Last verified: 12 August 2026
You finished a Bachelors in engineering, computer science, physics or mathematics in a developing or emerging country, your grades are strong, and the only real obstacle between you and a German Masters is money. The DAAD built this scholarship for that exact person, and it pays a monthly stipend, insurance cover and a study allowance for up to two years.
Applications close on 21 October 2026, for degree programmes starting in the winter term of 2027 and 2028.
Before anything else: check your programme actually qualifies
Most people research the scholarship and forget to check the degree. That is the wrong way round here, because the DAAD attaches unusually specific conditions to which Masters programmes it will fund. Fail any one of these and the application cannot be rescued later.
- The programme must be at a state or state recognised university in Germany.
- It must be full time and on campus. Distance and part time formats are out.
- It must be in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences or engineering.
- It must be tuition free. The DAAD does not pay tuition fees under this programme, so a course that charges them leaves you covering the difference yourself.
- It must not include an integrated stay outside Germany. Programmes with a compulsory semester abroad are excluded.
- It must start in the winter term of 2027 and 2028. A programme beginning at any other point is not fundable here.
- You must not have already started it. A Masters already under way in Germany cannot be funded retrospectively.
If your degree is interdisciplinary, it can still qualify, but it needs a clearly designated STEM focus rather than a STEM flavour.
Spend an evening on this list before you write a single line of your application. Shortlist three or four programmes that satisfy every point, and keep a note of where on each university page you confirmed the tuition position, because that is the condition people most often get wrong.
Who the DAAD is looking for
The programme exists to build the professional capacity of young academics from developing and emerging countries, specifically in the STEM fields that drive innovation. That purpose runs through every part of the selection.
You are eligible if:
- You are a high achieving student from a developing or emerging country, as defined by the DAAD’s own country list.
- You have completed a first degree recognised in Germany, for example a Bachelors, by the application deadline at the latest.
- You want to study a qualifying STEM Masters in Germany under the conditions above.
There is one absolute exclusion worth stating on its own line, because it catches people who assume more qualifications always help.
If you already hold a Master’s degree by the application deadline, you cannot apply. This is not a preference or a tiebreaker. It rules you out.
What the scholarship actually pays:
The core package is fixed and paid monthly, with a few extras attached to it.
- 992 euros per month as the scholarship payment
- Payments towards health, accident and personal liability insurance cover
- An annual study allowance of 460 euros
- A travel allowance, which is granted on application only rather than automatically
Funding runs for a minimum of 10 months and a maximum of 24 months, matched to the standard duration of the programme you choose. Funding must begin in 2027, and the scholarship usually starts on 1 October 2027, or earlier if you are taking a German language course before your degree begins.
After your first year, your academic results are reviewed. If the review shows you are on track to finish within a reasonable time, the scholarship simply continues as planned.
Extra support you can apply for once funding has started
These are not part of the standard offer. They are applied for separately, after your scholarship is running, and they depend on your circumstances.
- A monthly rent subsidy
- A monthly allowance for accompanying family members
- For applicants with a disability or chronic illness, a subsidy towards justified additional costs in Germany that are not covered by anyone else, assessed individually
- Reimbursement of carbon offset payments for air travel
Language support, if your funding runs longer than six months
The DAAD treats German language ability as part of your success in Germany rather than as an entry hurdle, and it puts money behind that.
- Course fees for an online language course paid after you receive your Scholarship Award Letter
- A German language course in Germany before your degree begins, where the DAAD agrees it is needed. The decision and its length depend on your existing German and your project.
- An allowance towards a German course of your own choosing during the scholarship
- Reimbursement of the TestDaF or DSH exam fee, taken either at home after your Letter of Award or in Germany during funding
One point the DAAD repeats and applicants keep missing: tuition fees are not covered. That is precisely why the qualifying programme has to be tuition free in the first place. The two rules are the same rule.
Also Check: Erasmus Mundus Scholarships 2027 (Fully Funded Joint Masters in Europe)
How you will be judged:
The first filter is mechanical and merciless. Only complete applications with every mandatory document are considered, and incomplete ones are excluded for formal reasons before anyone reads them properly. Nobody assesses the quality of an application that is missing a file.
Applications that survive that go to a preselection based on documents, weighted heavily towards academic achievement and language ability. Those who make it through are invited to interview with an independent committee of university teachers, either in person or online. The DAAD is direct about what the interview is for: judging whether the application is authentic and what the individual behind it is actually like.
The committee scores three areas.
Academic qualification
- Your academic achievements
- Your course of studies
- Your command of the language of instruction or working language
- Relevant internships or work experience, where you have them
Quality of the study project
- How well conceived your study plan is, and how well prepared you are: the research you have done, the programme and host university you chose, and the contacts you established
- How the degree fits into your academic path rather than sitting outside it
Potential of the applicant
- Motivation: your academic and personal reasons for coming to Germany, and your German language skills where these differ from the working language
- Prospects: what this stay in Germany will actually change for your academic, professional and personal development
- Extracurricular commitment: skills and knowledge outside the classroom, and social commitment
Equal opportunity is also weighed. You can describe special life circumstances in the application form, and the committee gives them due consideration. The DAAD gives examples: disability, chronic or prolonged illness, raising children, caring for relatives, a refugee background, and extensive employment needed to finance your studies.
Where applications are won and lost:
Reading the criteria closely tells you where the marks are, and it is not where most applicants put their effort.
- The study project carries real weight. A named programme at a named university, with specific modules you can justify wanting, beats a general enthusiasm for studying in Germany every time.
- Establishing contacts is listed explicitly. A short, polite email to a professor whose work matches your interests, sent months before the deadline, is evidence you were serious.
- Make the link to your career visible. The committee is assessing significance, so spell out what this degree lets you do afterwards that you cannot do now.
- Do not leave extracurricular commitment blank. Volunteering, tutoring, student societies and community work are scored, and they are the one section a purely academic applicant tends to skip.
- Answer the equal opportunities section honestly if it applies to you. It exists so that difficult circumstances count in your favour rather than being invisible.
- Build your document checklist first and finish it early. Formal incompleteness is the single cheapest way to lose, and the only failure mode entirely within your control.
Prepare for the interview as a separate task. It is described as decisive, which means a strong file gets you into the room and the conversation decides the rest.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How do I know whether my country counts as a developing or emerging country?
The programme is restricted to applicants from countries the DAAD classifies this way, and the classification is theirs rather than a general impression. Do not assume based on how your country is usually described. Check the current eligible country list attached to this programme in the DAAD scholarship database entry before you invest time in an application, since eligibility here is binary.
My programme takes two years, but can I just apply for one year and extend later?
Apply for the full period from the start. The DAAD asks you to state the entire duration you want funded in the application itself, so a two year degree means requesting two years at the point of applying, not one year with a plan to ask again. The annual review is designed to continue funding you already requested, not to add years you did not.
Do I need a German language certificate before I can apply?
The requirement that matters is the language your chosen programme is taught in, so an English taught Masters is assessed on your English. German is treated differently: it appears under motivation rather than as a minimum threshold, and the DAAD funds courses and exam fees precisely because it does not expect everyone to arrive fluent. The programme description sets no specific German score, so check the language requirements published by your target university, which are the ones that can actually block your admission.
Do I need a confirmed university admission offer before the October deadline?
The published criteria reward having chosen your degree programme and host university and having made contact, which tells you a serious plan is expected. What the programme description does not state plainly is whether a confirmed admission letter must be in hand at the point of applying. Treat this as unresolved rather than guessing: read section A of the important information for scholarship applicants and, if it is still unclear, ask the DAAD office covering your country well before October.
Can I hold this scholarship alongside other funding or paid work?
The programme description does not address other scholarships or employment at all, so do not assume either is permitted. Rules on additional income and parallel funding sit in the DAAD’s general conditions rather than in the programme text, so read the important information document in full and confirm anything ambiguous in writing before you accept an award. Getting this wrong after funding starts is a much worse problem than asking early.
