The application period for PROMOS scholarships opens twice a year:

• Scholarship applications for stays abroad starting between 1 January and 30 June need to be submitted by 30 September of the year before.
• Applications for stays abroad starting between 1 July and 31 December need to be submitted by 31 March of the same year.

Applications can only be submitted during the application period. The online application form normally goes live on this website six weeks before the application deadline. Applications can be submitted as soon as the form is available. 

Only stays that have not yet begun by the time the application is made can be funded.

Regularly enrolled students and doctoral candidates at the University of Oldenburg can apply if they

• hold German citizenship;
• are placed on the same footing as holders of German citizenship by Section 8 (1) nos. 2 ff. and Section 8 (2, 2a, 3) Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG). In this context, the exact wording of the Act is decisive; it can be consulted here (in German);
• do not hold German citizenship, but are enrolled at the University of Oldenburg as students or graduates intending to complete a degree programme or doctorate. Students who do not hold German citizenship cannot receive funding for stays in their home countries. “Home country” is defined here as the country in which the student or doctoral candidate has predominantly resided over the past five years. 

PROMOS scholarships primarily cater for Bachelor’s and Master’s students, but some funding lines are also open to doctoral candidates. 

Stays abroad for study or internships in the ERASMUS+ area (EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Turkey) cannot be funded via PROMOS if funding through ERASMUS+ is possible. In exceptional cases, PROMOS funding may be available when no ERASMUS+ cooperation exists or ERASMUS+ funding is unavailable to students. 

Short-term stays abroad for thesis work or to take part in a language course or a specialist course can be funded within and outside Europe. 

As the DAAD has been forced to make further cuts to its funding for 2025, the maximum period for which study visits and internships can be funded is now only 2 months.

The amounts of the monthly partial scholarship instalments and the country-specific travel allowance are bindingly specified by the DAAD (for the currently applicable amounts, see “PROMOS 2025 funding rates”).

PROMOS scholarships are advertised twice a year via various channels. The application period usually remains open for six weeks. The deadlines for the receipt of applications fall on 30 September and 30 March. Students receive confirmation by email that their applications have been received. 

PROMOS scholarships are awarded by an internal university selection panel with the involvement of all schools. Only complete applications submitted on time will be considered. The selection panel meets approximately six weeks after the end of each application period. 

It awards points to applications and ranks them on the basis of defined criteria. As PROMOS scholarships are allocated on the basis of merit, the academic performance of applicants (the average grade documented in their current academic record) is an essential selection criterion. In addition to academic performance, the motivation of students is also decisive for the selection panel. It is therefore crucial that applicants address the following aspects in their letter of motivation: 

• the significance of the planned stay abroad for their academic development, including the reasons for choosing their host country and host university/host institution,
• their analysis of the courses provided by the host university and the opportunities for having their achievements abroad recognised,
• the added value of the stay abroad for their degree programmes and professional careers, and
• their interest in the culture of the host country and a clearly discernible openness to (inter)cultural experiences.

The selection panel values and considers voluntary work. Applicants must also demonstrate adequate skills in the relevant teaching or working language. 

The following criteria are decisive for ranking applications: 

• Motivation (depending on the funding line, max. 3 or 5 points; weighting: triple)
• Academic achievement (max. 3 points; weighting: double)
• Voluntary work (max. 2 points; weighting: single)

The selection panel gives priority to students who have not yet completed their studies in Oldenburg in order to support the university’s internal internationalisation strategy.

Applicants will be informed of the selection panel’s decision promptly after the scholarship awards meeting. Successful applicants will each receive an individual scholarship agreement and scholarship certificate after accepting their scholarships in writing.

The diversity of the selection criteria, their weighting with respect to each other and the guarantee of absolute confidentiality of the decision-making process in the selection committee mean that the selection decisions are not justified in detail to the applicants.  

Legal recourse is excluded. 

In principle, PROMOS scholarships from the various funding lines can be combined with each other. However, the total period funded within a single education segment leading to a degree award (Bachelor’s, Master’s, etc.) may not exceed six months. For example, it is possible to receive funding for a four-month study visit and a two-month visit abroad for thesis work during the same education segment.

State student loans and grants for stays abroad (International BAföG)
The international Bafög (Auslands-BAföG) office responsible for your destination country must be informed about your PROMOS scholarship if you have applied for international Bafög. Students who are also in receipt of BAföG funding during their studies or internship abroad will receive only the partial monthly scholarship instalment and can apply to the relevant BAföG office for a travel allowance. 

Note: The higher funding rates for education and training abroad mean that many students are entitled to claim international Bafög to fund their stay abroad even though their parents’ income does not make them eligible to receive domestic Bafög. Check your situation with the relevant BAföG office to find out more and submit an application!

Individual DAAD scholarships
Individual DAAD scholarships and PROMOS funding cannot be claimed concurrently.

German public scholarships
Double funding from German public funds for the same funding purpose is generally impermissible. The PROMOS scholarship must be declared to other providers of German public scholarships.

Germany Scholarships
Germany Scholarships (Deutschlandstipendien) and PROMOS funding can be claimed concurrently without restrictions. 

ERASMUS+
ERASMUS+ and PROMOS funding cannot be availed of concurrently. 

STIBET
You can only apply for STIBET and PROMOS at the same time if the purposes of each application (and therefore the relevant funding lines) differ. Different funding lines come into play, for example, when PROMOS is used to fund a course or internship abroad and STIBET is used to fund a stay abroad for thesis work.

Scholarships from private sponsors
No barriers exist to simultaneously availing of a PROMOS scholarship and a scholarship from a private sponsor. 

Scholarship holders undertake to ensure that they have adequate health, accident and liability insurance cover for the duration of their planned stay abroad and to bear the costs of insurance themselves. 

The DAAD offers students and doctoral candidates the opportunity to take out international insurance (combined health, accident, and personal liability insurance) at a group rate. Information on insurance cover and rates can be found at 

https://www.daad.de/en/study-research-teach-abroad/scholarships-funding/daad-insurance/destination-abroad/. 

The International Office strongly advises you to observe the travel and safety advice and especially the (partial) travel warnings issued by the Federal Foreign Office when planning and carrying out your planned stay abroad. 

You can find these at https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/ReiseUndSicherheit (in German). 

Travel advice includes regularly verified and updated medical advice and information on country-specific entry requirements and issues related to criminal law or customs law. 

Safety advice draws attention to particular risks faced by travellers and Germans living abroad. It can include recommendations to avoid or curtail travel. These can relate to travel which is not absolutely necessary or to all trips. 

Travel warnings for a country or partial travel warnings for regions within a country are issued when the Federal Foreign Office urgently appeals against travelling to a country or to certain parts of a country. They are only issued when life-threatening risks make such warnings necessary. The International Office strongly recommends that PROMOS scholarship holders heed any such appeal issued by the Federal Foreign Office and avoid travelling to areas covered by warnings. 

The International Office recommends that scholarship holders with German citizenship register on the ELEFAND (Electronic Registration of Germans Abroad) list kept by the Federal Foreign Office, even when their stay abroad is only intended to be brief.

https://krisenvorsorgeliste.diplo.de (in German). 

This list enables the German diplomatic missions abroad to quickly contact German citizens in their area if a crisis or another exceptional situation arises.