DAAD Master’s Scholarships in Germany for South Africans

Written by Keagan HendricksStaff Writer (Unisa Alumnus)

Reviewed & verified by Naledi KhumaloSenior Admissions and Bursaries EditorVerified

The DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) is the German universities’ agency for international students, and it funds Master’s study in Germany through several scholarship lines. The best known, “Study Scholarships – Master Studies for All Academic Disciplines”, is not open to South Africans. For its 2027/28 round the DAAD database lists 64 eligible countries of origin, mostly in Europe and Central Asia, along with the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and a handful of Middle Eastern countries. No African country is on the list, South Africa included. There is no South African deadline for it either.

South African graduates who want a DAAD-funded Master’s in Germany apply through three other lines instead: the study scholarships for the arts and architecture, the Development-Related Postgraduate Courses (EPOS) for people with work experience, and the Helmut-Schmidt-Programme in public policy. All three pay the same basic rate of €992 a month. The sections below give each one’s rules and its 2027/28 dates.

Study scholarships for fine art, film, performing arts, music and architecture

These four DAAD programmes fund graduates with a first university degree in an artistic field. The degree should normally be no more than six years old at the deadline, and applicants must not have lived in Germany for more than 15 months. Each can pay for a full Master’s or postgraduate degree of 10 to 24 months at a state or state-recognised German university, usually starting in October 2027, or for one year of complementary study without a degree. Study must be full-time and in person; part-time and mainly online programmes are not funded.

For fine art, design, visual communication and film, the DAAD pays €992 a month, a one-off study allowance, health, accident and liability insurance and, on application, a travel allowance. A rent subsidy, family allowance and disability support may be added in some cases, and the DAAD funds online German courses or a two- to six-month German course before the studies. The deadlines the DAAD lists for applicants from South Africa are:

Applications run in two steps. Documents go into the DAAD portal first: a CV, a one- to three-page motivation letter, the DAAD form on preferred Master’s programmes, transcripts and degree certificates, and a letter of admission if the applicant already has one. Once the DAAD has checked the file, the applicant receives a link to upload a portfolio or work samples to the DAAD media database. The portal closes at midnight German time on the deadline day. The fine art and film entry and the performing arts entry in the DAAD database carry the full lists. Local funding for creative study is on our arts bursaries and performing arts bursaries hubs.

EPOS courses for graduates with two years’ work experience

South Africa is on the DAAD’s list of countries eligible for the Development-Related Postgraduate Courses (EPOS). EPOS funds individual scholarships only on a fixed list of development-related Master’s courses; the 2027/28 list (dated June 2026) has 25 course entries, among them Development Economics at Göttingen, Urban Management at TU Berlin, Sustainable Renewable Energy Technologies at Oldenburg, Hydro Science and Engineering and Tropical Forestry at TU Dresden, Agricultural Economics at Hohenheim, and International Health at the Charité in Berlin and at Heidelberg. Funding runs for 12 to 42 months depending on the course. Master’s students get the standard €992 a month; the few doctoral places pay €1,300, or €1,400 from February 2026.

The DAAD describes the typical EPOS scholar as someone working for a public authority or a company on development-related projects. Applicants need a Bachelor’s degree (normally four years) in the upper third of results, at least two years of relevant work after that degree, and a degree no older than six years. Courses taught in German require at least B1 German at the time of application. Applications go directly to up to three courses, not to the DAAD, with an EPOS form, a Europass CV, one motivation letter explaining the order of preference, an employer recommendation on letterhead and employment certificates. Each course sets its own deadline. Course selection committees then propose candidates, and only those candidates upload their files to the DAAD portal. The EPOS database entry links the course list and eligible countries.

Helmut-Schmidt-Programme in public policy and governance

Funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, the Helmut-Schmidt-Programme (Master’s Scholarships for Public Policy and Good Governance) is aimed at graduates in the social and political sciences, law, economics, and public policy and administration who want to work on democratic and social development at home. South Africa is on its country list. For the 2027 intake the DAAD selected seven English-taught Master’s courses: Social Protection (Bonn-Rhein-Sieg), Development and Governance (Duisburg-Essen), Public Policy (Willy Brandt School, Erfurt), Peace and Conflict Studies (Magdeburg), Management in Nonprofit Organisations (Osnabrück), and Development Studies and Governance and Public Policy (both at Passau).

Scholars are exempt from tuition fees and receive €992 a month, health insurance, fixed travel lump sums, a study and research grant, rent and family supplements where they apply, and a compulsory German course of up to four months before the course. Applicants need an upper-third first degree issued no earlier than 1 January 2020 and relevant practical experience, such as work, internships or community and NGO service. Applications go to at most two of the courses. The 2027 round ran from 1 June to 31 July 2026, with selection in October and November 2026 and results expected in December 2026 or January 2027.

Graduates who would rather stay in South Africa can look at DAAD’s in-country scholarships with the NRF, and our postgraduate bursaries list covers local Master’s funding.

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