Objective

The aim of this programme is the funding of bi-national doctoral projects at the home university and at a university in Germany.
The programme offers two options:
Option a) Doctorate with bi-national supervision: The doctoral project is supervised both by a university teacher at the home university and an academic adviser at the host institute in Germany (so-called "sandwich model"). The project must be coordinated with both supervisors. Doctoral candidates start their doctoral degree in their home country but subsequently spend research periods in Germany. The doctorate is completed in the home country with participation of the German academic adviser; the doctoral degree is awarded by the home university.

Option b) Doctorate following the “Cotutelle” procedure: Funding of bi-national doctoral degrees at the home university and at a university in Germany according to the so-called "Cotutelle" procedure. The prerequisite is an individual cooperation contract between the participating universities about the doctoral project which is to be supervised. After successful completion of the doctorate, the German university and the foreign partner university award a doctoral degree together.

Who can apply?

Depending on the nature of the project:
a) Bi-national supervision following the “sandwich model”: Applicants who have completed a Master's degree or Diplom (in exceptional cases a Bachelor's degree) at the latest at the beginning of their scholarship.
b) “Cotutelle” procedure: Applicants who have admission to a doctoral programme at the latest at the beginning of their scholarship.

What can be funded?

Option a) Doctorate with bi-national supervision following the “sandwich model”: Research stays at a state or state-recognised institution of higher education or a non-university research institute in Germany as part of a doctoral programme in the home country.
Option b) Doctorate following the “Cotutelle” procedure: Research stays at a state or state-recognised institution of higher education for the preparation of a doctoral thesis, which is supervised and carried out bi-nationally on the basis of an individually concluded cooperation contract.

Duration of the funding

  • Total maximum 24 months

  • The length of the grant is decided by a selection committee and depends on the project in question and your work schedule.
  • The grant may be used flexibly for several shorter stays.
  • You should outline how you plan to divide your time between Germany and the home university and possibly specify plans to visit a third country (e.g. for the purpose of collecting material) in a work and time schedule in your application.
  • During stays at their home university, the grant is interrupted.
  • Option a) Bi-national supervision following the “sandwich model”: Grants are initially awarded for up to 12 months. Extensions depend on whether the selection committee considers the previous award period to have been successfully completed.
  • Option b) Doctorate following the “Cotutelle” procedure: Grants are initially awarded for up to 18 months; there is the possibility for an extension of the scholarship for up to 6 months.

Value

  • Monthly payments for doctoral candidates during the stay in Germany: 1,200 euros.
  • Payments towards health, accident and personal liability insurance cover
  • Travel allowance, unless these expenses are covered by the home country or another source of funding
  • One-off research allowance
  • 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 to 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.
Under certain circumstances, grant holders completing an uninterrupted stay of over 6 months in Germany may receive the following additional benefits:
  • monthly rent subsidy
  • monthly allowance for accompanying members of family
  • In the case of a disability or chronic illness: subsidy for additional costs which result from the disability or chronic illness and are not covered by other funding providers: Further information

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 an online language course 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. Due to the pandemic, German courses may take place online.
  • Allowance for a personally chosen German language course during the grant period
  • Reimbursement of the fees for the TestDaF or DSH 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

Selection

An independent selection committee consisting of specialist scientists reviews applications.

Central selection criteria are:
  • a convincing and well-planned research or training project
  • academic achievements
Furthermore, additional documents submitted that prove the applicant's professional aptitude or provide information about extracurricular commitment will also be included in the evaluation.

In addition, in order to ensure equal opportunities, the selection committee may take into account special life circumstances, about which you can provide information in the application form.
For further information on the selection procedure, please refer to the Important Scholarship Information / Section E.

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