PROMOS Study Trips

 

PROMOS, the German Academic Exchange Service or DAAD's scholarship program is financed with funds from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. It has been funding and supporting students’ mobility with scholarships for short stays since 2010. Funding is available for both individual stays and group trips for groups of five or more participants.

Funded Countries

Applications for study trips or excursions will be accepted for all countries worldwide, stays in countries or regions for which the Federal Foreign Office has issued a travel warning cannot, however, be funded. Please check the Federal Foreign Office (de) for information on the countries or regions affected.

Who Can Apply?

Lecturers at RWTH who wish to organize a group trip to one of the funding countries between January and December with students and/or doctoral candidates from the University can apply for DAAD funding.
To qualify as a study trip, the trip not only has to provide students with knowledge in their field and cultural insight into the host country but also bring students and researchers together and include a visit of an existing or potential partner institution. The respective university instructor is eligible to apply.

Details About Funding

• Study trips are funded with a daily stipend of 30 euros per person in the Erasmus+ area and 45 euros outside this area.
• Between 5 and 15 students per study trip can be funded. One accompanying university staff member can also be funded.
• Trips can be funded for between five and twelve days, including the day of departure and arrival, even if the whole trip is longer.
• Study trips supported by German public funds cannot receive PROMOS funding.

Application

Applications can be submitted throughout the year, but must be complete eight weeks before the start date of the trip.

Please note that we recommend submitting the application as early as possible. That will contribute to a transparent communication with the participants.

The supervising university staff member is asked to send the following documents via email to Ulrike Geurtz:

• Application form
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• Detailed program description for the academic stay covering the following aspects: study-related and non-study related reasons for the trip, outline of the program with precise visit and tour goals, itinerary
• Presentation of the participants’ preparation in relation to the subject
• Description of how the trip is embedded in the curriculum (course of studies, elective or compulsory subject, ECTS, et cetera)
• Funding plan:
  • Cost estimate: costs of flight, food, accommodation, other expenses et cetera for
    • participating students
    • the excursion leader
  • Revenue and sources of revenue
• Invitation from the foreign university
• Your excursion number – please put in a travel request with RWTH's Travel Management Office for this.

Selection

PROMOS scholarship recipients are selected by the International Office based on the following criteria:

• Technical skills and information to be taught on the trip
• Inclusion in the curriculum
• Opportunity for German students to meet students and researchers in the host country
• Consolidation of existing university partnerships / laying the foundation for new partnerships / adding value to RWTH's internationalization strategy
• Cultural insight into the host country

After the Scholarship Has Been Awarded

If you application was successful, the excursion leader who applied will receive a letter of confirmation and a statement of acceptance to sign and return.

After the Study Trip

Please submit the following documents to Ulrike Geurtz after your trip:

• A list of the participants' and excursion leader’s signatures
• Personal details of the participants as proof for the DAAD
• Evidence of the actual duration of the trip
• If possible: photos that we can publish on our website, with the consent of the photographer and those appearing in the photos.

You must also submit documentation of how you used the funds to the RWTH Travel Management Office. Once this has been reviewed, the funds will be transferred to the excursion account. If you have questions about the disbursement or transfer process, please contact the Travel Management Office.

RWTH Travel Management

PROMOS can offer you funding for your academic stay. However, RWTH's Travel Management Office is in charge of all the organizational details, such as registration, requesting an excursion number, or establishing an excursion account. Your group's trip must be registered with the Travel Management Office to be able to be considered for PROMOS funding.

 

Impressions of Past Study Trips