Discovering, Creating, Networking

The Thomas Weiland Foundation's STEM scholarships open up new freedoms for Master's students at TU Darmstadt in the subjects of mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology. They not only offer financial support, but also valuable networking opportunities. Take advantage of this opportunity and apply for a scholarship!

Application | May 1 – June 30, 2026

The Thomas Weiland Foundation awards up to

➔ 25 STEM scholarships in the amount of EUR 750 per month

for the following winter semester (from October 1, 2026) and summer semester (from April 1, 2027). The funding is for two years, i.e. four semesters.

Who can apply

  • Master's students at TU Darmstadt with a STEM focus (i.e. related to mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology),
  • who have just started their Master's degree (Funding from the 1st semester) or are already in their 1st semester (Funding from the 2nd semester)
  • and can provide evidence of outstanding academic achievements.

Applications are excluded for…

  • Master's students at TU Darmstadt in STEM subjects who are in their 2nd semester or further. Funding is no longer possible from the 3rd semester onwards.
  • Master's students at TU Darmstadt in STEM subjects who are completing a second degree.

Application documents

  • Certificate of enrollment (if already available)
  • Cover letter detailing the applicant's previous and planned educational background and, in particular, its technical and engineering relevance
  • Curriculum vitae and documents showing the most important stages in your career and, if applicable, your social commitment
  • List of academic achievements, including grades and confirmation of ranking in the respective year (usually issued by the Examination Office)
  • Visa or residence permit (only international students of TU Darmstadt outside the EU)

➔ All documents must be submitted in one PDF file (max. 10 MB) to Ms. Katja Stolper (Administration and Application Management):

Documents for funding

Call for scholarships 2026 (opens in new tab)

Funding guidelines (opens in new tab)

Support and exchange

In addition to funding, the foundation enables its scholarship holders to be supported by assigned liaison professors. This promotes professional exchange and facilitates the integration of the scholarship holders at TU Darmstadt.

Meetings with other scholarship holders and, if applicable, alumni take place on a larger scale in order to create space for a mutual exchange of knowledge and experience and to stimulate (inter-)disciplinary networking among the scholarship holders.

Current and former scholarship holders

Over the years, the Thomas Weiland Foundation has been able to steadily expand its STEM scholarships. Around 130 students at TU Darmstadt have now received funding.

Learn more

FAQs

The Thomas Weiland Foundation currently offers Master's scholarships of 750 EUR per month for two years. The scholarships are awarded once a year on May 1. The application deadline is June 30. The scholarship starts on October 1st for the winter semester and on April 1st for the summer semester.

Details and funding conditions will be published on the foundation's homepage on the respective call dates.

The sponsorship amounts to 750 EUR per month and is intended for the entire period of the Master's program at the TU Darmstadt (i.e. for four semesters).

The main criteria for funding are the STEM orientation of the students and their academic performance. Only then will the Board of Trustees apply criteria such as social and community involvement or interdisciplinary orientation. This means that you are eligible for funding if your academic achievements are clearly above average and if your studies have references to mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, technology and/or engineering.

The scholarships are valid for all courses of study that have a connection to mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, technology and/or engineering. A specific selection of courses of study is not specified. The decisive factor is that you can credibly prove that you have dealt with relevant mathematical-technical-scientific questions during your previous and further studies.

Grading cultures vary from subject to subject and from university to university. Thus, the grade itself has limited information about academic performance – in some courses of study, students already rank among the best with “good”, while elsewhere only students with the best grade are really in the top ranks. In order to avoid unfair grading, the Foundation asks for a document that allows the applicant's grades to be classified in the respective degree programme. This could be, for example, a letter from the Office of Student Affairs or the Examination Office about the ranking in the respective year or the current average grade in combination with statistics about the distribution of grades. The Foundation does not want to make more precise specifications at this point, as the examination offices and the study offices issue very different certificates.

If a certificate is not available, please explain this in your cover letter and include at least proof of your current level of performance.

At the time of application, students do not have to be enrolled at the TU Darmstadt. However, only those who are registered at the TU Darmstadt at the time of application can be sponsored. Therefore, an application only makes sense if you are considering taking up studies at the TU Darmstadt (or continuing your studies, if you are already enrolled at the TU Darmstadt). However, the Foundation will make every effort to complete the selection decision before the end of the enrolment period so that you can be included in the decision for the place of study as to whether a scholarship is available to you for studying at the TU Darmstadt.

Funding is possible from both the 1st and 2nd semester of a Master's degree course. This means that students who start their Master's degree course in the summer semester and are therefore already in their first semester during the application period are also eligible for funding. Retroactive funding for the first Master's semester is excluded. However, the funding period is still designed for four semesters.

No, the Thomas Weiland Foundation generally awards scholarships to students who take up a STEM-related Master's degree course as their first degree at the Technical University of Darmstadt.

Due to the charitable status of the Thomas Weiland Foundation and the design of the scholarship programme, there is no reason to assume that the scholarships are subject to taxation in principle.

The foundation has deliberately structured both the selection process and the scholarships accordingly.

However, a general statement regarding the tax-exempt status of the scholarships granted by the Thomas Weiland Foundation cannot be made, as an individual assessment by the tax office is required.

In order to obtain legal certainty regarding the tax exemption of the scholarship, the scholarship holder must therefore apply to the tax office in Darmstadt, which is responsible for the taxation of the Thomas Weiland Foundation at TU Darmstadt, for the issuance of a certificate confirming the tax-exempt status of the scholarship (cf. OFD Frankfurt/Main, directive of 15 August 2024 on the tax exemption of scholarships pursuant to § 3 no. 44 EStG).

The certificate is binding for the tax office responsible for the scholarship holder.