DAAD Scholarships

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) offers the following scholarships to Singaporean nationals: Research Grants for Doctoral Candidates and Young Academics and Scientists Re-Invitation Programme for Former Scholarship Holders Bilateral Exchange of Academics Study Visits to Germany for Groups of Foreign Students NB: The call for scholarship applications for the academic year 2010/ 2011 will be published in mid-2009.

General information

You would like to study or do research at a university or a non-university research institute in Germany, but are facing problems financing your overseas stay?

Germany’s higher education institutions do not normally award scholarships or grants. However, there are numerous organizations to which you can turn to regarding the possibility of getting financial support. The most extensive financial support programme is provided by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The DAAD runs several scholarship programmes for Singaporean nationals.

To find out on funding options offered not only by DAAD, but also by other selected organisations, please search the funding guide on www.funding-guide.de

The applicant's academic qualification and personal suitability are the decisive factors in all scholarship award decisions. The DAAD selection committees will above all base their decision on previous academic achievements and examination results, on professorial testimonials and references and last but not least on the research proposal submitted. The level of German language proficiency which applicants require is primarily dependent on the intended study or research project. Foreign students who wish to register at a German higher education institution will, as a rule, be required to present proof of adequate proficiency in the German language. Although the DAAD does place a greater emphasis on the applicants' academic qualifications than on their German language skills, applicants will nevertheless be expected to take every opportunity to gain and improve their knowledge of German whilst still in the home country. When awarding a scholarship, the DAAD does reserve the right to make it a condition that the candidate provides proof of adequate language skills in the form of a language test before departing for Germany. In any case, all applicants who are nominated for a scholarship are strongly advised to make use of every opportunity open to them to improve their knowledge of the German language in the time between submitting the application and leaving for Germany.

The respective scholarship programme descriptions listed below provide detailed information on the supporting documents required. Application forms can be downloaded here. Incomplete applications cannot be processed by the DAAD and will result in the applicant's exclusion from the selection procedure.


The DAAD website http://www.daad.de/stipendien/de/index.html provides, where appropriate, additional specific information for applicants from Singapore.

Links to other scholarship-awarding organizations and foundations, including the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation (AvH) and the German Research Foundation (DFG), are listed on the following websites:
http://www.daad.de/deutschland/foerderung/links/04712.en.html
http://www.daad.de/deutschland/foerderung/andere-organisationen/00465.en.html
http://www.stiftungsindex.de

Objective
Research grants provide young foreign academics and scientists with an opportunity to carry out a research project or a course of continuing education and training at a German higher education institution or non-university research institute. Research grants can be used to carry out:

• research projects at a German higher education institution for the purpose of gaining a doctorate in the home country (this includes the doctoral programmes offered for developing and transformation countries under the "DAAD Sandwich Model" – see www.daad.de/extrainfo);

• research projects at a German university for the purpose of gaining a doctorate in Germany; for projects of these kinds, we would particularly refer to the structured doctoral study programmes, such as Research Training Groups or Doctoral Research Groups, International Postgraduate Programmes, Graduate Schools, Max Planck Research Schools, etc. Please go to the following website for further information: http://www.daad.de/ipp;

• research projects or continuing education and training, but without aiming for a formal degree/qualification.

Duration
The length of the grant is set by the grant committee at the selection session. Depending on the project in question and on the applicant's work schedule, grants can be paid generally for between one and ten months, in the case of full doctoral programmes in Germany for up to three years, and in exceptions for up to a maximum of four years.

Support can only be provided for the completion of a full doctoral programme in Germany when special support policy reasons exist. Such reasons include, for example, the lack of comparable research or academic supervision opportunities in the home country or when the doctoral topic requires several years of research in Germany.

Support for full doctoral programmes in Germany is based on a programme length of three years; if foreign graduates first have to qualify for admission to a doctoral programme, grants can be awarded for a period of four years. Even when support has been awarded for a full doctoral programme, that award will initially be limited to a maximum of one year. Extensions then depend on whether or not the evaluation finds the previous award period to have been successfully completed.

Value
Depending on the award holder's academic level, the DAAD will pay a monthly award of 715 euros (graduates holding a first degree), 795 euros (doctoral candidates) or 975 euros (doctoral candidates with at least two years' academic work experience). As a rule, the scholarship additionally includes certain payments towards health insurance cover in Germany. Furthermore, the DAAD generally will pay an appropriate flat-rate travel allowance, unless the costs are covered by the home country or by another funding source.

Award holders completing a stay of more than six months receive a study and research allowance plus, where appropriate, a rent subsidy and family allowance. Funding for attendance of a language course is decided on a case-by-case basis (cf. Requirements).

When award holders take doctoral programmes run under the "DAAD Sandwich Model", the award may include the travel expenses of an academic supervisor - as long as this was already applied for in the first application.

Requirements
Applications for DAAD research grants are open to excellently-qualified university graduates who hold a Diplom or Master's degree at the time they commence the grant-supported research and, in exceptional cases, graduates holding a Bachelor's degree or already holding a doctorate/PhD (post-docs).

It is required that doctoral candidates wishing to take a doctorate/PhD in their home country will already have been admitted to an appropriate course at their home university.

The application papers must generally include written confirmation of academic supervision by a professor in Germany and expressly refer to the applicant's project, thereby confirming that the host institute will provide a workplace. If the applicant is planning to complete a doctorate at the German host university, the letter of confirmation must come from the academic supervisor (Doktorvater/Doktormutter) for the applicant's doctoral programme/thesis.

Applicants who intend to gain their doctorate within the scope of a structured doctoral study programme are required to present a letter of admission from their study programme or at least proof that they are being considered for admission.

Besides previous study achievements, the most important selection criterion is a convincing and well-planned research or continuing education and training project to be completed during the stay in Germany and which has been coordinated and agreed with an academic supervisor at the chosen German host institute.

German language skills are generally required, although the required level also depends on the applicant's project and topic, as well as on the available opportunities for learning German in the applicant's home country. In the natural sciences and in engineering disciplines, in particular, and when English is spoken at the host institute, proof of good English language skills may also be accepted. The DAAD decides on a case-by-case basis whether the applicant can attend a German language course before beginning the research grant (free of charge for the award holder). This option is only available for research grants lasting more than six months.

The award of DAAD research grants for doctoral candidates and young academics and scientists is subject to an age limit for applicants of 32.

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

Special note for medical students: The special leaflet "Additional information on DAAD-research-grants for limited, specialized medical studies" provides information on specific requirements (also available on the Internet www.daad.de/extrainfo).

Application Papers
Detailed information on what application papers need to be submitted can be found on the Application Form for "Research Grants and Study Scholarships" ("Antrag auf ein Forschungs-/Studienstipendium"), which can be obtained on the internet ( www.daad.de/en/form).

The DAAD will not consider incomplete applications.

Application deadline:
Applications must not be sent directly to the DAAD head office in Bonn; they are to be submitted to the German Embassy Singapore.

Deadline: October 15