German Studies Research Grant

Who can apply?

Undergraduates with at least junior (third-year) standing pursuing a German Studies track or minor may be nominated for the grant by the professor supervising their research project.

Master’s level graduate students in the humanities and social sciences earning a certificate or working on a project in German Studies may be nominated for the grant by the professor supervising their research project.

PhD students in the humanities and social science disciplines in the process of preparing their dissertation proposals on modern German topics may be nominated for the grant by their principal advisor. Students whose dissertation proposals have already been formally accepted one year or more before the application deadline are not eligible for nomination. The intent of the program is to provide an opportunity for short-term exploratory research to determine the viability or to delimit the scope of their proposed dissertations. The program is not intended to supplement or substitute for regular dissertation field work abroad which should lag the short-term research stay by at least one semester.

All applicants are expected to have completed two years of college-level German language studies and a minimum of three courses in German Studies (literature, history, politics or other fields) at the time of nomination.

* Advanced doctoral students are advised to consider DAAD’s Research Grants instead.

* Applicants must be citizens or permanent residents of the US and Canada who are enrolled full-time at the US or Canadian college or university that nominates them, or, in the case of international students, must be enrolled in a degree program at a US or Canadian college or university and living in the US or Canada for a minimum of six months by the time of the application deadline.

Research support ranging in value from $2,000 to $3,000 is available to individual scholarship recipients and is intended to offset living and travel costs during the active research phase. Support cannot be provided for stays in Germany in the context of study abroad programs.

For more information about the German Studies Research Grant, click here.

• Application deadlines for 2026 are May 1 and November 1.
• Any awards made will be subject to the ratification of the German federal budget for the same fiscal year.
• Applications postmarked the day of the deadline or earlier will be accepted; those with later postmarks cannot be processed. Incomplete applications are invalid.
• Please note: Application materials will not be returned, and no reasons for a decision will be given.

DAAD will announce its decision approximately eight weeks after each deadline.

If possible all parts of the application form should be electronically generated, typewritten, or otherwise neatly printed. Confidential letters of recommendation and official transcripts should be forwarded in sealed envelopes. Please do not staple any of the application materials.

A complete application consists of the following parts:

• Completed DAAD application form
• Curriculum vitae (résumé)
• Detailed description of the research project or the pre-dissertation proposal, including a research plan, timeline, and itinerary with specific start and end dates
• Budget statement
• List of German language and German Studies courses taken
• Two letters of recommendation, including one from the professor supervising the German Studies research project or curriculum. Please ask your reviewers to send a scan of the signed letter to grandeldaad.de.
• DAAD language evaluation form (“Sprachzeugnis”). The language evaluation form is a mandatory part of the application form, and must be completed and signed by a faculty member of the German Department at the applicant’s institution.
• Master’s level graduate students and PhD students: Official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work completed
• Undergraduates:  Official transcripts of all undergraduate work completed
• Optional: an applicant may also choose to include a host invitation letter from a contact/advisor in Germany where their research will be conducted, if preferred to strengthen their application, though this is not required and will not be considered against an applicant if not included

Important: All applications must be handed in 1) via regular mail (see address below) and 2) via email to grandeldaad.de in a single pdf-file.
In order for your application to be complete, you must hand in an electronic and a paper version of your application.

All applications must be sent to:

DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)
German Studies Research Grant
871 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017

If you have any questions regarding the DAAD German Studies Research Grant, please send your inquiry to: grandeldaad.de