PROMOS Study or Internship Abroad Scholarships

 

PROMOS, a scholarship program offered by the German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD for short, is financed by the German Ministry of Education and Research. It has been promoting students to go on short stays abroad with scholarships since 2010.

Funded Countries

Applications are accepted for all countries outside the Erasmus area. Due to the current situation, no scholarships to the Russian Federation will be provided for students who have not already been selected for this.

The United Kingdom continues to be part of the Erasmus area and therefore a PROMOS scholarship will not be provided.

Stays in countries or regions for which the German Foreign Office has issued a travel warning cannot be funded. Please refer to the German Foreign Office for information on the countries or regions affected.

Here you can find a detailed list of funded countries and the types of grants available (de).

Who Can Apply?

RWTH students from any faculty who – in a country eligible for funding through PROMOS –

• are planning a semester abroad
• wish to complete a thesis or project
• or wish to complete an internship

can be funded with partial scholarships for their stay from January to the end of December from DAAD funds. Doctoral candidates, with the exception of medical students, are not eligible to apply for a PROMOS scholarship; however, the DAAD offers various funding opportunities for doctoral candidates, therefore you should contact them directly if you are interested in taking advantage of this.

Further Application Requirements

• You have not yet received any funding through PROMOS or the Hans Hermann Voss Foundation at the current stage of your studies (Bachelor or Master).
• You have already received confirmation of your stay abroad.
• It is not possible to receive a PROMOS scholarship and an independent scholarship from the DAAD at the same time. In general, it is not permitted to obtain double funding from German public funds. In case of funding from public bodies, the purpose of funding is decisive. You cannot receive PROMOS funding if you already receive funding from a public body for the purpose of study abroad. It is possible, however, to obtain funding from private sources in addition to your PROMOS grant. For further information, refer to the Scholarship Details section.
  
  As double fuding is nt permitted, the following RWTH-funded scholarships can also not be combined with PROMOS funding: MOGAM, MIRAI, Asem Duo, UROP, and RWTH Research Ambassador.

Scholarship Details

• Scholarships are awarded for study or research stays abroad lasting one to six months; internships must be longer than six weeks. The RWTH project coordinator will first determine the total number of months to be funded after the selection period. The funding period depends on the availability of funds.
• A partial scholarship of at least 350 euros per month is awarded. The PROMOS program is not responsible for any organizational support in planning your stay. It is solely a funding program. You may of course use one of the International Office's structured mobility programs and participate in group advising sessions.
• Internships for which internship-specific funding offered by the DAAD is already accepted cannot be funded through PROMOS. This entails: internships with international organizations, such as the UN, EU institutions and organizations that manage EU programs, Germany's missions abroad, the German Humanities Institutes, the Goethe-Instituts, the German Archaeological Institute, and German schools abroad. You can find more information on the DAAD website.
• You may apply for multiple scholarship programs at a time. However, it is not permitted to receive multiple funding for the same stay in the form of a scholarship funded by German public funds and from the following RWTH scholarship programs: MOGAM, MIRAI, Asem Duo, UROP, and RWTH Research Ambassador.
• You may use scholarships that finance studies at RWTH and are not directly related to your planned stay, such as a Deutschland Scholarship or NRW Scholarship, along with the PROMOS scholarship.
• If you receive a scholarship from any other public scholarship institution in addition to PROMOS, you have to notify them of your PROMOS scholarship.
• If you receive the PROMOS scholarship and BAföG for abroad, you are required to notify the BAföG office of the amount of your PROMOS scholarship.

Application

You will have the option of applying for a PROMOS scholarship via this application portal either by March 15 or by September 15. The portal will be open starting one month before each deadline. The March 15 deadline only applies to stays that begin in the year of application. The September 15 deadline applies to stays that either take place in the year of application or the subsequent year. It is important however, that you have not already completed your stay by the application deadline.

Please upload the following documents to your application:

• Confirmation from the host institution (acceptance or internship contract) or confirmation of place from the RWTHweltweit team (e.g. screenshot from MoveOn or nomination email)
• Tabular resume
• Evidence of proficiency in the language of your host country, for example through a language certificate such as TOEFL, and certificate from the Language Center or your Abitur certificate
• Current transcript of records
• For Master's students: transcript of records of your Bachelor's degree
• Academic progress certificate
• Other documentation, for example awards, volunteering, etc. Please note: only activities and achievements for which you provide evidence will be considered in the selection process.

Applications must be received by the respective deadline. Any incomplete applications and applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

Please make sure to start your application early enough and not within the very last days. Creating an application takes time and often questions need to be clarified. Also technical problems may occur.

Selection

PROMOS scholarship holders are selected by a university commission in the International Office about six weeks after each application deadline.

Selection Criteria

• Quality of application
• Academic achievements
• The planned project, that is, its overall quality and its motivation from a technical/academic perspective
• Sufficient language skills
• Motivation
• Other qualifications

“Sustainability” as a Selection Criterion

PROMOS has the aim to promote, in particular, study or research abroad projects with a focus on the topic of sustainability. How exactly you intend to meet this criterion is up to you. FOr guidance, you may refer to the United Nations' Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. For further information, please check out the FAQ section.

Selection Process and Approval

Seven to eight weeks after the deadline for applications, you will be informed by email whether your application has been approved. If you receive a letter of acceptance, you have the opportunity to object to it within four weeks. If you do not do so, we will assume that you accept the scholarship. The stipend will be paid once we have received your Confirmation of Arrival and proof of travel.

After Your Return

Upon your return, you must upload the following documents to the portal right away without being prompted:

• Official Certificate of Stay from your host institution confirming the exact dates of your stay
• Proof of your coursework, such as a transcript of records or an internship certificate
• Experience report written by you
• An enrollment certificate from RWTH that is valid for the period of your stay abroad

After submitting the documents listed above, you can request a PROMOS scholarship certificate. For further information, please contact Ulrike Geurtz.

Students With Disabilities or a Chronic Illness

PROMOS-funded students with a degree of medical disability of at least 50 percent or who have a chronic illness may be able to receive a special scholarship if they can prove that they will incur greater expenses due to their stay abroad while not receiving any support from other responsible institutions. In this case, please submit the following paperwork in addition to your application – or, at the latest, after receiving confirmation of receiving funding:

• Copy of your Disability ID
• Tabular list of your anticipated expenses
• Proof that no other institution is offering financial support

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

DAAD Group Insurance

The German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD, offers a group insurance package for students and doctoral candidates which includes health, accident, and personal liability insurance. For further information, please see the DAAD website.

PROMOS Scholarships in Australia and New Zealand

The Institut Ranke-Heinemann (IRH) awards an allowance for study stays in Australia and New Zealand in conjunction with PROMOS. This means that PROMOS scholarship holders who are free movers receive a discount of 10 percent off their tuition fees, regardless of the university, the course of study, or the amount of PROMOS funding. You can find further information on the IRH website.