DAAD Scholarships 2026 in Germany for Development-Related Postgraduate Courses

Fully funded DAAD Scholarships 2026 for Master’s & PhD in Germany for students from developing countries.

The DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) offers fully funded scholarships to highly qualified graduates from developing and newly industrialized countries. This opportunity enables recipients to pursue a Master’s or PhD in Germany in development-related fields. Applicants must have at least two years of professional experience and a strong academic background.

Whether you’re working in public policy, environmental sciences, education, or health, this program supports those committed to contributing to their country’s development.

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Scholarship Benefits

• Full tuition coverage for Master’s or PhD degrees
• Monthly stipend:
  • €992 for Master’s students
  • €1,300 (or €1,400 from February 2026) for PhD candidates
• Health, accident, and liability insurance
• Travel allowance (unless already covered by another source)
• Optional additional benefits:
  • Monthly rent subsidy
  • Family allowance for accompanying members

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Eligibility Criteria

• Minimum two years of professional experience
• Excellent academic record (top third of your graduating class)
• Bachelor’s degree (at least four years)
• Degree should be less than six years old
• Citizens of eligible developing countries (OECD-DAC list)
• Language proficiency:
  • For German-taught programs: Minimum B1 level with option for up to six months of preparatory language course
  • For English-taught programs: Proof of required English proficiency according to program regulations

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Fields of Study

Master’s or PhD programs in:

• Economic Sciences, Business, 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
• Media Studies

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Duration of Funding

• 12 to 24 months for Master’s programs
• Up to 42 months for PhD programs

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Host Institutions

State or state-recognized German universities offering development-related postgraduate programs.

Application documents

Applications have only to be sent to the respective course directly! Please refer to their respective websites for the application procedure (e.g. online application), for the application deadline and the documents to be submitted.
Applications sent to the DAAD will not be forwarded to the respective course/university.

You can apply for up to three courses. If applying to more than one course, please list courses in order of priority in the DAAD application forms (see 7. Choice of host university/institution in Germany) and do not change the priorities in the according application form!

Application documents
Required documents (in the following order):

• Completed and signed checklist
• EPOS application form (please type your answers or make sure they are easy to read)
• A curriculum vitae in reverse chronological order without any unexplained gaps (please use the europass template including exact information about your studies, and on practical experience
• One Letter of Motivation with detailed reference to academic, professional and personal reasons for applying for the programme.
  IMPORTANT: When applying for more than one postgraduate course (maximum 3 courses), please also give detailed reasons for your choice of courses and prioritisation in the letter of motivation. Please submit a uniform letter of motivation to all postgraduate degree programmes of your choice.
• Letter of recommendation from your current employer; the letter must include official letterhead, signature and official stamp and must be of current date (not in a sealed envelope)
• Certificate(s) of Employment from the employer(s) showing at least two years of relevant work experience after the Bachelor’s degree up to the time of application and if possible, a guarantee of re-employment from your current employer upon returning home. The certificate of employment from the current employer should, if possible, include a guarantee of re-employment after returning to the home country.
• Recent proof of Language Skills:
  o English – IELTS or TOEFL (Note: The institutional TOEFL is not accepted)
  o German – required for courses taught in German
• Copies of your higher education degree certificates. Please provide a certified translation if the original is not in German or English, and make sure these are clearly legible.
• Copy of your full set of transcript of records. Please provide an explanation of the grading system if this is not part of the transcript.
• Applicants from the People’s Republic of China are asked to submit an APS Certificate with their application documents.

Note: Some courses may require additional documents. For detailed information, please see the relevant course description in the Brochure and on the respective websites.

IMPORTANT:
The complete applications have to be submitted in English or German to be considered.
Incomplete applications cannot be considered.
When applying for more than one postgraduate course (maximum 3 courses), you have to submit one motivation letter explaining why you are applying for these specific courses and why you chose that priority. If this information is ignored, the application cannot be considered or an already awarded scholarship might be withdrawn.

Please check with the requirements of the according University whether certified copies are required.

Application location

Apply directly to the chosen study programme

Application and Selection Procedure
Step 1: You send your complete application(s) directly to the according postgraduate course.
Step 2: A selection committee suggests potential candidates for a DAAD scholarship.
Step 3: The suggested candidates will be contacted by DAAD to upload their complete application to the DAAD Portal.
Step 4: The selection process will be finalized, and the suggested candidates will be informed accordingly.
IMPORTANT:
Make sure that you have a copy of each document of your application ready, as those documents (as PDF files) have to be uploaded to the DAAD Portal in case you are suggested for a DAAD scholarship!

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Application Deadline

August to October 2025 (varies by course)

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Apply Now

Official Scholarship Website:
https://www2.daad.de/deutschland/stipendium/datenbank/en/21148-scholarship-database/?status=3&origin=190&subjectGrps=F&daad=&intention=&q=&page=1&detail=50076777