Scholarship
As a scholarship holder, you finance your doctorate through a scholarship that you receive from an external organization (e.g., foundation, state research institution, or funding organization) in Germany or abroad. You bring your scholarship, e.g. from your home university or government, to TUM or apply for it after you have found a doctoral supervisor at TUM. Since most scholarship programs have long application times and fixed application deadlines and intervals, it is particularly important that you find out about possible doctoral scholarships early on.
The TUM Graduate School does not award doctoral scholarships. However, doctoral candidates can apply for a wide range of scholarships from external organizations such as the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the largest funding organization for international doctoral candidates in Germany, or the 13 organizations for the promotion of young talent under the umbrella of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
Please note that many of these scholarships are tied to specific conditions such as citizenship, religious denomination, age limits, political orientation, subject area, or language skills. These scholarships also differ in terms of application deadlines and application documents, the amount of the monthly scholarship payment, possible subsidies for rent, support for families, additional material resources, and/or additional financial support for conference trips or research stays abroad.
Below, we have compiled a selection of some of the most common scholarship providers for doctoral candidates. Please note that the selection is not exhaustive and does not constitute a recommendation.
Scholarship organizations for the promotion of young talent ("Begabtenförderungswerke"):
- Avicenna Studienwerk - scholarship provider for highly talented Muslim students and researchers in Germany
- Cusanuswerk - scholarship provider from the Catholic Church in Germany
- Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Studienwerk - scholarships for gifted Jewish students and doctoral candidates
- Evangelisches Studienwerk e.V. Villigst - scholarship provider from the Protestant Church in Germany
- Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
- Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit
- Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung
- Hans-Böckler-Stiftung - study fund of the German Trade Union Confederation
- Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
- Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
- Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung
- Studienförderwerk Klaus Murmann der Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft (sdw) – entrepreneurially oriented foundation for the promotion of talented students and researchers
- Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds – basic biomedical research
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt - solutions for current environmental problems from all disciplines
Dr. Jost Henkel Stiftung - economics, natural sciences, computer science and technology
Evonik Stiftung – annually changing funding priorities in the field of natural sciences
Fazit-Stiftung – emergency funding for doctoral candidates in dire financial situations
Fonds der Chemischen Industrie - chemistry and chemistry-related research areas
Katholischer Akademischer Ausländer-Dienst (KAAD) - scholarship organisation of the Catholic Church in Germany for postgraduates and academics from (developing) countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern and South-Eastern Europe
Stiftung Nagelschneider – research concerning sustainable energies
Wüstenrot-Stiftung – funding focus: monument preservation, architecture, and urban planning, sustainable development of urban and rural areas, urban and housing sociology, as well as urban, regional, and state planning