This is DAAD's general master's scholarship, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and open to every academic discipline. It pays €992 a month for between 10 and 24 months, matched to the standard length of the chosen programme.
The one thing it does not pay is tuition, which DAAD states plainly. What it does cover around the stipend is unusually thorough: insurance, a travel allowance on application, €460 a year as a study allowance, and a rent subsidy, family allowance or disability-related subsidy that can be applied for once funding has started.
Language support is a programme in itself. An online German course after the award letter, a two, four or six month course in Germany before the degree where DAAD judges it necessary, an allowance for a self-chosen course during the scholarship, and reimbursement of the TestDaF or DSH fee. Where the degree is taught in German, taking a course is not optional.
Eligibility turns on country. DAAD publishes the list of countries whose graduates may apply here, and it is not worldwide: graduates of developing and emerging economies are directed to the separate EPOS programme. Anyone whose country is not on the list cannot apply to this programme at all.
Three restrictions decide most of the remaining cases. A master's already started in Germany cannot be funded. Funding is only for programmes beginning in the winter semester of the following year. And artistic disciplines and architecture, including urban design, have their own DAAD programmes rather than this one.
Selection weighs preparation as heavily as grades. The committee looks at the choice of degree programme and host university, at contacts already made, and at how the stay fits the academic path, alongside motivation, prospects and extracurricular commitment.
Deadlines depend on where the applicant is applying from, so the country selector on the programme page is the only reliable source for the date.
The programme page was checked on 16 September 2026, when it covered funding beginning in 2027.