DAAD-NRF In-Country Scholarship Programme for South Africans, 2014

Receive Free Scholarship Newsletters

Sponsored Links

Recently in Scholarships Blog

DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) in partnership with the National Research Foundation (NRF) is offering In-Country scholarship programme for South Africans students to study postgraduate studies (master and doctoral degree) at South African universities. The scholarship-holder may also apply for a short-term research fellowship (duration 2-6 months) in Germany. Up to 100 scholarships (new awards) for Master’s and Doctoral studies (10 to 15 short-term research fellowship) in 2014 will be awarded. The application deadline is the 21 August 2013 for funding for 2014.

Study Subject (s): Fields include: the natural sciences, mathematics, ICT, engineering, agricultural sciences, and applied social sciences. Humanities and fine arts are excluded from this programme. However, Humanities applications may be considered if the research has a social focus.
Course Level: Scholarships are available for pursuing masters and doctoral degree at South African Universities. The scholarship-holder may also apply for a short-term research fellowship (duration 2-6 months) in Germany.
Scholarship Provider: DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) in partnership with the National Research Foundation (NRF) is offering scholarships. The programme is co-funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the National Research Foundation (NRF).
Scholarship can be taken at: South Africa and Germany (short-term research fellowship)

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 an accumulative grade average of 65% and above to be considered.
-Female candidates and those belonging to historically disadvantaged groups are particularly encouraged to apply.
-An age limit of 36 years at the time of application applies.
-Applicants may come from all 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, and applied social sciences. Humanities and fine arts are excluded from this programme. However, Humanities applications may be considered if the research has a social focus.
-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 the NRF and university policies.
-The scholarship must not be held simultaneously with a bursary/scholarship from any other NRF source, NRF administered source or other government sources without prior NRF/ DAAD permission.
-If the applicant does receive 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 to 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.
-It is the responsibility of the student to find a suitable supervisor and ensure that the supervisor sends a referee report to the NRF as part of the application.

Scholarship Open for International Students: South African students can apply for these scholarships.

Scholarship Description: 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 800 African postgraduates, DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) 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 National Research Foundation (NRF). The scholarship is aimed at future academic staff development without neglecting other sector demands for academically trained personnel. The NRF lauds this contribution of the German government as being of invaluable support to its own efforts of significantly increasing the number of postgraduate candidates receiving quality education and training; of contributing significantly to the national efforts of human capital development, especially at higher education institutions but also for the public and private sectors; of tangibly engaging in the South African PhD Project and, thereby, fulfilling one of the key strategic objectives of the NRF VISION 2015.

Number of award (s): DAAD and NRF offer up to 100 scholarships (new awards) for Master’s and Doctoral studies in 2014. Short-term research scholarships: About 10 to 15 scholarships can be granted per year within the In-Country Programme, in particular for PhD candidates.

Duration of award (s): The scholarships are designed for 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/ postgraduate/ research office. Short-term research scholarships are offered for 2 â€" 6 months.

What does it cover? Scholarship values are as follows:
-Master’s degree: ZAR 60,000.00 p.a.
-PhD degree: ZAR 90,000.00 p.a.
The scholarship-holder may apply for a short-term research fellowship (duration 2-6 months) in Germany where parts of the thesis-related research would significantly gain from this research visit because of required equipment, co-supervision or similar reasons.

Selection Criteria: Applications are assessed based on potential and academic performance. The following selection criteria are taken into consideration:
-academic merit,
-promise of research ability and potential for academic staff development indicated in recommendation letters and research outputs (especially for PhD applicants),
-significance and relevance of proposed research in particular to the South African context, alternatively convincing research of a national or transnational focus,
-for Masters by course work: convincing motivation indicating future academic and research orientation),
-leadership qualities,
- previous prizes and awards,
-the likelihood that the candidate will successfully complete a Master’s or a doctoral degree,
- capacity of institutional research support and expertise to support application and
-recommendation letters from supervisor and referees,
-students are expected to follow up with their supervisors and referees in reasonable time on the submission of their recommendation reports online as this is critical to the application,
-German and or international study or academic experience would be an added advantage,
-The significance and relevance of the proposed research in particular to the South African context must be depicted (alternatively a convincing explanation of the regional and or transnational relevance),
-Masters by coursework: a convincing motivation must be submitted indicating future academic and research orientation”.

Notification: A list of successful applicants that will be funded for 2014 will be found on the NRF website under the student link towards the end of December 2013.

How to Apply: Applications must be submitted through an online application process of the NRF. The following documents are required in the application attachment section.
-Proof of South African Identity Document (ID) or proof of Permanent Residency together with letter indicating university employment (if applicable, only at PhD levels).
-Official and certified university degree certificates and transcripts indicating a minimum accumulative academic requirement of 65% in previous degree.
-Recommendation by Supervisor (compulsory for doctoral applicants).
-Admission letter indicating full-time registration (if available). This will be required if successful.
-Reference Letters (if available). That all required documents must be attached as one PDF file in the following order: Identity document, proof of permanent residence and university employment letter (if applicable), certified university degree certificates and transcripts, recommendation by supervisor (compulsory for doctoral applicants) letter of admission (if available) and any reference letters (if available).
-Short-term research scholarships: The applicant will have to present a current invitation by a German professor who is willing to supervise the research during the envisaged stay in Germany, as well as a convincing letter of motivation and a clearly defined time schedule for the research stay. Your application (original hard-copy) should reach the DAAD head office in Bonn 3 months prior to your intended visit to Germany. Please submit your application via the DAAD Johannesburg Information Centre in hard-copy, as well as electronically.

Scholarship Application Deadline: The application deadline is the 21 August 2013 for funding for 2014.

Further Official Scholarship Information and Application

Scholarship Tags: 2014, Agricultural Sciences, DOCTORAL, Engineering, Featured, Master, mathematics, Natural Sciences, research, scholarships, SOUTH AFRICA

Find it useful? Share Online - If you can, help others.

Subscribe Scholarship Newsletter

Warning: There is no need to provide bank account details or payment to any person or organization when applying for a scholarship or positions.Never give your bank account information, credit card or social security number to a prospective employer. Do not accept any offers to cash checks or wire money. If these details are requested for any job you see on scholarship-positions.com, please report the job to our quality team.

Important: Scholarship-Positions.com is not responsible for the content of any external websites linked to or referenced on this site.

Browse Scholarships

Search International Scholarships and Financial Aid Positions