DDAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)
Partially funded
DAAD Development-Related Postgraduate Courses (EPOS)
DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), Germany
Scholarship overview
EPOS offers individual DAAD scholarships to graduates from developing and newly industrialised countries for development-related postgraduate courses at selected German universities. Since 1987 more than 7,000 scholarships have been awarded, about 50 per cent to women, and well over 90 per cent of students complete their degree.
The scholarships fund a postgraduate or Master's degree at a state or state-recognised German university, and in exceptional cases a doctorate, in courses listed in the EPOS course list. Awards depend on funds from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Award Information
- Graduate from a listed developing or newly industrialised country, living in and applying from that country (list includes, for example, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, Brazil, Vietnam and Ukraine).
- Bachelor's degree, usually four years, in a related subject, with far above-average results (upper third).
- At least two years of related professional experience after the first degree at the time of application.
- Academic degree normally no more than six years old.
- Development-related motivation and expected to take on social responsibility and support change at home.
- Not resident in Germany for longer than 15 months at the application deadline.
- Courses in German: DSH 2 or TestDaF 4 needed before study starts, so at least B1 German is required at application; a 6-month preparatory German course is included.
- Courses in English: language proof per course rules; IELTS or TOEFL accepted (institutional TOEFL not accepted).
- Funding of 12 to 42 months, depending on the course.
- Monthly payment of 992 EUR for graduates or 1,400 EUR for doctoral candidates (from February 2026).
- Payments towards health, accident and personal liability insurance.
- Travel allowance, unless covered by the home country or another source.
- In some cases: monthly rent subsidy and monthly allowance for accompanying family members.
Deadlines differ for each course and are set by the course; check the DAAD list of application deadlines and the course website. The 2027/2028 course overview is published by DAAD.
- Choose up to three courses from the EPOS course list and read each course's website for its procedure, deadline and documents.
- Send the complete application directly to each chosen course, in English or German. Applications sent to DAAD are not forwarded.
- If applying to several courses, list them by priority in the EPOS application form and give reasons in one uniform letter of motivation.
- A selection committee proposes candidates.
- DAAD contacts proposed candidates to upload their full application to the DAAD portal.
- The selection is finalised and candidates are informed.
Official links
Documents you will need
- Signed checklist and EPOS application form.
- Europass-style CV in reverse chronological order without unexplained gaps.
- Letter of motivation with reasons for the course choice and priority.
- Letter of recommendation from the current employer on letterhead with signature and official stamp, of current date, not sealed.
- Certificates of employment showing at least two years of relevant experience, ideally with a re-employment guarantee.
- Recent language proof (IELTS or TOEFL for English; German for German-taught courses).
- Degree certificates (certified translation if not in German or English) and full transcripts with grading explanation.
- APS certificate for applicants from the People's Republic of China.
- Some courses require extra documents.
How selection works
Each course reviews applications and a selection committee suggests candidates for a DAAD scholarship. Criteria: above-average first degree (upper third), language skills, at least two years of professional experience, a suitable Bachelor's degree, and development-related motivation.
