Funding lines – Which mobility measures are supported through PROMOS?

Study visits, research modules & short-term visits for thesis work
Work placements & internships (Careers Service)
Language courses
Specialist courses
Study trips/ group trips
Trips to competitions

In order to accommodate the diverse range of visits abroad, the PROMOS programme offers several lines of financial support for which different criteria apply. You can find these listed below. We recommend that applicants inquire at their faculty about possible changes to these criteria which may apply to their subject of study.

Please note:

• As a rule, doctoral candidates are not eligible to receive funding through PROMOS (exceptions: language courses, specialist courses, study trips, see below)
• Doctoral candidates can submit applications for short-term and one-year scholarships directly to the DAAD.
   

 
Study visits & short-term visits for thesis work

• Funding duration: one to six months
• Type of funding: PROMOS awards country-specific, fixed-rate partial scholarships (350 – 550 euros/mon.) and/or fixed-rate travel allowances

Fundable measures:

• Study visits at foreign universities
• Research modules (= research internships) at foreign universities/ research organisations
• Short-term visits for thesis work at foreign universities/ companies

Expenditures ineligible for funding in accordance with DAAD or University guidelines:

• Tuition fees
• Study visits by non-German citizens to their home countries (A home country is defined as the country where the candidate has predominantly resided over the past five years.)
• Study visits to countries in the Erasmus+ funding region
  Exception: Study visits in the Erasmus+ region may be eligible for funding if the student's respective faculty has made a serious effort to establish an Erasmus+ partnership with the foreign university but was met with rejection, documented in writing (an email suffices as proof).
• Practical research modules
  Please note that PROMOS does not finance practical research modules in the Erasmus+ region. If this applies to you, you may apply for funding through the Erasmus+ work placement programme.
  www.uni-muenster.de/CareerService/en/infos/praktika/finanzierung/erasmus.html

Information on short-term visits for thesis work:

To be eligible for financial support, candidates must meet the following criteria:

• The purpose of the candidate's visit is to work on his/her thesis.
• The candidate does not attend regular lectures at the foreign university.
• If the thesis work is conducted neither at a university or company, the candidate may still be granted funding, provided:
  • A detailed project schedule is included with the application which can later be used to monitor the candidate's progress.
  • The faculty fully supports the candidate's proposed visit abroad.
     

 
Work placements & internships

• Duration of stay: min. six weeks to max. six months
• Type of funding: usually travel allowances and/or partial scholarship rates are granted to those who wish to complete a work placement/internship at the University of Münster
• Please note: PROMOS scholarships for work placements and internships are awarded by the Careers Service of the University of Münster.
   

 
Language Courses

•  Duration of stay: min. three weeks to max. six months
• A language certificate is not required to apply for funding for a language programme abroad
• Attention! Only language courses comprising at least 25 hours of instruction per week are eligible for funding.
• Type of funding: language courses receive country-specific partial scholarships (350 – 550 euros/mon.) and/or a lump-sum course tuition payment (500 euros) and/or a travel allowance.

Possibly fundable measures:

• Language courses for students and doctoral candidates at universities or established language institutes abroad.
• Language courses which take place following a bachelor’s degree and prior to a master's programme, provided the candidate presents confirmation of admission to the master’s programme in question or an equivalent pledge of acceptance from the University of Münster.
   

 
Specialist courses

•  Duration of stay: max. six weeks
• Specialist courses include summer courses/summer schools, university workshops or similar courses that comprise units of instruction.
• Type of funding: specialist courses receive country-specific partial scholarships (350 – 550 euros/mon.) and/or a lump-sum course tuition payment (500 euros) and/or a travel allowance.

Fundable measures:

• Specialist courses for students and doctoral candidates offered by a university or a research organisation abroad
• Specialist courses which take place following a bachelor’s degree and prior to a master's programme, provided the candidate presents confirmation of admission to the master’s programme in question or an equivalent pledge of acceptance from the University of Münster.

Non-fundable expenditures:

• Congress or conference participation as such measures are already financed through other DAAD funding programmes

 
Study trips (group trips)

• Duration of stay: max. 12 days
• Groups of at least five students or doctoral candidates
• In addition to providing subject-specific knowledge and regional cultural insights, the study trip should focus on encounter with international students and academics.
• Type of funding: group study trips are eligible to receive a flat-rate daily allowance (45 euros).

Eligible participants:

• Students and doctoral candidates
• One accompanying person (max.) (e.g. university lecturer of the University of Münster)

Non-fundable expenditures:

• Concert trips, as the DAAD offers a specific funding program for these kind of trips

Please note:

•   Applications must be submitted together with the responsible instructor (see the section on “Application procedures” below)
   

 
Trips to competitions

• Duration of stay: max. 12 days
• The competition should be the focus of the trip.
• The trip need not be accompanied by a university representative.
• Funding is granted to finance trips to international student competitions abroad, e.g. National Model United Nations in New York, computer programming championships, EU simulation games etc.
• Type of funding: trips to competitions are eligible to receive a flat-rate daily allowance (45 euros).

Eligible participants:

• Students and doctoral candidates
• An accompanying University representative (e.g. lecturer or professor of the University of Münster)

Please note:

• If applicable, the application can be made jointly by the organising teacher (see the section on “Application procedures” below).
• Trips to competitions can receive funding even if only a single person participates.
• NMUN and VisMoot participants do not have to submit language certificates for the PROMOS application, as very good English skills are already checked when the competition delegations are selected.

Scholarship amounts

Study visits, research modules & short-term visits for thesis work
Work placements & internships (Careers Service [de])
Language courses & specialist courses
Study trips (group trips) & trips to competitions
Mobility with a disability or chronic illness

PROMOS scholarships comprise varying amounts of funding depending on the respective programme line. These are based on the country-specific funding rates [de] provided by the DAAD.
In the following, you will find an overview of the scholarship amounts with respect to their corresponding programme lines.

Please note:

• Due to the high number of applications, scholarship funding allocated to finance foreign study visits is generally far less than the maximum funding amount. In most cases, the faculties are responsible for determining the amount of each scholarship (i.e. whether travel expenses and/or monthly partial scholarships, and/or course fee allowances are included). For study visits arranged on the basis of university partnerships and work placements, funding is awarded by a selection committee at the International Office and the Careers Service, respectively.
• Foreign study BAföG grants (Auslands-BAföG): candidates may receive monthly financial aid of up to 300 euros without deduction.
   

 
Study visits, research modules & short-term visits for thesis work

• country-specific partial scholarship between 350 and 550 euros/month
• and/or country-specific travel allowance

Please note:

• As a rule, only part of a candidate's study visit can be financed through the monthly instalments of a partial scholarship or travel allowance.
• Tuition fees are not eligible for funding.
   

 
Work placements & internships

• Travel allowance and/or country-specific monthly partial scholarship rate (for more, visit the Careers Service [de])

 
Language courses & specialist courses

• country-specific partial scholarship between 350 and 550 euros/month
• and/or country-specific travel allowance
• and/or a lump-sum course fee allowance of 500 euros
   

 
Study trips (group trips) & trips to competitions

• Daily allowance per participant for trips: 45 euros
   

 
Mobility with a disability or chronic illness

Scholarship holders with a degree of disability (GdB) of at least 50 or a chronic illness who participate in a mobility as part of the project funding can apply for special needs of up to 10,000 euros.

• Prerequisite:
  • the costs are additional costs incurred abroad (costs that are exclusively related to the stay abroad) and other institutions do not grant support.
• Evidence required for an application:
  • Refusal of cost coverage by the health insurance fund or supplementary insurance.
  • Copy of severely disabled person's identity card
  • For persons with a chronic illness: medical certificate describing the medical requirements
  • Additional documents explaining the necessity and appropriateness of the increased expenses.
• Contact persons at the International Office are Tobias Kulakowski and Dr. Petra Hille.

Application procedures

How to apply

Applications for PROMOS scholarships for  application

• study visits / short-term study visits for completing a thesis
• language courses
• specialist courses
• trips to competitions

...are made through the online portal. In addition, the signed registration form must be sent by email to promos.io@uni-muenster.de. This form is automatically generated in the portal after the application has been submitted and must then be printed out, signed and scanned and sent by email. Alternatively, the registration form can also be signed digitally after it has been generated in the portal.

Please note:

• Applications will only be considered if all formal requirements are met. Incomplete applications will neither be processed nor considered.
• All the important forms and documents for the PROMOS scholarship programme can be found in the Download section (see right sidebar “Downloads”).
• At the end of your visit abroad, please send us the signed and stamped "Certificate of Arrival/Departure" via email to promos.io@uni-muenster.de.
  Important! If you fail to submit the "Certificate of Arrival/Departure", we will demand repayment of the scholarship in full!
• Visits abroad to countries for which a travel warning has been issued by the Federal Foreign Office are not eligible for PROMOS funding. We reserve the right to demand repayment of scholarship funding in part or whole if a travel warning is issued during the student's visit abroad.
• We strongly advise applicants to register on the website of the Federal Foreign Office ("Electronic registration of Germans abroad") prior to travelling especially to regions where security and safety concerns exist.

Special regulations:

• Study trips: It is not necessary for each participant to submit an individual application. The organising instructor is responsible for submitting the application by the given deadline which must include details regarding how many students intend to participate (without names). In the case that funding is approved.
  The names and contact details of the participants will be communicated to the International Office by the organizing teachers. The participants will then receive an e-mail with a link to the online registration and all further information.
  After returning, a Certificate of Arrival/Departure and a signed list of all participants has to be sent to promos.io@uni-muenster.de by supervising university representative

• Trips to competitions: NMUN and VisMoot participants do not have to submit language certificates for the PROMOS application, as very good English skills are already checked when the competition delegations are selected.

• Work placements & internships: Applications for work placement funding must be submitted to the Careers Service (c/o Dr. Christiane Stroth)

 
Deadlines

Candidates must submit their applications (exception: work placements) by the following deadlines:

• Applications for measures to begin between January and June: 15 October (of prior year)
• Applications for measures to begin between July and December: 15 April
• Deadlines vary for applications for internship/work placement funding (visit the Careers Service)

Please note:

• Applications submitted after the respective deadline will not be considered for the current application round.
• Applicants can receive a four-week extension for submitting language certificates, provided the candidate notifies the International Office to request such an extension. All other application documents must be submitted by the given deadline.
• English language certificates: the Language Centre can issue English language certificates to students in all degree programmes, including the DAAD Language Certificate:
  http://spz.uni-muenster.de/de/sprachzeugnisse
   

 
Application forms

I. Please upload the following documents via the online application form:

1. Certificate of enrolment
2. Copy of ID card/ passport
3. Letter of motivation (Instructions on what to include in your letter of motivation [de])
4. Curriculum vitae in tabular form (without a photo)
5. List of previous study achievements with grade information (Transcipt of Records). This can also be a printout from the examination administration programs, such as QISPOS or Wilma. Master's students are also welcome to submit their Bachelor's transcript of records.
6. Language certificate confirming knowledge of the language of instruction/research or working language used in the host country. The following certificates are accepted - not older than four years:
   • Official language certificates, such as TOEFL, IELTS, DELF etc.
   • Language course certificate which specifies the achieved language level (at least B1)
   • DAAD Language Certificate
   • Abitur examination in a foreign language: average minimum grade of 3+ (9 pts.)
   • Language certificates are not required for language course scholarship applicants
   • Language certificate are not required if the applicant will only attend German-language courses in the host country. This fact must be mentioned in the letter of application.
7. For short-term visits for thesis work, please include the following additional documents: 
   • Confirmation of supervision signed by a professor of the University of Münster
   • If the thesis is neither completed at a university nor company, include a detailed project schedule which can later be used to monitor the candidate's progress and justify the trip to the host country.

Selection procedure

• The applications undergo a preliminary assessment at the International Office with regard to their fundability and are then forwarded to PROMOS representatives in the corresponding faculties. Scholarship recipients are selected by a committee within the faculty (PROMOS representatives in the faculties [de]). For visits arranged as part of a university partnership or for work placements, the applications are reviewed and selected by a committee at the International Office and the Careers Service, respectively. 
• The selection process takes about eight weeks. Candidates are notified of the committee’s decision approximately two months following the application deadline.
   

Selection criteria

1. Primary selection criteria
   1. Candidate's academic achievement
   2. Significance and purpose of the planned study visit for the candidate's future academic career
   3. Relevant language proficiency in the language of instruction
2. Additional criteria which can play a secondary role in the selection process:
    
   1. Candidate's preparation (as described in the letter of motivation)
   2. Social commitment and volunteer activities
   3. Knowledge of the country's language (if different from the language of instruction)