Graduation Scholarship

Every semester, Bielefeld University awards graduation scholarships to international students pursuing Bachelor's degree, Master's degree and State examinations. Funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and partners of Bielefeld University (such as the Association to Support International Students in Bielefeld (ViSiB) or the University Society (UGBi)), this scholarship programme enables international students to focus on successfully completing their studies.

Target group

Graduation scholarships are awarded to international students who fulfil the following criteria:

• Final degree phase (i.e. final study requirements / credits are completed, thesis is being written, thesis has already been registered).
• Confirmation of supervision from the lecturer is available, time and work plan have been discussed
• Submission of the thesis within the funding semester
• Active studies and good study requirements / credits
• current financial need (e.g. if the studies have been (partially) financed by a job)
• registered in Germany and have a bank account in Germany
• Combinability with other scholarships will be examined on a case-by-case basis. In addition, work as a student or research assistant at Bielefeld University is not permitted during the funding period.
• If you have a part-time job, you may earn a maximum of EUR 1,530 gross per month (scholarship and additional income added together).

Scholarship Amount and Funding Period

• Scholarship amount: at least 250,- € per month
• Funding period: up to 6 months

Deadlines

• For funding in the summer semester (funding begins in April), applications must be submitted from 01 December to 15 January. You will usually receive a reply by the end of February at the latest.
• For funding in the winter semester (funding begins in October), applications must be received from 01 June to 15 July. Usually, you will receive a reply by the end of August at the latest.

Please allow sufficient time for your application and prepare the required documents early.

Required Documents

The following documents must be submitted with your application:

• Curriculum vitae in table form current semester certificate
• Current transcript of records by modules
• A Work and time schedule for the preparation of the thesis, signed by applicant and supervisor; please use this template
• A letter of recommendation from one of the supervisors of the thesis; please use the letter of recommendation form, which can also be sent directly by the lecturer to io-foerderprojekte@uni-bielefeld.de (Please note: lecturers need time to write the letter of recommendation, so contact your advisor as early as possible)
• If you are reapplying for a graduation scholarship (renewal application): Scholarship Report

Incomplete applications will not be considered. After the deadline, it is no longer possible to submit additional documents. Please allow sufficient time for the preparation of all documents.

Contact for Questions

Do you have any questions? Please contact the Team Förderprojekte of the International Office: io-foerderprojekte@uni-bielefeld.de. You can find the current counselling hours here.