South Africans who are considering working towards a Doctorate should pay attention to an opportunity in Germany to pursue their PhD on a grant.

This has been advertised by the International Scholarships platform operated by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) which recently put out a call for applicants.

“The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) awards funding for a full PhD in Germany to excellently qualified Master graduates from Sub-Saharan Africa. Candidates can opt for a traditional PhD by research with a German supervisor, whom they must identify themselves, or participate in a structured PhD programme on offer at a German university. In this case, candidates must identify a PhD programme and apply to the programme in good time,” the description of the programme reads.

For those a bit confused by the DAAD acronym, it’s because it is based on the German name which is “Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst”.

Interestingly there are no tuition fees in Germany so this programme is meant to cover other costs such as living expenses of €1 200 (~R20 000), travel insurance, health insurance, a research allowance, rent subsidies and more.

As with many of these opportunities which involves living in another country for studies, the applicant will need to have some familiarity with the home language. For this endeavour the programme also covers the cost of online language courses and, if needed, further language courses of two, four or six months at the start of the research stay in Germany.

Aside from the language barrier applicants must meet the following criteria:

• “Be in possession of a Master of Arts/Master of Science degree
• Not have graduated any longer than six years before the application deadline
• If you have already started your doctorate, it also applies that the start of the doctorate should not be longer than 3 years ago.
• Your application cannot be considered, if you have been resident in Germany for longer than 15 months at the application deadline.”

Those learning more and intending on applying can find the details to do so on the DHET International Scholarships website here.

Applications are open now and will close on 14th October 2022.