SCHOLARSHIPS

Applications for the fully funded 2025/26 DAAD In-Country/In-Region Scholarship Programme are now open!

Ednah Carrick 19 seconds ago

0 1 2 minutes read

Closing Date: 9 April 2025

Applications for the fully funded 2025/26 DAAD In-Country/In-Region Scholarship Programme are now open!

DAAD In-Country/In-Region Scholarship Programme: Background and objectives

Background

The DAAD In-Country/In-Region Scholarship Programme aims at fostering strong, internationally oriented higher education systems in Sub-Saharan Africa with the capacity to contribute to sustainable development. To this end, scholarships are granted for development-related Master or doctoral studies for individuals who plan to pursue a career in teaching and / or research at a higher education institution in developing countries.

The DAAD scholarship programme aims at university staff in the first line, without neglecting the public sector demand of academically trained personnel. Scholarships are provided for high-quality (post)graduate programmes that give students and doctoral candidates excellent training opportunities. By training future academic and professional leaders, the programme contributes to the following long-term impacts:

Qualified professionals’ involvement in the solution of development-related problems in developing countries
Graduates strengthening education and research in developing countries
Structural strengthening and regional networking of partner institutions and partner universities

Objectives

To achieve these long-term impacts, the following outcomes have been formulated as programme objectives:

Programme objective 1: Graduates are qualified to take on responsible positions in or for their region of origin
Programme objective 2: The participation of women and underprivileged groups is reinforced
Programme objective 3: Organisational, financial and personal capacities of partner institutions are strengthened.

To achieve this, the aim at the output level is to ensure that qualified master’s students are educated in development-related degree programs and that doctoral students are qualified as young scientists. In addition, master’s students and doctoral students acquire additional subject-specific and interdisciplinary skills.

To achieve the outputs, funding is provided at the input and activity level for the target-group-oriented award of scholarships based on a quality-oriented selection process, as well as for the training and support of DAAD scholarship holders. In addition, further education and training for professional and interdisciplinary qualifications and project-related stays can be financed. Finally, the tuition fees for Master’s and doctoral programs at partner universities and institutions are covered.

Who can apply?

Graduates and postgraduates from Sub-Saharan Africa with a first academic degree if applying for a Master’s programme, or with a Master’s degree if applying for a doctoral programme who want to pursue Master’s or PhD courses in their home country (so called In-Country scholarships) or in another Sub-Saharan African country (In-Region scholarships). Female applicants and candidates from less privileged regions or groups are especially encouraged to participate in the programme.

Please note that In-Country scholarships for students from South Africa are administrated by a cooperation between DAAD and NRF in a separate call for applications and a separate deadline.

What is supported by the Scholarship?

Master and PhD studies in selected, development-related degree programmes

Duration of funding

Funding is provided for the usual duration of a course – generally, up to two years for Master’s and up to three years for the PhD degree programmes.

Value

Generally:

Monthly scholarship
Study and research allowance
Thesis publishing costs
Tuition fees

Only applicable for In-Region scholarship holders:

Travel allowance
Health insurance

For further information, in particular the respective amounts, please see the call for scholarship applications of the degree programme you wish to apply for.

Selection

The selection process differs between the individual degree programmes. Please see the call for DAAD scholarship applications for further information. Please note that the application procedure may differ between the regions and host institutions. The specific scholarship application instructions regarding each host institution are listed in the respective calls for applications.