Brief description:

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholarships offer foreign graduates from development and newly industrialized countries from all disciplines and with at least two years’ professional experience the chance to take a postgraduate or Master’s degree at a state or state-recognized German university, and in exceptional cases to take a doctoral degree, and to obtain a university qualification (Master’s/PhD) in Germany.

Host Institution(s):

German Universities offering development-related postgraduate courses

Level/Field(s) of Study:

Masters or PhD courses in Economic Sciences/Business Administration/Political Economics; Development Cooperation; Engineering and Related Sciences; Mathematics; Regional and Urban Planning; Agricultural and Forest Sciences; Natural and Environmental Sciences; Medicine and Public Health; Social Sciences, Education and Law; and Media Studies.

See the list of all Postgraduate courses with application deadlines 2026/27.

Number of Scholarships:

Limited

Target group:

Students from eligible countries

Scholarship value/inclusions/duration:

The scholarships include monthly payments of 992 euros for graduates or 1,300 euros for doctoral candidates; payments towards health, accident and personal liability insurance cover; and travel allowance, unless these expenses are covered by the home country or another source of funding. Under certain circumstances, scholarship holders may receive the following additional benefits: monthly rent subsidy and monthly allowance for accompanying members of family.

The scholarship duration is 12 to 24 months (depending on the particular institution) for Masters and 42 months for PhD.

Eligibility:

The typical scholarship holder:

• Is currently working either for a public authority or a state or private company in a developing country and, as such, is engaged in the planning and execution of directives and projects with emphasis on development policies having a bearing on technological, economic or social areas

• Holds a Bachelor’s degree (normally four years) in a related subject.

• Has completed an academic degree with far above average results (upper third) and at least two years of related professional experience after the first degree (bachelor) at the time of application

• His/her academic degrees should normally not be more than six years old.

• Is a national of a country listed on the OECD-DAC list (except Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia (including Kosovo), Turkey)

• For study courses in German: At the time of application, a current German language certificate according to the requirements of the respective study course, but no older than two years, must be submitted to prove a minimum of B1 level. The DAAD scholarship includes a preparatory German language course in Germany of up to six months. This course prepares the scholarship holders for the DSH 2 or TestDaF 4 or Telc C1 (university) language exams. Passing these exams is a formal requirement for enrolling in the courses in German.

• For courses in English: Proof of adequate language skills, according to the regulations of the respective course.

Application instructions:

Applications must be made directly to the respective course. Please refer to the respective course websites for the application procedure, the application deadline, and the documents to be submitted. Deadline varies depending on the course but falls around August-October 2025.

It is important to read the FAQs and the 2026/2027 brochure and visit the official website to access the application form and for complete information on how to apply for this scholarship.