DAAD is proud to announce Research Grants – Cotutelle Doctoral Programmes with an opportunity to carry out research or continue their education in Germany. Grants are available for German and Foreign students.

The aim of this programme is to promote binational doctoral degrees at the home university and at a university in Germany according to the so-called “cotutelle” procedure. The prerequisite is an individual agreement between the participating universities about the doctoral programme which is to be supervised.

The DAAD is the world’s largest funding organisation for the international exchange of students and researchers. Find out more about who we are and what we stand for.

Scholarship Description:

• Applications Deadline: October 11, 2018
• Course Level: Grants are available to pursue research.
• Study Subject: The DAAD offers scholarship programmes throughout the world that are generally open to all subjects, even though there are some restrictions for certain disciplines such as medicine. There are also subject-specific programmes. In the scholarship database, you can select the scholarships that are offered for your subject group.
• Scholarship Award: Value

1. Monthly payments for doctoral candidates during the stay in Germany: 1,200 euros
2. Payments towards health, accident and personal liability insurance cover
3. Travel allowance, unless these expenses are covered by the home country or another source of funding
4. One-off research allowance
5. Travel and accommodation expenses according to the German Federal Travel Expenses Law for supervising university teachers for one trip of up to 10 days
   – Undertaken by the foreign university teacher in Germany to monitor progress
   – Undertaken by the German university teacher to the home university of the scholarship holder to take part in final examinations.
   The nature of the trips should be specified in the work and time schedule submitted with the application.
6. Under certain circumstances, grant holders completing uninterrupted stays of over 6 months in Germany may receive the following additional benefits:

• Monthly rent subsidy
• Monthly allowance for accompanying members of the family

To enable grant holders to learn German in preparation for their stay in the country, DAAD offers the following services:

• Payment of course fees for the online language course “Deutsch-Uni Online (DUO)” for six months after receipt of the Scholarship Award Letter
• If necessary: Language course (2, 4 or 6 months) before the start of the research stay; the DAAD decides whether to fund the grant holder’s participation and for how long depending on language skills and project. If a language course scholarship is granted and the working language at the host institute is German, participation is compulsory.
• Allowance for a personally chosen German language course during the grant period
• Reimbursement of the fees for the TestDaF test which has either been taken in the home country after receipt of the Scholarship Award Letter or in Germany before the end of the funding period
• As an alternative to the TestDaF for scholarship holders who have taken a language course beforehand: the fee for a DSH examination taken during the scholarship period may be reimbursed.
• Nationality: Grants are available for German and Foreign students.
• Number of Scholarships: Numbers not given
• Scholarship can be taken in Germany

Eligibility for the Scholarship: 

Eligible Countries: Grants are available for German and Foreign students.

Entrance Requirements: Applicants must meet the following criteria:

Excellently-qualified doctoral candidates and graduates who have admission to a doctoral programme at the time they begin their grant-supported research.

Research periods at a state or state-recognised university in Germany for the purpose of writing a doctoral thesis, which is supervised and completed in two countries (cotutelle procedure); after the degree is successfully completed, the German university and partner institution abroad usually award the doctoral degree jointly.

English Language Requirements: The required language skills generally depend on study plans and subject: In the humanities, social sciences and in law, at least a good knowledge of German is usually expected. In the natural sciences and in engineering, at institutes at which English is spoken and for degree courses in English, proof of good English language skills may be sufficient. Depending on the country of origin and scholarship programme, however, certain language skills may be required. The “Application requirements” in the call for scholarship applications specify what requirements these may be.

Application Procedure:

How to Apply: The application procedure occurs online through the DAAD portal.
You are also required to send 1 copy of the “Application summary” (PDF file), which is generated in the DAAD portal after the online application procedure has been completed, by post to the application address.
Please note that the access to the application portal only appears while the current application period is running. After the application deadline has expired, the portal for this programme is not available until the next application period.
The access to the DAAD portal generally opens about 6 weeks before the application deadline at the latest.

Application documents

Certificates, proof of credits, certifications and translations may be scanned in non-certified form and uploaded to the DAAD portal. DAAD’s Head Office in Bonn will only request certified copies of these documents in paper form if a grant is awarded!

Documents to be uploaded to the DAAD portal

• Online application form
• Full curriculum vitae in tabular form (max. 3 pages)
• List of publications (max. 10 pages), if applicable
• Extensive and detailed description of the research proposal which has been agreed upon with both academic advisers – in the home country and in Germany – and a description of previous research work (max. 10 pages)
• Schedule of planned research work and visits from an academic adviser
• Individual supervision agreement between the home university and the cooperating German University (Cotutelle contract). If this is not yet available at the time of application, it must be subsequently submitted before the grant-supported research begins.
• University degree certificate indicating final grade(s): the certificate must be subsequently submitted before the grant-supported research begins if it is not available at the time of application.
• Proof of admission to a doctoral programme at the home university
• Other documents which support your application (example: certificates of employment, proof of placements, etc.)
• All university certificates on all annual examinations with individual grade(s), incl. explanation of grading system.
• Language certificate in the language in which the doctorate is carried out (German or English)
• Copy of school-leaving certificate which entitles holders to study at a university in the home country (with all individual grades)
• German or English translations of documents submitted in the national language

Scholarship Link