Objective
The research grant offers the opportunity to realise a research project in Germany. The programme sup-ports research stays during a doctorate or in the early postdoc phase.
Who can apply?
You can apply if you:
- are doing your doctorate at a university or research institution outside Germany or
- have already completed your doctorate (post-doc, up to 4 years after completing your doctorate)
What can be funded?
A research project at a state or state-recognised university or a non-university research institute in Germany, which is being carried out in agreement with a scientific supervisor in Germany.
Duration of the funding
Funding is provided for a period of:
Please indicate your desired funding period in the application form. The funding must begin in 2026. The funding period will be determined by the selection committee during the selection process, taking your work schedule into account.
The scholarship cannot be extended.
- doctoral students: 2 to 12 months
- postdocs: 2 to 6 months
Please indicate your desired funding period in the application form. The funding must begin in 2026. The funding period will be determined by the selection committee during the selection process, taking your work schedule into account.
The scholarship cannot be extended.
Value
- monthly scholarship payments of 1.400 euros
- payments towards health, accident and personal liability insurance cover (see also our important information for scholarship applicants / section F, point 4)
- travel allowance
- for a funding period of more than six months: research allowance of 460 euros
- monthly rent subsidy, only for a funding period of more than six months (see important information for scholarship applicants, section F, point 9)
- monthly allowance for accompanying members of family, only for a funding period of more than six months; please also read our important information for scholarship applicants / section F, point 3
- In case of a disability or chronic illness: on application, a subsidy may be provided for justified additional costs incurred abroad that are necessary to realise the project in Germany and that are not covered by a third party; whether and to what extent a subsidy will be paid, will be reviewed and determined on an individual basis (see important information for scholarship applicants, section F, point 8)
- Green Mobility Top Up (subsidy for climate-friendly travel) or reimbursement of carbon offset payments for air travel
- Payment of course fees for an online language course after receipt of the Scholarship Award Letter
- if necessary: German language course in Germany before the start of the research project; the DAAD decides whether to fund participation and for how long depending on German language skills and project.
- Allowance for a personally chosen German language course during the scholarship period
- Reimbursement of the fee for a TestDaF or DSH test, which you can take either in your home country after you have received your Letter of Award or in Germany during your funding period.
Selection
An independent selection committee consisting of specialist scientists reviews the applications.
The selection criteria are:
Academic Qualification
For more information on the selection procedure, go to important scholarship information, section E.
The selection criteria are:
Academic Qualification
- academic achievements (grade point average, development of grades)
- academic progress
- knowledge of the language(s) of instruction or working language(s)
- if applicable, scholarly achievements after graduation, (e.g. publications, lectures, conference papers)
- quality of research proposal and preparation (originality, topicality and relevance of the project, choice of host institution and first contacts)
- feasibility and consistency of study plan and schedule
- incorporation of project within the overall doctorate (in terms of content and time), if relevant
- career prospects: significance of the research project and stay in Germany for further academic, professional and personal development
- motivation: academic and personal reasons for wanting to visit Germany, German language skills (if different from working language)
- non-study-related activities: non-study-related knowledge and skills, civic engagement
For more information on the selection procedure, go to important scholarship information, section E.
Patrocinado por:
What requirements must be met?
Please check if the following criteria are fulfilled (also read our important scholarship information, section A):
- Doctoral students: The start of your doctorate should not be more than 3 years ago at the application deadline.
- Postdocs: You should not have completed your doctorate more than 4 years before the application deadline.
- For applicants from the fields of human medicine, veterinary medicine and dentistry, further regulations apply, which you can find here.
- Your application cannot be considered, if you have been resident in Germany for longer than 15 months at the application deadline.
Application deadline
Application deadlines are updated annually in the second quarter. In most cases, they are in the same period as the previous year. You can find the current dates here:
03.09.2025
Selection decision in February 2026. Funding starts in May 2026.
11.03.2026
Selection decision in June 2026. Funding starts in September 2026.
03.09.2025
Selection decision in February 2026. Funding starts in May 2026.
11.03.2026
Selection decision in June 2026. Funding starts in September 2026.
Application documents
After registering on the DAAD portal, please complete the online application in full. Then upload the application documents listed below to the DAAD portal in the section ‘Attachments’.
Certificates, proof of credits, certifications and translations may be scanned in non-certified form and up-loaded to the DAAD portal. The DAAD reserves the right to request certified copies of the documents.
If you submit documents in your national language, please include German or English translations.
Documents to be submitted to the DAAD portal:
Certificates, proof of credits, certifications and translations may be scanned in non-certified form and up-loaded to the DAAD portal. The DAAD reserves the right to request certified copies of the documents.
If you submit documents in your national language, please include German or English translations.
Documents to be submitted to the DAAD portal:
- full curriculum vitae in tabular form (max. 3 pages)
- list of your published publications (max. 10 pages); mandatory for postdocs)
- letter of motivation, 1 - 2 pages: statement about the academic and personal reasons for the planned research project in Germany, taking account of the following question: What do you hope to gain from your project in Germany (personally, professionally, for your career)? Please upload the letter of motivation under 'study project/motivation' in the DAAD portal.
- proposal (max. 10 pages in total), prepared and formulated by yourself ; aproposal is an extensive and detailed description of the research project which has been discussed with the academic adviser in Germany. Please also read our important scholarship information / section B, point 2. Please upload the proposal under 'research project' in the DAAD portal.
- time schedule of planned research work
- proof of admission to doctoral studies/enrolment for doctoral studies (for doctoral students); please upload it in the portal under 'proof of admission'
- confirmation from the academic host in Germany; the confirmation must refer to your project and guarantee that the host institute in Germany will provide you with a workplace. Also read our important scholarship information / section C, point 3. Please upload the confirmation from the academic host under 'acceptance of host institution' in the DAAD portal.
- Declaration from the scientific supervisor in Germany on safety-relevant and ethical aspects of the research project. Please upload the document in the portal under ‘Scientific ethics/research safety‘.
- university degree certificates (e.g. Bachelor's, Master's, doctorate) stating your final grade(s); if you do not have your most recent degree certificate (doctoral candidates: Master's; postdocs: doctorate) at the time of application, you must submit it before the start of your scholarship. Please upload your certificate(s) under 'university degree certificates' in the DAAD portal.
- One recent supporting letter of recommendation (on a DAAD-form) from a university teacher (for doctoral students, from the supervisor of your doctoral thesis) which provides information about your qualifications. Please regard the instructions given on the tab 'Submitting an application'.
- Proof of German / English language proficiency according to language of research.
- All university certificates on all annual examinations with individual grade(s), incl. explanation of grading system.
- Other documents you think might be of relevance to your application (e.g. certificates of employ-ment, proof of extracurricular engagement)
The application procedure occurs online through the DAAD Portal.
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.
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.
Please note
- The access to the DAAD portal opens at least 6 weeks before the application deadline.
- Your application is only valid if you submit all the required documents to the DAAD portal by the application deadline.
- The DAAD portal closes at 24.00 hrs. (CET or CEST) on the last application day. If possible, please do not send your application on the final date in case technical problems occur.
- Incomplete applications cannot be considered. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that their applications are complete.
- The application documents remain with the DAAD. Data relating to applicants is saved by the DAAD in accordance with the Federal Data Protection Act and with the EU Data Protection Regulation insofar as this data is needed to process the application.
Information and advisory centres
Regional Office Mexico City
Servicio Alemán de Intercambio Académico
Calle Kepler 157, Col. Nueva Anzures, Del. Miguel Hidalgo
C.P. 11590 Mexico City
Mexico
Tel.: +52 (55)/525018-83, -84, -85
E-Mail.: info.mexico@daad.de
WWW.: https://www.daad.mx
Servicio Alemán de Intercambio Académico
Calle Kepler 157, Col. Nueva Anzures, Del. Miguel Hidalgo
C.P. 11590 Mexico City
Mexico
Tel.: +52 (55)/525018-83, -84, -85
E-Mail.: info.mexico@daad.de
WWW.: https://www.daad.mx
More detailed information
- DAAD website 'Important information for DAAD scholarship applicants'
- DAAD website section 'Doing a PhD and Research in Germany'
- Website 'Research in Germany'
- Website 'GERiT – German Research Institutions'
General information on the application via DAAD portal
The access to the DAAD portal opens at least 6 weeks before the application deadline.
Click on 'Application portal' at the bottom of the page to go to the DAAD portal. There you will be provided with an online application form to enter your application data.
This is what you have to do:
1. Register in the DAAD portal (Read notes about registering in the portal >>)
2. Request recommendation form
You can generate the recommendation form in the DAAD Portal as a writable PDF under 'Request recommendation form'. It can only be generated during the application period. Please send it to your university teacher and ask him or her to complete the form in full. When you have received it back, upload it in the portal under 'Letter of Recommendation'.
3. Applying online in the DAAD portal (Read notes on applying in the portal >>)
Please note:
If you have any technical questions or problems your local information and advice centres could not help you with, please do not hesitate to contact portal@daad.de via e-mail.
You can also call the technical portal hotline on weekdays from 9-12 and 14-16 (CET/CEST) on +49 (0) 228 882-8888.
Please consider possible processing times of your request when you are planning your application.
Click on 'Application portal' at the bottom of the page to go to the DAAD portal. There you will be provided with an online application form to enter your application data.
This is what you have to do:
1. Register in the DAAD portal (Read notes about registering in the portal >>)
2. Request recommendation form
You can generate the recommendation form in the DAAD Portal as a writable PDF under 'Request recommendation form'. It can only be generated during the application period. Please send it to your university teacher and ask him or her to complete the form in full. When you have received it back, upload it in the portal under 'Letter of Recommendation'.
3. Applying online in the DAAD portal (Read notes on applying in the portal >>)
- Prepare application documents
- If necessary, translate documents (unless they are already in German or English).
- Scan paper documents and save in PDF format. You can only upload PDF files to the portal.
- Fill out the application form and upload the application documents to the portal in PDF format. Translations, if applicable, should be uploaded together with the document issued in the original language.
- Submit the application online.
Please note:
If you have any technical questions or problems your local information and advice centres could not help you with, please do not hesitate to contact portal@daad.de via e-mail.
You can also call the technical portal hotline on weekdays from 9-12 and 14-16 (CET/CEST) on +49 (0) 228 882-8888.
Please consider possible processing times of your request when you are planning your application.
