What DAAD is, and how students actually use it
TL;DR: DAAD is the German Academic Exchange Service, the world's largest funding organisation of its kind, supporting well over 100,000 students and researchers a year. Its scholarship database lists DAAD programmes plus selected outside funders, and most awards target graduates, doctoral candidates and postdocs.
Who DAAD is
DAAD stands for Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, the German Academic Exchange Service. It is a joint organisation of German universities and student bodies, and it is the world's largest funding organisation of its kind, supporting well over 100,000 German and international students and researchers every year.
For an applicant, DAAD wears three hats at once: it funds people, it publishes the information other services quote back at you, and it runs offices abroad, including in India.
What the scholarship database actually contains
The database is the part you will use most. It lists DAAD's own programmes alongside offers from selected other funding organisations, which is why it is worth more than any blog listicle, including this one.
Two things surprise first-time users. Most DAAD scholarships aim at graduates, doctoral candidates and postdocs rather than school leavers, so a Bachelor's applicant will find thin pickings. And some programmes fund internships and research stays rather than full degrees, which is a better fit than people expect.
How to search it without wasting a week
- Filter by status group first: are you a student, a graduate, a doctoral candidate or a postdoc? This removes most of the noise.
- Then filter by your subject area, not by the word "scholarship".
- Read the deadline before the amount. DAAD deadlines run months ahead of the intake, and a perfect match you cannot meet this cycle is a note for next year.
- Open the programme page itself for eligibility. Aggregator summaries go stale.
Our own scholarships directory covers the same ground from the other direction, including the university-level schemes DAAD does not administer.
The awards Indian students ask about
| Programme type | Who it is for |
|---|---|
| Study scholarships, Master's | Graduates entering a Master's in Germany |
| Research grants, doctoral | Doctoral candidates and researchers |
| EPOS, development-related postgraduate courses | Professionals from developing countries with relevant work experience |
| Internship and short-stay programmes | Students placed in German labs and institutes, subject to the year's call |
Programme availability changes by year, and a scheme listed in the database can be closed for the current round. Check the entry itself rather than an old article, including the ones on this site.
What a DAAD award typically covers
Programmes differ, but the pattern is consistent: a monthly living allowance for the duration of the award, plus some combination of travel costs, health insurance and a language course before the programme starts. That last item matters more than applicants expect, because it turns a funded degree into a funded degree with the German you need afterwards.
What DAAD does not do is pay your tuition at a public university, for the simple reason that most public universities do not charge it. The money goes to living costs, which is where a year in Munich actually hurts. Exact figures live on each programme page, and on our own pages for the individual schemes in the scholarships directory.
DAAD in India
DAAD runs a regional office and information centres in India, which is why Indian applicants meet the organisation twice: once as a funder and once as the body that publishes guidance on studying in Germany. Its India site carries the calls that are open for Indian applicants, which is not always the same list as the global database.
If you are applying from India, the sequence that works is: check the India site for what is open, then open the full database entry for eligibility, then build the application around the deadline rather than the other way round. Pair it with the APS certificate, which you will need regardless of funding.
What DAAD is not
It is not an admissions office. It does not decide whether your university is recognised, which is what Anabin answers, and it does not process applications, which is uni-assist or the university itself. It is also not a visa authority, so a DAAD award does not replace the financial proof your student visa requires, though it can satisfy part of it.
Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
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