Your letter of motivation serves to explain to the members of the Board of Trustees your personal motivation for applying for a scholarship, your suitability, your biographical and academic background, and any other interesting information. It is advisable to use the letter of motivation to cover the following points:
 

• Who are you? Introduce yourself briefly.
• What prompted you to enrol in the subjects and programmes you have chosen?
• How has your study path gone so far?
• Why do you think you are particularly suitable for the scholarship you are looking for? Please justify your self-assessment.
• What is your special skill that distinguishes you from other students?
• In which social, political, social, cultural or ecclesiastical area do you show special initiative through (voluntary) commitment?
• What has shown a special assumption of responsibility in your career so far?
   

Please write no more than three A4 pages.

The purpose of a review is to highlight your personal qualities as a student and to explain to the foundation's board, which decides on your application, why you are worthy of support. Lecturers who have known you for a certain time and can provide as well-founded information as possible about your performance are therefore recommended as reviewers.

An expert report therefore contains information about your academic achievements and abilities and, ideally, a few words about yourself and your character.

Always remember: The goal of your application is to convince a group of people who have already read many applications that you are better suited for funding than your competitors.

The expert opinion does not require any special form.

Together with your personal cover letter, the description of your study and life path serves to give a picture of you as a person, your character and your interests.

If you already comment in detail on your biography in your cover letter, a curriculum vitae in tabular form is sufficient as a description of your study and life path. If, on the other hand, you are brief in your cover letter, it is a good idea to go into more detail about your biographical stations and motivations for the important decisions in the description of your study and life path.

There are no formal requirements.

The following applies to the Germany and State Scholarship:

You always apply for the scholarship with only one degree programme. If you study two subjects in equal proportions in this degree programme, it is up to you which one you specify as your first subject.

If you are studying two degree programmes (e.g. two Master's degrees) at the same time, you can also choose which degree programme (and, if applicable, subject) you want to apply for.

Attention: If you are between the Bachelor's and the Master's degree, so that you are only waiting for the grade of the Bachelor's thesis, please treat the Master's degree as your current degree program and the Bachelor's degree as a previous degree (even if a few credit points are still missing).

The following applies to other funding offers:

Here, too, the credit points and average grades from only one (current) degree programme must first be indicated. However, they are welcome to provide additional courses (and subjects) in order to document their entire academic profile. Such information is also possible when applying for state and Germany scholarships, but is not relevant to selection.
 

The question of where students can apply for a scholarship arises, for example, where the same scholarship — specifically the state scholarship and the Germany scholarship — is offered in different places.

If you are enrolled in a cooperative degree program, you can apply for such a scholarship in Oldenburg if the University of Oldenburg is your first point of contact for academic matters.

In case of doubt, it is the University of Oldenburg if you can view or generate your transcript of records via the Oldenburg Stud.IP. If, on the other hand, you receive your transcript of records from the Emden/Leer University of Applied Sciences, for example, you can apply there.

By volunteer work, voluntary commitment or honorary office, we mean altruistic action in which an individual or a group performs work voluntarily and without remuneration. The activity can take place regularly or sporadically.

Volunteering must be distinguished from hobby. In the case of voluntary work, the well-being of society, another group or person or a cause is at the forefront of the activity. In a hobby, the pleasure of the person exercising it is at the center.

Voluntary work is usually carried out as part of a voluntary cooperation with an institution (association, project, church, student council, AStA, party).

Volunteer work may be associated with an expense allowance, but not payment.

Only voluntary activities that have been carried out in the last 12 months are recognised.

It is not an honorary office, for example, in the case of:

• Donate
• Sponsorships that consist mainly of donations
• Own art or media productions that do not receive public reception
• Paid tutoring or homework help
• Membership in an association (special functions in the association can constitute an honorary office)

Activities in student or academic self-administration usually involve participation in committees.

Activities as student or research assistants do not fall into this category and are not taken into account.

Additional achievements and further education are further training, courses, courses and the like that are not provided for in your study regulations.

Further training as a mediator, further training as an arbitrator, a certificate as a language mediator — these are examples of achievements that fall into this category. Vocational training and internships, on the other hand, are not included.

In your application, please only state those achievements that you have completed during your studies.

All such physical and mental impairments are recognized as chronic illnesses or disabilities that are proven by a medical certificate, severely disabled person's ID card or other official document or professional evaluation.

We consider the care of one's own children to be a given if parents raise at least one minor child. A birth certificate is required as proof.

The care of close relatives in need of care is recognised if the applicant lives in the same household as the person in need of care. Appropriate information on the scope of care and supporting documents must be provided as proof.

Close relatives are grandparents, parents, stepparents, spouses, partners in a cohabitation, life partners, partners in a civil partnership, siblings, children and grandchildren.

If one's own children are in need of care, there is always both the care of one's own children and the care of relatives in need of care.

A person with a migration background is considered to be all persons who have themselves immigrated to Germany from a non-German-speaking country or are descended from such persons in the first generation. A birth certificate, an identity card or a signed declaration from the immigrant is required as proof.

First-time academics are those students whose parents do not have a degree from a university or university of applied sciences. To prove this, suitable information on the educational qualifications of the parents must be provided.

It is not uncommon for the results of examinations that have already been taken to be reported to the Examination Office in time to indicate them in an application.

As a general rule, the Scholarship Service Centre cannot recognise achievements that are not plausibly proven. In case of doubt, slowly examining lecturers, the examination office or other persons with influence on the examination process are the right contacts to increase the number of exams and credit points that can be taken.

In such cases, you can contact the appropriate contact person to obtain proof of achievements and grades.

Are you in your Master's degree and are supposed to submit your Bachelor's certificate, but haven't received it yet? In this case, please submit a certificate of grade for the Bachelor's degree program with a corresponding note.

A family is considered to have many children if more than three children grow up in a household.

Anyone who receives a Lower Saxony State Scholarship or a Germany Scholarship cannot receive any further funding during the same period.

Anyone who is already supported by the Dr. h. c. Peter Waskönig Foundation or the Dr. Dettling Foundation would have to decide on one of the grants if they were awarded a state or Germany scholarship.

You can get certificates of grades and enrollment from the Examination and Enrollment Office. However, it is much easier to get them via Stud.IP:

• Grades: elearning.uni-oldenburg.de/plugins.php/notenplugin/studentnoten
• Matriculation: elearning.uni-oldenburg.de/plugins.php/meinstudiumplugin/main/studiendaten

Signed and certified certificates are not required.

Please ask for proof of voluntary commitment from the institutions concerned.