PhD Scholarship

DAAD’s “Bi-nationally Supervised Doctoral Degrees / Cotutelle” programme provides the opportunity to do a bi-national doctoral degree at an applicant’s home university and at a university in Germany. It offers two options: a doctorate with bi-national supervision using the “sandwich model”, or a doctorate following the “Cotutelle” procedure based on an individual cooperation agreement between participating universities.

For the “sandwich model” (option a), the doctoral project is supervised by university teachers both at the home university and at the German host institute, with doctoral work divided between the home country and Germany. For “Cotutelle” (option b), research is carried out at the home university and at a university in Germany according to an individual cooperation agreement, and the German and home universities award the doctoral degree jointly after completion.

An independent selection committee of specialist scientists reviews applications. Selection criteria include qualification (academic achievements, academic progress, and knowledge of the language(s) of instruction or working language(s), plus additional scholarly achievements if applicable), the quality of the research project (including the research proposal and feasibility of the study plan and time schedule), and applicant potential (including career prospects, motivation, German language skills if relevant, and non-study-related activities). Equal opportunities are also considered.

Funding is provided for between 7 and a maximum of 24 months. Grants can initially be awarded for a maximum of 24 months and are reassessed once a year; continued funding depends on whether the applicant can complete the doctorate within a reasonable period of time. The grant can be used flexibly for several shorter stays, and applicants should outline how their time will be divided between Germany and the home university. Payments are made during stays in Germany, with no scholarship payments during stays at the home university; certain additional benefits may be available for specific circumstances (including uninterrupted stays over 6 months in Germany after the start of funding, disability or chronic illness, and German language learning services).

• Status: Graduates or PhD students
• Subject area: See list
• Country of origin and/or status must be on the DAAD lists; if not on the lists, the applicant cannot apply for this funding programme
• Option a (“sandwich model”): The applicant can apply if they have earned a Master’s degree or Diplom (or in exceptional cases a Bachelor’s degree) at the latest at the start of the funding period
• Option b (“Cotutelle model”): The applicant can apply if they have been admitted to a doctoral programme at the latest at the start of the funding period

• Monthly payments for doctoral candidates during the stay in Germany: 1,400 euros
• No scholarship payments during stays at the home university
• Payments towards health, accident and personal liability insurance cover
• Research allowance: € 460
• Travel allowances (upon application only) for up to three outward and return journeys, unless these expenses are covered by the home country or another source
• Travel and accommodation expenses according to the German Federal Travel Expenses Law for supervising university teachers for one trip of up to 10 days (to Germany to monitor progress, and to the home university to take part in final examinations)
• Additional benefits may be available for uninterrupted stays of over 6 months in Germany after start of funding: monthly rent subsidy; monthly allowance for accompanying members of family
• Additional subsidy may be provided for disability or chronic illness for justified additional costs incurred abroad that are necessary to realise the project in Germany and not covered by a third party, reviewed and determined individually
• German language learning services may be provided: payment of course fees for an online language course after receipt of the Scholarship Award Letter; where necessary, a language course before the start of the research stay; allowance for a personally chosen German language course during the funding period; reimbursement of the fee for a TestDaF or DSH test
• Benefits from third parties are partially credited towards the DAAD scholarship