DAAD Study Scholarships 2024/2025 – Postgraduate Studies in the Field of Music

Get latest opportunities in your email

About DAAD Study Scholarships 2024/2025

The DAAD Postgraduate Studies in the Field of Music scholarship Study programme offers you the opportunity to continue your education in Germany with a postgraduate or continuing course of study in the field of music. The scholarships also promote the exchange of experience and networking amongst colleagues.

Who can apply?

You can apply if you have gained a first university degree in the field of Music at the latest by the time you commence your scholarship-supported study programme; if this is not possible, you should have at least exhausted all the training options available for your instrument in your country of origin.

What can be funded?

In this study programme, you can complete 

• a Master's degree/postgraduate degree leading to a final qualification, or
• a complementary course that does not lead to a final qualification (not an undergraduate course)

at a state German college of music of your choice.

The funding of postgraduate studies is possible in the so-called 2nd cycle (usually a four-semester Master's degree) or a 3rd cycle which usually takes place in two semesters (concert examination, masterclass or PhD in an artistic subject).
Funding for a Master's degree programme/a postgraduate degree programme that has already started in Germany cannot be granted.

If your Master's or postgraduate degree programme includes a study period abroad, funding for this period abroad is usually only possible under the following conditions:

• The study visit is essential for achievement of the scholarship objective,
• the visit does not take place in the home country, and
• it is no longer than a quarter of the scholarship period. Longer periods cannot be funded, even partially.

Please note: This programme only funds projects in the artistic field. Other DAAD scholarship programmes are available for applicants from the field of musicology or music education or musicians with a scientific project.

Duration of the funding

Degree programme:

• Funding is provided for Master's studies, preparation for the concert exam and participation in master classes.
• Start: usually from 1st October of the following year, or earlier if a German language course is taken prior to the study programme
• The scholarships are awarded for the duration of the level of training for the chosen study programme (between 10 and 24 months). Please state the entire period for which you wish to apply for funding in your application. For example, if you are planning a 2-year degree programme, you must indicate two years as the desired scholarship duration in your application. After the first year of study, your academic achievements will be assessed in a further funding procedure. If this shows that you will successfully complete your programme within a reasonable period of time, the scholarship will continue as planned.
• An extension of the scholarship beyond the maximum duration of 24 months is only possible if changing to a new stage in studies is intended (usually from a Master's degree to an advanced programme of study such as a concert exam or master class). For particularly qualified candidates, it is possible to apply for an extension for a concert exam for up to 24 months.

Complementary studies not leading to a final qualification:

• One academic year is being funded. In individual cases, the scholarship can be extended on request
• Start: usually on 1st October of the following year, or earlier if a German language course is taken prior to the study programme

• Sponsor Organisation: The Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD)

Benefits of DAAD Study Scholarships 2024/2025

• A monthly payment of 934 euros
• Travel allowance
• One-off study allowance
• Payments towards health, accident and personal liability insurance cover

Under certain circumstances, you can apply for the following additional benefits after the start of funding:

• Monthly rent subsidy (please read the important scholarship information / section F, point 9)
• Monthly allowance for accompanying members of family. Please also read our important information for scholarship applicants / section F, point 3
• In case of a disability or chronic illness: on application, a subsidy may be provided for justified additional costs, incurred in Germany due to the disability, that are necessary to realise the project in Germany and that are not covered by a third party; whether and to what extent a subsidy will be paid will be reviewed and determined on an individual basis (see important information for scholarship applicants, section F, point 8).
• Green Mobility Top Up (Support for climate-friendly travel) or reimbursement of carbon offset payments for air travel

To allow you to improve your language skills in preparation for your stay in Germany, the DAAD offers the following benefits:

• Payment of course fees for an online language course after receipt of the Scholarship Award Letter
• if necessary: German language course (2, 4 or 6 months) before the start of the study visit in Germany; the DAAD decides whether to fund participation and for how long depending on German language skills and project. Participation in a German language course is compulsory if the language of instruction or working language at the German host institution is German.
• Allowance for a personally chosen German language course during the scholarship period
• Reimbursement of the fee for a TestDaF or DSH test, which you can take either in your home country after you have received your Letter of Award or in Germany during your funding period.

Please note that the DAAD does not cover tuition fees.

DAAD Study Scholarships 2024/2025 Requirements

Please check if the following criteria are fulfilled:

• As a rule, your university degree should not date back more than 6 years at the time of the application deadline. Please read our important information for scholarship applicants / Section A, point 2.
• The respective college of music is responsible for deciding age limits for admission, whereby differing rules may be applied depending on the applicant's academic level and chosen subject.
• Your application cannot be considered, if you have been resident in Germany for longer than 15 months at the application deadline.

 

Language skills

You should have a knowledge of the language of instruction that corresponds to the requirements of the chosen university at the latest by the time you start the scholarship. If you do not yet have the language skills required by the university at the time of your application, your application should indicate the extent to which you are in a position to reach the required level. After you have been awarded a scholarship, take advantage of the funding opportunities described under 'Value'.

Selection

A special DAAD committee made up of professors from German colleges of music makes the final decision about scholarships in the field of music. The decision is based upon written applications and sound recordings which have to be submitted (see: www.daad.de/extrainfo).

Selection criteria

• the artistic qualification and artistic maturity, measured by study achievements and work samples
• the quality of the project as measured by the study plan and the letter of motivation; the quality of the project includes the following aspects: the justification of the application, the plausibility and feasibility of the project, the state of preparation of the stay abroad, the embedding of the stay in the artistic career as well as the connection with professional perspectives

In addition, the selection committee will give due consideration to aspects of equal opportunities, on which you can provide information in the application form.
For further information on the selection procedure, please refer to the Important Scholarship Information / Section E.
 

Further information

Confirmation of a scholarship does not automatically guarantee admission to one of the colleges of music named in the application. The respective college of music decides whether or not to offer scholarship holders a place. In most cases, applicants are required to take an entrance examination. Please find out in time about admission requirements and application deadlines and interview dates at your chosen college of music, and bear in mind that these may be several months before the planned start of your studies or even before the DAAD awards the scholarship. We cannot cover the costs of the entrance examination. If an applicant is offered a scholarship by the DAAD but fails to be admitted to a university, he/she may not make use of the scholarship that has already been awarded.

Application Date and Process

Application deadlines are updated at least once a year. In most cases, they are in the same period as the previous year. You can find the current dates here:

26.09.2024
Selection date in February 2025 for funding starting from October 2025

Application documents

The application is submitted in two steps:
1. submission of the application documents
2. submission of work samples

1. Submission of the application documents
The application documents are submitted online via the DAAD portal.
Please note that the access to the application portal only appears while the current application period is running. After the application deadline has expired, the portal for this programme is not available until the next application period.

Certificates, proof of credits, certifications and translations may be scanned in non-certified form and uploaded to the DAAD portal. The DAAD reserves the right to request certified copies of the documents.

1. Documents to be uploaded to the DAAD portal:

• Online application form
• Full curriculum vitae in tabular form
• Statement about academic and personal reasons for the planned study project in Germany (letter of motivation; 1 - 3 pages). Please read our important information for scholarship applicants / Section A, point 1.

Master's degree/postgraduate study programme leading to a final qualification:

• If available: Letter of acceptance from the host university in Germany. If you have not yet received notification of admission at the time of application, you must submit this before the funding period begins. Please note that you yourself are responsible for ensuring that you apply for admission at the host university by the due date and that a Scholarship Award Letter from the DAAD only becomes valid if you are admitted to your chosen host university.
• If possible, confirmation of supervision from a university teacher in Germany
• Candidates for a Master's degree programme should also attach the form 'Information on your desired Master's degree programmes'. Please upload the form duly completed under 'course profile' in the DAAD portal.

Further training that does not lead to a final qualification:

• Confirmation of supervision from a university teacher of the host university in Germany
• Proof that credits acquired in Germany will be recognised by your home university. Please upload it under 'course profile' in the DAAD portal.

Also for all applicants:

• A current Transcript of Records with individual grade(s), incl. explanation of grading system
• University degree certificate indicating final grade(s): the certificate must be subsequently submitted before the scholarship-supported study programme begins if studies have not been completed at the time of application.
• German or English translations of documents submitted in the national language
• Proof of knowledge of the language of instruction (German or English).The language certificate should be no more than two years old.
• Form with an overview of recorded pieces: 'Information about the audio/video files'.

Please do not upload any samples of your work in the DAAD portal.

2. Work samples to be submitted to the Media Database Canto:
One to two weeks after submitting your application documents via the DAAD Portal, you will receive a link to upload your work samples into the protected area of the DAAD media database. Please upload the work samples promptly (within two weeks of receiving the link) into the media database.
Please upload video files (mp4, maximum resolution 1080 pixels) only. The composition subject subject as well as sound engineering, sound studies, etc. are exceptions: Here, audio files (mp3, wav) can also be submitted.

For formal requirements, read: "Additional Information for DAAD Study Scholarships in the Field of Music" at: www.daad.de/extrainfo. 
 

Please note

• Your application is only valid if you submit all the required documents to the DAAD portal (see Item 1) and to the media database (see Item 2).
• The DAAD portal closes at 24.00 hrs. (CET or CEST) on the last application day. If possible, please submit your application a few days before the application deadline. This means you are on the safe side in the event of technical problems.
• Subsequent applications after the application deadline are not possible.
• Incomplete applications cannot be considered. You are responsible for ensuring that youir applications are complete.
• The application documents remain with the DAAD. Your personal data is saved by the DAAD in accordance with the Federal Data Protection Act and with the EU Data Protection Regulation insofar as this data is needed to process the application.

Click on the link to the application website to begin your application process.

Application Deadline

26 September, 2024

Scholarship Application Portal

View details of DAAD Study Scholarships 2024/2025

Apply for DAAD Study Scholarships 2024/2025