(Post)graduate programs proposed for the scholarship programme should

• have an excellent academic quality and expertise
• have good application and graduation rates (from multiple cohorts)
• have an accreditation (preferably on program level)
• have graduated at least the first student intake successfully
• have a strong linkage to national/regional development plans
• have a strong linkage to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
• have a good supervision ratio (especially for PhD students)
• have a convincing composition of academic staff
• have a convincing support concept – especially for regional students
• have a convincing marketing concept – especially to attract regional students, women and underprivileged groups
• be run mainly in the host institution’s network and/or country for at least 75% of the entire study period;

And preferably should

• have experience with international or regional collaborations (e.g. in DAAD funded projects) and with regional and international students
• follow the further career paths of their alumni, be able to provide information about them, and also be supported by alumni
• be in English. Other languages are not excluded in principle. Please note, however, that scholarship applications (including all related documents) must be submitted to the DAAD in English or German.

Part-time programmes, specialization courses or professional and further training programmes that do not lead to an award of a Master or PhD degree cannot be funded.

Online or Blended-Learning programmes are not generally excluded, but intensive consultation prior to application or submission of the expression of interest is highly recommended.

The applying institution and its (post)graduate programs should correspond to the higher education accreditation standards of the respective country (or – in case no accreditation system is established – meet the national/regional quality standards and requirements set by HE Commissions or National Qualification Frameworks etc.) and have graduated at least the first student intake successfully.

Eligible countries are:

• Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Congo, Democratic Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Eswatini, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

After being successfully admitted to the programme, the host institution receives a quota of scholarships for each intake (subject to availability of sufficient budgetary resources). The quota depends on the number of placements offered by the respective institution, the overall number of applicants, and available financial resources. This means that as a partner institution you are not applying for a specific number, but you should note in the application how many scholarship holders can be supervised in the corresponding programme. The actual number of scholarships assigned will then depend on several factors (see above). In the past, institutions were attributed approx. 3 to 15 DAAD scholarships per intake. Please bear in mind that programmes should attract their own applicants; the DAAD cannot grant a full intake.

The actual number will depend on the number of places offered by institutions, the number of applicants and available funds. In 2021, the total number of DAAD scholarships in the In-Country/In-Region Scholarship Programme offered to institutions all over Sub-Saharan Africa was approximately 300 new scholarships.

The value of the monthly stipends (covering the cost of living including accommodation) depends on the respective DAAD country rates for national / international Master students and national / international doctoral students.

The monthly scholarship rates are based on the rates of national scholarship providers in the host countries and are additionally coordinated with the local German embassies. The monthly rates for all countries are currently being reviewed and further developed. The amount of the rates valid until the adjustment can be found in the currently published Call for Scholarship Applications in the DAAD scholarship database.

In addition to the monthly stipend, funding is available for:

• study and research allowance (annually)
• printing allowance (once at the end)
• travel allowance only for in-regions: amount depends on the distance
• health insurance only for in-regions
• regular university/network fees
• optional: research stays in Germany for up to 6 months (upon application)
• optional: participation in summer schools in Germany (upon application)
• optional: skill trainings (upon application)

The different kinds of financial support within the In-Country/In-Region programme that are listed above reflect the options available. They are subject to alterations that might possibly be made.

In some cases, not all fees and costs that are mentioned in the official fee structure of the host institution can be covered by DAAD in full, e.g. if the agreement with the funding organization prevents DAAD from funding certain items in the fee structure or if items that are included in the fees are supposed to be covered through the individual scholarship benefits. For instance, as an example, the DAAD generally does not cover the following fee items: application fee, settling-In fee, amenity fee, caution money, activity fee, laundry fee, social life fee etc. Fee items such as supervision fee, research or lab fee must be examined as individual cases. It depends on how these expenses relate to the purpose of the tuition fees or whether they are to be paid by the scholarship holders through the study and research allowance.

The applying institution must provide the official fee structure of the requested university/institute/network fees (with university seal) and needs to verify that these fees are the regular ones being demanded from all students. It will not be possible to ask for extra fees from DAAD scholars which will not be charged from regular students. An additional explanation how the fees are used and distributed need to be handed in.

Participating host institutions are usually offered the following services during the affiliation period:

1. Seminars and workshops for coordinators (on marketing or/and monitoring);
2. Online training for PhD supervisors and
3. Networking events.

Scholarships are initially granted for one year and can be extended to a maximum of the regular period of study upon receipt of an application for extension (to be handed in by the scholarship holder).

Scholars must demonstrate satisfactory progress before an extension is granted.

The regular period of study taken as a basis depends on the binding information provided by the host institution as part of the institutional application process. This information must be confirmed by official documents of the university.

Your institution may apply for scholarships for several postgraduate programmes / entities to host DAAD scholars. However, you should ensure that you only include those programmes / entities into your application which fully meet the DAAD selection criteria.

The offered Master and PhD programmes need to focus on subject areas with strong relevance to national and/or regional development plans with a clear and strong linkage between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the content/focus of the programme and/or the future employment fields of the graduates (including the applied social sciences, environmental and other special areas of law but excluding the fine arts). The humanities might be considered in exceptional cases only if the aforementioned conditions are met. DAAD aims to promote a diverse and broad range of studies through the scholarship programme from different providers in as many countries as possible.

Please note that no more than three (post)graduate degree tracks per department can be mentioned in the application form. If different departments of the same institution would like to apply, they should submit separate applications. No more than three applications per institution should be submitted. If more than three departments of an institution wish to apply, an internal university decision must take place beforehand.

Yes, institutions which previously participated in this programme are encouraged to apply for renewed admission. In line with DAAD’s quality assurance standards, applications of institutions who have previously been funded will be reviewed along the same criteria as other applications by an independent selection committee. Additionally, the selection committee might also evaluate the performance in the past affiliate period in terms of number of applicants, number of graduates, submission of monitoring reports etc.

Yes, institutions which already receive/d other DAAD funding may also apply for participation as a host institution within this programme. However, expenses due to duplicate funding (multiple funding of the same purpose / multiple funding of the same scholarship holder) are not eligible.

Only universities and higher education institutions that are directly awarding Master or PhD degrees at their institutions are eligible to apply. Research networks that do not directly award degrees are not eligible to apply as host institutions.

The participation as host institution in the programme will generally take the form of an affiliate agreement between the DAAD and the host institution. The affiliate agreement lists the binding specifications and mandatory procedures regarding, among others, the monitoring of the programme, the execution of the pre-selection of the scholarship holders and the financial administration. The scholarship funding in EUR (monthly stipend covering the cost of living including accommodation, a study and research allowance, a travel allowance (only for in-region scholarship holders), health insurance (only for in-region scholarship holders)) is generally paid directly to the scholarship holder.

The regular university/institute tuition fees are paid directly to the host institution on basis of the above-mentioned affiliate agreement.

Upon admission, DAAD will offer your institution scholarships for intakes for the contracted 3 years.

Detailed application requirements for individual scholarship candidates will be defined in the Call for Scholarship Applications provided by DAAD. As for general requirements:

Applicants

• have successfully completed generally a three-year university degree (Master candidates) (generally at least: Second Class/Upper Division)
• clearly show motivation and strong commitment
• have thorough knowledge of the language of instruction
• have generally completed their last university degree not more than 6 years ago at the time of application
• must be nationals or permanent resident of a Sub-Saharan African country

Female applicants and candidates from less privileged regions or groups are especially encouraged to participate in the programme.

DAAD does not expect Master candidates to be staff members at a higher education institution. However, doctoral candidates should be staff members or at least be considered for future teaching/research staff recruitment at your institution or, if applicable, their home institution.

The selection of scholarship holders will follow a two-step procedure. Applicants must apply for the scholarship via the DAAD portal. Parallel to this process, applicants must at the same time apply for admission at the respective institution/university using the contacts and the method that is prescribed by the institution/university. The final selection will take place after the pre-selection of the DAAD and thereafter host institutions: DAAD will conduct a formal examination of the applications received via the DAAD portal according to DAAD criteria. Only the list of applicants who meet the DAAD application requirements will be availed to the institution/university for the next step. The host institution will screen, pre-select and short-list applicants. A complete list of all the applicants and a pre-selection report and lists showing the participants of the pre-selection and explaining the criteria employed, must be submitted to the DAAD. The templates provided by DAAD for documentation of the pre-selection process are mandatory. The pre-selected applicants are then evaluated by an independent reviewer. The final selection of scholarship holders will be carried out by a selection committee.

Female applicants and candidates from less privileged regions or groups are especially encouraged to participate in the scholarship programme. Partner institutions are expected to explicitly include and consider this target group in marketing efforts and the pre-selection process. They should demonstrate a transparent selection process and implement measures to enhance participation of women, people with disabilities, and candidates from underprivileged social or regional backgrounds (e.g. refugees / internally displaced persons / returnees; persons from ethnic and religious minorities; persons from a socially and/or economically disadvantaged background, persons with chronic illness or disabilities, persons from rural areas and/or Least Developed countries etc).

This data is requested by the DAAD as part of the application process in the form of a free space. Here, applicants can decide for themselves which information they would like to provide and which not. In addition, the required motivation letter offers the opportunity to point out any life circumstances and disadvantages.

The number of candidates to be shortlisted will depend on the quota of scholarships for your institution. You are requested to shortlist thrice as many candidates as scholarships are available (i.e., if your institution receives a quota of 10 scholarships, you should shortlist 30 candidates). It is highly important that only those candidates are pre-selected who also meet the admission criteria of the partner institution.

No, you should only shortlist candidates who wish to study at your institution. In case a candidate wishes to study at another host institution, he / she should directly apply through that institution (provided that the other institution is also part of the DAAD In-Country/In-Region Programme).

Yes, you are strongly encouraged to include external candidates in your shortlist who wish to study at your institution as a measure of staff development at their home institution. The amount of In-Region scholarships needs to be higher than the amount of In-Country scholarships. Programme objectives are staff development, regional mobility and capacity building in higher education.