Discussions and Resources Concerning the DAAD

Welcome to r/DAAD, a sub about Germany's largest academic grant organization. The DAAD supports individuals outside of Germany who wish to study/research in Germany. It also supports individuals in Germany who wish to study/research abroad. Our sub exists to provide resources, answer questions, and build community amongst DAAD applicants, scholarship holders, and alumni.

Read this post and all the associated links before posting.

We have prepared a Wiki and FAQ. These address many of the common questions on this sub and provide an overview of the DAAD / its funding opportunities. Review both in their entirety before posting.

Please keep in mind that the FAQ and Wiki are both a work in progress and are thus incomplete. We are open to suggestions and would greatly appreciate help with additions. Feel free to shoot the mods a message if you'd like to contribute.

Always keep our rules in mind: no low-effort posts, no misinformation, only questions pertaining to DAAD, no posts about your odds of acceptance, and no posts about which university to attend.

Please check out our new (and first) scholarship guide. It includes application tips such as a potential motivational letter outline.

Your feedback would be much appreciated! Additionally, if anyone has experience with any of the other scholarship programs, your tips/tricks could help us make the next guide.

I have BE Mechanical Engineering with 2.71/4.00 CGPA. 3 years of work experience in HVAC, MEP and Energy related. What are the chances for me to get scholarship DAAD EPOS. I am from Pakistan. Have good Letters of recommendation from professors and ex employers.

I just wanted to know when the tentative dates for DAAD WISE 2025 application for Indian students will open. Also, would it be a good idea to start mailing profs you're interested in working under and get an offer secured before the application process begins?

To all Phd DAAD scholars, is the scholarship worth it? I have just been admitted to a phd program with scholarship, but the semester will start on September. Now, i have received a scholarship offer from DAAD which i prefer between the two. My concern is i have not been admitted to a german university yet. Will DAAD be worth it if i choose to withdraw from the program im currently admitted to? I badly needed your insights for my decision making. Will appreciate it! Thank you!

Hi folks, Anyone know why DAAD has decided not to continue the WiSe program for 2025?

Hi everyone, I got the DAAD masters scholarship to start in October this year. Honestly, feels like time is going super fast and I'm not quite sure I'm ready for it mentally. I was wondering if it is possible to defer the scholarship for next year admission into a university? Or would I just be forfeiting my scholarship? I'm pretty keen to study in Germany but I would just like to know my options.

I am a DAAD WISE fellow from India and I recently underwent an operation in one of the hospitals in Germany. Does anyone know what the procedure for getting reimbursement for the cost of operation is?

Hi!

Ive had a DAAD scholarship for an internship for 5 months now and every single month there is an issue with the funding. Its never on time, always completely different amounts (even tho its supposed to be the same every month) and once I didn’t get anything, just to then get an absurdly high amount the next month. No one replies to me in the „DAAD-Portal“ and now I still haven’t gotten the money I was supposed to get for May, and still haven’t gotten my travel subsidy.

Idid send regular emails to which I got a reply that the money is on its way, but it’s still not there and I’m at wits end.

Does anyone else have this problem? Or any tips on what to do?

Thank you in advance!!

I am aiming to get a DAAD scholarship. However, I learned that the DAAD does not cover tuition fees and only provides monthly stipend. I am really eager to pursue masters studies in Germany. Is there any way that schools waive tuition fee if you are a DAAD scholar? Or do you recommend other scholarship provider to cover the tuition fees? Thanks a lot for answering.

I have seen several posts about the discord chat for DAAD RISE or Summer schools or Exchange programme. However, I have not come across one for the Long term Research Grants.

If there are any such active community, please help me out. Thank you.

Does anyone know if individual phd results are announced? I was told results would be out by mid april but haven’t heard anything till now.

Hi! I got a scholarship for Universität Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) , 13. Literatur aktuell – Das liest Deutschland in august. Is anyone here from the same course? 🩷

I got selected for DAAD HSK and I will be going to Munich in July. Bit of a dumb question, really, but I am trying to fill out my visa application but not sure what to put for the contact person within organisation part? Do I just put the name of the person from regional office I'm in touch with or is it something else? Also for the address, do I put down the regional address or the main address?

Somehow my visa appointment/document submission got scheduled for next week????? So panicking a bit rn sorry TT

I was rejected from DAAD RISE this year, but the PI of one of the projects I applied to reached out to me in early April and said that they want to invite me to Germany for an internship. However, they haven't received a grant yet and still waiting on a confirmation for the grant. If they succeed, they will be able to fund me to go to Germany. However, it takes longer than I expect and I don't know when should I expect to hear back from them. They said they would let me know ASAP when they heard about the result. This is a busy time for everyone, but I have other summer plans to finalize, too. Any comment on this?

Hi, anyone starting a language course in August in Munich? I would like to connect with people, who will also be staying there!

hello! With a DAAD summer course scholarship, I'm taking an intensive German course in Berlin at the Humboldt University from 15 July to 9 August. The university doesn't offer accommodation at this time, so I'm having trouble finding a place. Does anyone know where I can find a cheap place for just one month? I'm really struggling! help a girl out :)

So I am planning to apply to the DAAD Rise program for the summer if 2025, is there anything stopping me from applying to like thrity of their internships other than the amount of work it would take? I genuinely would happily work at any I apply to so I don't think I'd be wasting their time since if I get in I'm going. Also I think the only thing that would change between application letters is the motivation letter and maybe a cover letter but I can just make one really good letter and edit it as needed to fit each internship so like, not bad compared to all the unique 1000 words essays or whatever for some other programs but I've looked everywhere on the Rise program website and don't see anything about a limit so?????

Anyone who applied to the University of Cologne for their masters programme and has heard back for an interview?? I applied for this year's winter semester intake and I haven't heard back anything. When do they usually reach out to prospective students?

How long did it take for you to receive the VPD from uni-assist for application directly with the university?

I messed up my deadlines, and thought that the uni-assist VPD deadline was the same of the university. Now they say it takes up to 8 weeks for issuing this document, and I need it to my application (deadline 31st may). I am now extremely worried it won't be issued in time and I will lost my application in this university, (which is one of my choices for my masters) leaving me with only 2 options, that can easily reject me.

Anyone had a similar experience? How long does it take for the VPD to be issued?

EDIT: I have received the VPD document from uni-assist. I'm from Latin America, I applied 20th April and received 7th May. It was earlier than expected, thank God!! But I had applied for another university in uni-assist on April 8th, so maybe they considered the timeframe from that date. Talking to other people my impression is that usually takes 4 weeks (exactly my case if you count by the first application payment that I made). Also maybe because April is not the busiest month? Idk. But if you are going through the same situation I was in, don't lose hope, uni-assist might deliver your documents in time!

Hello everyone! I i had submitted an application for Research Grants – Short-Term Grants, and at the time of submitting everything i didn't have the university degree certificate with final grades. The instructrions stated that i could submit the certificate until before the beginning of the research grant. So i just got my certificate and i tried to upload it on the DAAD portal, but a window popped up saying "an exception was raised".

[Image]

Has somebody had this problem before? What should i do now?
I double checked the size of the file, it was ok. File was a pdf just as they stated.

Any help is very much appreciated!

Hi, I have to consent the processing of my medical data, but while filling out the form I got a doubt, is the address my home address on my country or is it the one where I'm staying in germany? (I know it would make more sense for it to be the one in my country but man, bureaucracy scares the hell out of me). And do i print the document and sign it by hand or is a digital signature accepatble?

Hi there! I've been lurking this subreddit for a while and applied for the DAAD RISE Summer 2024 cohort. I just want to preemptively say I'm really lucky to have these opportunities and to be able to choose. Now for some context:

I was fortunate enough to be waitlisted and then was ultimately rejected. I still really wanted to go, though, so I ended up reaching out to my top choice and they responded, reaffirming that I was their top choice as well -- we just never got funding from the DAAD. I reached out to my university and may get a comparable stipend, but I am unsure if this means I am still part of the DAAD program (and I would like to have that title for credibility).

While this was happening, I got reached out to by my second choice and they notified me that their applicant withdrew and were looking for another intern to take their place. I accepted (because my first choice never replied until a couple days AFTER my second choice sent me the email) and now I have an interview scheduled in the coming days. If I am to be accepted, I will officially be a part of the DAAD program and be a part of the cohort.

I also have an internship offer back at home which pays a comparable amount and is in the corporate line of work of my major, rather than research-based. I am so torn on what to choose, because I finally have a chance to research abroad but the internship offer back home is also incredibly convenient for a commute.

While I know the final decision is my own, I would appreciate any insight. I am at a point in my journey where I am not sure whether I want to go down a corporate or research-based line of work. I know I can find another internship back home as the DAAD RISE program is incredibly competitive and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me right now and could also get me into DAAD RISE Professional early. But do I go for my first choice, which may not offer me that credible DAAD title, or my second choice which does, or something else entirely?

Hi everyone, I wanted to know if someone could guide me about the potential interview question- "would like to stay in Germany after completing your programme?" How should we answer this? I believe this is a very important question and might make or break the interview. I am not sure if the right answer is yes or no.

Any insights/guidance/past experiences would be appreciated!

Hello, is anyone starting the Daad language course in July in Düsseldorf?