DAAD/NRF Joint In-Country Masters and Doctoral Scholarships for Africans 2018

Application Deadline: 28th July 2017

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Candidates: South Africans and permanent residents.

To be taken at (country): South Africa

Eligible Fields of Study: The natural sciences, mathematics, ICT, engineering, agricultural sciences, applied social sciences and humanities.

About the Award: As part of the “In-Country Scholarship Programme”, in which more than two dozen African universities and university networks participate and which annually supports some 1000 African postgraduates, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in partnership with the National Research Foundation (NRF) is able to offer scholarships for postgraduate studies at South African universities.

The programme is co-funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the NRF. The scholarship is aimed at future academic staff development without neglecting other sector demands for academically trained personnel.

University staff-members studying towards a doctoral qualification will also be considered. Staff members should be enrolled for full-time studies and be exempted from teaching. In exceptional cases, a limited extent of teaching obligations may be accepted but has to be motivated in writing.

Type: Master’s, Doctoral degrees.

Eligibility: Please carefully read through the eligibility criteria before applying.

• Applicants must be South African citizens or hold permanent residence status in South Africa in the latter case, both certified proof of university employment and residency must be provided.
• Applicants must have obtained a minimum accumulative grade average of 65% in the previous degree to be considered.
• Female candidates and those belonging to designated groups are particularly encouraged to apply.
• An age limit of 36 years at the time of application applies.
• Applicants’ last qualification should not be obtained longer than six years prior to year of application.
• Applicants may come from all those fields of study that have a strong relevance to the national development of the country. Fields include: the natural sciences, mathematics, ICT, engineering, agricultural sciences, applied social sciences and humanities.
• Applicants who already hold a qualification for the level of funding they are applying for are not eligible.
• Scholarships-holders are allowed to hold supplementary bursaries, grants or emoluments which may be capped in line with NRF and university policies.
• The scholarship must not be held simultaneously with a bursary/scholarship from any other NRF source, the NRF administered source, and DAAD administered source or other government sources without prior NRF / DAAD permission.
• If the applicant does receive any supplementary funding during the duration of the scholarship, this has to be declared to the NRF/ DAAD.
• Scholarship-holders must not hold full-time salaried employment during the duration of the scholarship. They will be allowed to undertake a maximum of 12 hours of employment which includes teaching, tutorials, and assistance or demonstration duties per week on average.
• University staff members applying into the programme will have to provide a supporting letter from their human resource department clearly indicating their working hours and status of employment during the tenure of the award.

Number of Awardees: Up to 120

Value of Scholarship: Scholarship values are as follows:

• Master’s degree : ZAR 80 000.00 p.a.
• PhD degree : ZAR 110 000.00 p.a.

Additional research funds and travel grants to 2 conferences are not awarded to awardees on this scholarship: the exception will be for the short term (2-6 months) research visits to Germany (visit Scholarship Webpage for details)

Duration of Scholarship: The scholarships are designed for students enrolled in full-time two-year Master’s courses or three-year doctoral degree studies. Please Note: The initial award is for one year only. For extensions of the award an annual progress report will have to be completed by the applicant, with input from the supervisor of the proposed research, and submitted to the NRF via the university financial aid/ post graduate/ research office.

How to Apply: Applications may be completed on the NRF Online Submission System at https://nrfsubmission.nrf.ac.za.
Applicants are advised to complete their applications soon after the call opens to prevent IT system
overload nearer the closing date.

It is important to go through the Application process in the Scholarship Webpage before applying.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Award Provider: German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), National Research Foundation (NRF), German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)