Doctoral financing

Support

Do you have any questions regarding the funding of your doctorate? We support you before and during your doctorate with individual advice on doctoral scholarships and offer a strategic review of your application. In addition to full scholarships for your doctorate, e.g. from the talent promotion programme, you can also apply for travel scholarships (research visits and conference/congress trips). We would be happy to advise you on this as well! During our workshops you can find out more about funding opportunities and get to know the funding providers.

• Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Eastern Germany: Doctoral Scholarships [de] for projects dealing with the causes or consequences of the dictatorship in the Soviet occupation zone and GDR, current deadline 15 January 2025

• Deutsche Bundestiftung Umwelt: Doctoral scholarships for projects that deal with current environmental and nature conservation problems, interdisciplinary projects on environmental research are especially welcome. Current deadline: 15 January 2025

• Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF): PhD fellowships to outstanding junior scientists worldwide who wish to pursue an ambitious PhD project in basic biomedical research in an internationally leading laboratory, current deadline 01 February 2025
 

Talent promotion programme

In Germany there are 13 BMBF-funded foundations with different orientations. They offer monthly full scholarships including lump sums to cover research, family and childcare expenses. In addition to very good academic performance, prospective scholarship holders generally have to demonstrate social commitment and identify with the orientation of the respective foundation. The funding period is three years. Extensions are possible. In addition to financial support, the scholarships also include non-material support for the scholarship holders and networking opportunities. Further information on the foundations, their orientation and funding criteria can be found in our download area and on stipendiumplus.

Foundations

In addition to talent promotion programmes, there are many smaller foundations, which promote specific fields or disciplines. The Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt awards up to 60 scholarships annually to doctoral students of all disciplines who are working on research topics related to current environmental and nature conservation problems. The Gerda Henkel Foundation supports historical and humanistic research. We would be happy to assist you in finding the right foundation for you.

Financing within structured programmes

Structured programmes such as research training groups and graduate schools can be funded (position or fellowship) by the German Research Foundation (DFG) or the EU. Calls for applications are handled by the individual institutions. Members of a structured doctoral programme can also be financed with an external scholarship. Please refer to the regulations of the respective programme.

Research

To help you find the right scholarship provider, you can use the  two databases the  information service FIT (SSO login with your identification via the University of Münster) and ELFI, as well as publicly available offers, e.g. the DAAD scholarship database and stipendiumplus.de.