The Application Process

Please note for your Application:

All students at the TU Darmstadt are allowed to apply. The scholarship is independent of income and can be received in addition to BAföG. The application process is a two-stage process.

What is the application process like?

Application requirements

Application requirements for the Deutschlandstipendium
according to § 5 Absatz (1) of the Satzung der TU Darmstadt:

All students at the TU Darmstadt are allowed to apply for the Deutschlandstipendium.

The application can be done in September every year by the online application website for the Deutschlandstipendium. You can apply repeatedly.

One requirement for a one-year sponsorship is that the applicants will complete their studies within the standard study period. Therefore, they must have at least two semesters left within the standard period of study. Hence there are restrictions of the semesters for the studies of Bachelor-, Master- and Education for high school. Depending on target degree, applicants are not allowed to be in a higher semester of their major subject then:

Bachelor studies – not higher than 4th semester of major studies

Master studies – not higher than 2nd semester of major studies

Education for high school – not higher than 7th semester of major studies

Academically strong students whose parents do not have a university education will be taken into special consideration.

The Deutschlandstipendium does not consider the receipt of BAföG and is not income-based. The money does not have to be paid back. Recipients may not be receiving any other achievement-based scholarships or bursaries from one of the state-funded scholarship agencies (Begabtenförderwerke) at the same time. (For exceptions please see BMBF-StipG § 4)

Application process in a two-stage process

The first stage is a pre-selection based on academic achievement. The applicants with semester of studies >1 are selected according to their credit points and marks achieved until the end of the previous winter semester. For applicants, who are going to start their studies or who are in their first semester of studies, a ranking is done considering the mark, which qualifies them for the degree programme (average grade 1,5 or lower).

Application for the first stage is done by filling in the online application website, which will only be accessible during the application period.

Only those students who were selected in this primary application stage are asked by their department to submit further application documents. Those who are not asked to submit further documents by mid-November are no longer eligible for the scholarship.

The second stage considers the study progress and other non-academic criteria according to §3 Satz 2 StipG.

You can participate in the second stage of the application, in case of being asked by your department to submit further application documents. These documents have to be submitted timely (usually within two weeks) to your department.

The selection of the applicants in the second stage is done by a selection committee of the department. As further selection criteria can influence the ranking, the selection committee is no longer bound to the ranking of the primary stage.

Every student who is asked by his or her department to submit further application documents after the primary application, will receive an acceptance or rejection letter at the end of the selection process.

Successful applicants will receive their acceptance letter in the month of December.

Important: All notifications and information will be sent by e-mail to your student e-mail address. Please make sure that you can receive e-mails: Empty your e-mail box regularly and also check your SPAM folder.

More information

  1. For applicants, who are going to start their studies or who are in their first semester of studies, a ranking is done by the mark of their degree, which qualifies them for the degree programme.
  2. The applicants with semester of studies >1 are selected due to their credit points and marks achieved until the end of the previous winter semester. Only credits that count towards your overall mark will be considered
    • We create a rankings list according to value R, determined by the following formula:
      R = GPA * (RS-1) divided by CP (total)
      Where GPA is the average grade, CP (total) is the total sum of credit points that count towards your overall mark and regular semester – 1 is the semester in which the applicant is currently studying in this major.
    • For students with majors in more than one subject (i.e. Joint BA, Education for high school) we first make a rankings list for each subject area (see points a. and b.) and then calculate the average between them. We then create the rankings list based on this average.

All applicants who have made it through the first stage of applications are requested to submit additional documents. The additional criteria are:

  • Personal Career (special achievements, awards and prizes, previous professional activity, internships),
  • Social involvement, willingness, to assume responsibility (extracurricular activities, e.g. volunteerism, social, political or higher-education policy commitment or participation in religious communities, associations or clubs)
  • Special social, personal or family circumstances, e.g. diseases or disabilities, care for children, especially single parents, or care for dependant relatives, cooperation in family-run business, employment during the studies, family background.


Biographical statements:
The TU Darmstadt has succeeded in attracting more foundations and private individuals as sponsors. These sponsors often have the intention of supporting students with special personal conditions. We would therefore like to encourage you to include biographical information in your application. This information is voluntary and will not be considered as a criterion for the awarding of a scholarship.

However, it will help us a lot to find the best possible assignment to a sponsor.



As one criteria the parents’ highest degree of education will be considered. A home qualifies as non-academic when neither of the parents has a university degree.


Another criteria is an immigration background. This is considered to be the case when one or more of the following is true:

  • The person does not have German citizenship
  • The person was born outside of the Federal Republic of Germany and immigration to the current place of residence in Germany took place after 1949
  • At least one of the parents of the person was born outside of the Federal Republic of Germany and the immigration of the parent took place after 1949


All information has to be proofed by appropriate documents.


The weighting factors of the criteria of the second stage are defined by the selection committee of the department.



Which documents have to be submitted for the second stage?

The documents of the second stage have to be submitted electronically (per email) to your department as follows in time (usually within one week):


PDF-Datensatz 1 <Surname>_<Firstname>_Lebenslauf_Motivation.pdf has to include:

  • Letter of motivation (1-2 pages); Tip: You should not name a sponsor in your letter of motivation.
  • A Tabular CV (see example (opens in new tab) )


PDF-Datensatz 2 <Surname>_<Firstname>_Formular.pdf has to include:

  • Completed form for second stage


PDF-Datensatz 3 <Surname>_<Firstname>_Nachweise.pdf has to include:

  • Performance Record
    • University entrance eligibility (only for students who will start a bachelor programme or who are in their first semester of a bachelor programme)
    • Bachelor certificate (only for students who will start a master programme or who are in their first semester of a master programme)
    • Current performance report (only for students with semester of studies >1)
  • Proofs of any of the following non-academic achievements/criteria (optional):
    • Proof of special personal circumstances
      • Proof of diseases or disabilities
      • Proof of care for children, especially single parents, or care for dependant relatives
      • Proof of cooperation in family-run business
      • Proof of employment during the studies
      • Proof of family background. This is considered to be the case when one or more of the following is true:
        • The person does not have German citizenship
        • The person was born outside of the Federal Republic of Germany and immigration to the current place of residence in Germany took place after 1949
        • At least one of the parents of the person was born outside of the Federal Republic of Germany and the immigration of the parent took place after 1949
    • Proof of personal career
      • Proof of special achievements, awards and prizes
      • Proof of any internship or work experiences
      • Proof of Experiences abroad
      • Proof of any other relevant abilities
    • Proof of social involvement, willingness, to assume responsibility
      • Proof of extracurricular activities, e.g. volunteerism
      • Proof of social, political or higher-education policy commitment or participation in religious communities, associations or clubs
    • Statement of receipt of further scholarships or bursaries and proof of this (optional)


Only those applications can be considered that fulfill these formal requirements.


All documents have to be submitted timely.