Financial Support for Doctoral Degrees

The Research Funding Support SAFIR supports you before and during your doctorate with individual advice on doctoral scholarships and offers a strategic review of your application. In addition to full scholarships for your doctorate, e. g. from the talent promotion programme (Begabtenförderungswerke), you can also apply for travel scholarships (research visits and conference/congress trips). We would be happy to advise you on this as well!

Talent Promotion Programme (Begabtenförderungswerke)

In Germany there are 13 BMBF-funded foundations [de] with different orientations. They offer monthly full scholarships including lump sums to cover research, family and childcare expenses. In addition to very good academic performance, prospective scholarship holders generally have to demonstrate social commitment and identify with the orientation of the respective foundation. The funding period is initially two years and extensions are possible. In addition to financial support, the scholarships also include non-material support for the scholarship holders and networking opportunities.

Foundations

In addition to scholarships for outstanding students, there are many smaller foundations, which promote specific fields or disciplines. The German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt – DBU) awards up to 60 scholarships annually to doctoral students of all disciplines who are working on research topics related to current environmental and nature conservation problems. The Gerda Henkel Foundation supports historical and humanistic research.

As a member of the University of Münster you can register for the FIT information service, which provides you with regular updates on funding programs and calls for proposals.
Register once with your University of Münster e-mail address at fit.uniks.de and select the scientific fields, types of funding as well as sponsors you would like to be informed about via the newsletter. After registering, you can also use the database to search for funding.
The freely available offers such as the DAAD scholarship database, or the search engine of the German Foundation Centre (Deutsches Stiftungszentrum) are also suitable for a funding research.

Detailed guide to FIT

Some of the various Graduate Schools at Münster University also offer scholarships for their doctoral students. So make enquiries – it may pay off!

DAAD Scholarship database for international doctoral students

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) supports research stays abroad. International doctoral candidates who would like to conduct their doctoral project or part of their research in Münster, can apply for a DAAD scholarship. The DAAD scholarship databbase informs you on (further) scholarships and application requirements.  

Scholarship base for international doctoral candidates
Scholarship base [de] for research stays abroad

Graduate Schools scholarships

Some of the various Graduate Schools at Münster University also offer scholarships for their students. So make enquiries – it may pay off

Scholarships for international PhD students

The University´s Graduate Centre offers 2 types of scholarships for international PhD students:

  • Who are in the end phase of their PhD ( Degree Completion Grants)
  • Who are highly engaged in the community ( Community Engagement Grants)