DAAD Research Grants: Doctoral Programmes in Germany 2027
A monthly DAAD grant of up to four years for a full doctorate at a German university or research institute
- Funder
Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD)- Study in
- Germany
- Level
- PhD
- Funding
- Stipend only
- Closes
- Varies by country or course Deadlines depend on the country you live in. Applicants in South, Southeast and East Asia have until 21 October 2026, and those in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the South Caucasus, Central Asia and Türkiye until 16 November 2026. The dates for Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East fell between 6 August and 30 September 2026 and have passed.
- Official site
- www2.daad.de
Checked on www2.daad.de by Farouk Yahaya, 9 October 2026. Scholarly Dream is independent and not affiliated with this funder.
DAAD, Germany’s academic exchange service, runs several research grants. This one, listed in its database as “Doctoral Programmes in Germany”, pays for a complete doctorate at a German university, a state-recognised university or a non-university research institute. The money comes from the German Federal Foreign Office. Funding for the current round must begin in 2027, and DAAD’s database gives October 2027 as the usual start (checked 9 October 2026 on the official programme entry).
You can take either route to a German doctorate. The traditional one is an individual project under a professor who agrees to be your Doktorvater or Doktormutter. The other is a structured doctoral programme, such as a graduate school or research training group, with its own coursework and a coordinator. DAAD funds both, but the documents differ, as set out further down.
Deadlines by region for the 2027 round
The database entry changes depending on the country you select, and the closing date changes with it. We checked every country on the list on 9 October 2026. Applications open on 1 June each year and close at midnight German time on the date shown.
| Where you live | Closing date | Status on 9 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina, Chile | 6 August 2026 | Closed |
| North Africa, the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan | 31 August 2026 | Closed |
| Mexico, Central and South America (except Argentina and Chile), the Caribbean | 3 September 2026 | Closed |
| West, Central and Southern Africa, Sudan, Somalia | 24 September 2026 | Closed |
| Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda | 30 September 2026 | Closed |
| South and Southeast Asia | 21 October 2026 | Open |
| China, Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan | 21 October 2026 | Open |
| Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the South Caucasus, Central Asia, Türkiye | 16 November 2026 | Open |
Selection decisions come in February or March 2027, depending on the region. For several regions, DAAD says a preparatory German course before the doctorate normally starts in June.
DAAD updates the dates each year in the second quarter, and they usually fall in the same period as the year before. If your date has passed, plan for June 2027 and the round that funds doctorates starting in 2028.
What the grant pays
| Item | Amount (checked 9 October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Monthly payment | €1,400 |
| Research allowance | €460 a year |
| Insurance | Payments towards health, accident and personal liability cover |
| Travel | A travel allowance, if you apply for it |
| German language | Online course fees after the award letter; a two, four or six month course before the stay where needed; an allowance for a German course during the grant; refund of TestDaF or DSH fees |
| Possible extras | A monthly rent subsidy, an allowance for family members who come with you, and support for extra costs linked to disability or chronic illness, decided case by case |
Tuition is not on the list because most German public universities do not charge doctoral candidates tuition. You will still pay the semester contribution that every enrolled student pays, which varies by university. Income from other sources is partly deducted from the DAAD payment.
The grant runs for up to four years. DAAD’s committee decides the length based on your project and timetable, and the first award covers at most three years, with progress checked every year. You then apply for a fourth year if you need it. Research trips outside Germany can be funded if the doctorate depends on them, up to a quarter of the total period, and they must already appear in the study plan you submit.
Who can apply
- You live in one of the countries on the programme's list and apply from there
- You hold a Master's or Diplom, or will by the time funding starts. A bachelor's is accepted only in exceptional cases
- Your grades are above average
- Your most recent degree was completed no more than six years before your deadline
- If you have already started a doctorate, you began it no more than three years before applying
- You have not been living in Germany for more than 15 months at the deadline
The list is long. It covers almost all of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, most of Asia and the Middle East, and Eastern Europe outside the EU. Western Europe, North America and Oceania are not on it. Eligibility is tied to the country you live in, not your passport, so a Kenyan citizen working in Malaysia would select Malaysia and follow the Malaysian deadline. DAAD asks anyone whose situation does not fit the list to contact it before applying.
Medicine, veterinary medicine and dentistry have their own rules, which DAAD publishes separately.
How the committee chooses
An independent committee of academics in your field reads each file and judges three things. The first is your record: grades, how fast you progressed, language skills and anything you have done since graduating, such as papers or conference talks. The second is the project itself: how original and relevant it is, how well it is prepared, why you chose that host and whether the timetable is realistic. The third is your potential, which covers your career plans, your reasons for going to Germany and activities outside study, including civic work.
That second criterion is where most applications are won or lost. A project that a German professor has helped shape, with a schedule you have agreed together, reads very differently from a general research idea.
The application file
Everything goes through the DAAD portal as PDFs, and the portal only shows this programme while its application period is open.
- A CV in table form, no longer than three pages
- A list of publications, if you have any, up to ten pages
- A letter of motivation of one or two pages on what you hope to gain from the doctorate in Germany
- A research proposal and an account of your earlier research, ten pages at most in total
- For an individual doctorate: a timetable agreed with your supervisor and their written confirmation that they will supervise you
- For a structured programme: your proposal to the programme coordinator, and the admission letter, which can follow later
- A declaration from your German supervisor on safety and ethical aspects of the research
- All degree certificates and transcripts with individual grades, with German or English translations where needed
- One recent recommendation from a university teacher, on the form the portal generates
Your referee must use the form DAAD's portal generates, and you can only create it while applications are open. Register on the portal early, generate the form on the first days of the window, and send it to your referee straight away.
Getting ready for the next window
If your region has already closed, the coming months are the best time to find a supervisor. German professors receive many speculative emails, and the ones that get answers name the professor’s recent work and propose something specific. Our guide to emailing a potential PhD supervisor covers how to write one, and how to write a research proposal covers the ten-page document DAAD asks for.
If you are still deciding between a Master’s and a doctorate in Germany, DAAD’s study scholarship for foreign graduates is the Master’s equivalent, and our DAAD funder guide explains how its different programmes fit together. You can also run your details through the eligibility checker to see which other doctoral awards fit.