As a first step, all applicants must submit a complete application for the programme via the DAAD Portal. This is a standard uploading area for all programme applications and some documents may not be mandatory for your application. Please refer to your programme call to check which documents are required.
Please be aware of the DAAD’s application deadline as well as the University of Cape Town’s deadline.
The application process for DAAD scholarships contains the following steps:
- Register on the portal: https://funding.meindaad.de/sites/personalfunding#PBFApplication- Start?fundingProgramInstance=57803618
- Log in to the portal
- Carefully read the instructions on how to apply in the portal
- Submit your application via the portal by the deadline April 09th 2025
All documents should be saved in PDF format. Please note that you can only upload PDF files to the portal.
Deadline: April 09th, 2025
Applications submitted through other channels or to other authorities will not be considered. The DAAD portal closes at 24.00 hours. Central European Time (CET or CEST) on the last (deadline) application day.
Remember to check that your application is complete and meets the DAAD requirements before submitting! Otherwise, your application cannot be considered.
The DAAD will conduct a formal review of the applications received via the DAAD portal only, according to the DAAD criteria.
▶In addition to the application process, applicants must apply for admission at the University of Cape Town using the contact details and procedure prescribed by the institution. The institution sets its own deadline for the admission process. Please inform yourself in plenty of time about the application process at the host institution.
Please note: in some countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, a document from the Qualifications Authority must be submitted for admission to the universities (e.g., from SAQA in South Africa). The application for these documents can take a while and it is the applicant’s responsibility to obtain the documents from the respective authorities in time.
In a final selection organised by the DAAD, applications that have met both the admission requirements at the host university (and the university’s rank in the pre-selection) and the DAAD’s formal criteria are evaluated by an independent selection committee (international university teachers and experts from German and foreign universities as well as alumni). The independent selection committee evaluates the applications based on the submitted documents, taking into consideration the pre-selection ranking of the institution. Areas evaluated include academic performance and quality, extracurricular activities, motivation, and relevance of the research topic (if applicable).
The selection process usually takes place in September. The final decision will be announced for the region of Sub-Saharan Africa, approximately six months after the application process has been concluded.
Please note, that the information about the selection process and the deadlines for an announcement of the final decisions are a subject to change.
The DAAD reserves the right of final selection.
