before the application deadline and started your doctorate no later than three years ago.
• If the competition results are not yet available, enrollment confirmation can be provided later — before the doctoral programme studies start.
• If your scientific research is in the arts, social sciences and law, you should have a good to excellent knowledge of German. The other fields require basic knowledge of German and good English knowledge. 
• You may apply for the scholarship if you have been resident in Germany for longer than 15 months at the application deadline.
• Find more opportunities from DAAD at the link.