DAAD Helmut-Schmidt-Programme Scholarship

The Scholarship

The DAAD Helmut-Schmidt Scholarship provides a monthly stipend of 934€ to selected candidates. Selected candidates will also receive allowances for spouses and/or children where applicable and tuition coverage for a 6 months mandatory German language course from April – August before the studies start in September.

During the fourth semester the DAAD Helmut-Schmidt Scholarship provides a monthly stipend of 500€.

Further information about the DAAD  call of application can be found here.

Applications will be open for the winter semester 2026/27 from 1 June 2025 until 31 July 2025. 

Eligibility and selection criteria

For your scholarship application to be considered by the selection committee you must meet the following requirements:

• Be a citizen of a developing country (see list of countries)
• Acquired a bachelor’s degree from a relevant academic field such as economics, political science, international relations/development, law or psychology. If your degree is NOT listed, the review committee will review transcripts for subjects relating to social protection that encompass a minimum of 15 credits in accordance with the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).
• Have at least 5 months of practical social protection experience (paid or volunteer)
•  English language proficiency, with a minimum level of C1 according to the common European framework. Recognized language tests can be found here or students can submit a letter from their university stating that their official language of instruction was in English. 

The DAAD has more eligibility criteria. Please see here.

Application Process

Interested applicants should first fill in the online application form which will be made available from 1 June until 31 July 2025 via our online application portal. 

Candidates will be selected on the basis of their academic qualifications, and the quality of their research proposal, recommendation letter and their motivational letter. Short-listed candidates will be invited for a 30 minute online interview, which will be held by end of November.

Application

Applicants must fill in the online application and provide the follwoing documents via the application portal:

• DAAD Application form for Research Grants and Study Scholarships as well as DAAD checklist form (must be hand-signed). The forms are available here.
• A research proposal (maximum of 800 words, template provided below), which includes your topic, research question, short overview of the relevant literature, theoretical approach, research design and methodology. The template is available to download below under "application documents." 
• Hand-signed and dated motivation letter containing a precise description of the applicants’ academic/professional and personal reasons for choosing those master's programmes and universities (two pages maximum)
• A Europass curriculum vitae including information about the precise field of your studies, your political and social engagement and, if applicable, description of job experience. If applicable certificates of employment to support relevant professional experience mentioned in your CV by documentary evidence.
• Copy of acquired Academic Degrees (certified translation if necessary, please attach an explanation of the grading system)
• Copy of the transcript of records (certified translation if necessary)
• Recent language certificates (English)
• One letter of recommendation, signed and recently dated by your employer. The letter should assess your ability to conduct graduate level work, your potential for a successful professional or academic career in the field of social protection. The letter must include information on the time span of your employment, hours worked per week, job description and duties as well as a company/organization mission statement. The letter should supplemented by an official letterhead, stamped, and include the contact details of your immediate supervisor (work email and phone number)
• Valid passport copy 

Offers of Admission

After the interview, the student secretariat will inform applicants in a timely manner about the next steps. Successful applicants will receive an informal offer of admission.

To obtain a formal offer of admission, successful applicants are required to send in certified copies of the original supporting documents by mail within two weeks after receiving the informal offer of admission.