Development-Related Postgraduate Courses (EPOS)
Objective
With its development-oriented postgraduate study programmes, the DAAD promotes the training of specialists from development and newly industrialised countries. Well-trained local experts, who are networked with international partners, play an important part in the sustainable development of their countries. They are the best guarantee for a better future with less poverty, more education and health for all. The scholarships offer foreign graduates from development and newly industrialised countries from all disciplines and with at least two years’ professional experience the chance to take a postgraduate or Master’s degree at a state or state-recognised German university, and in exceptional cases to take a doctoral degree, and to obtain a university qualification (Master’s/PhD) in Germany.
Who can apply?
Graduates with at least two years’ professional experience from the following countries:
List of Eligible Countries
1. AFRICA
North Africa
Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Congo (Dem. Rep.), Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sâo Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
2. ASIA
Near and Middle East
Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen.
East Asia
Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Korea (DPR), Lao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Viet Nam.
South and Central Asia
Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.
3. AMERICA
North and Central America
Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
South America
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela.
4. EUROPE
Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova (Rep.), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine.
5. OCEANIA
* Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.
What can be funded?
Individual scholarships exclusively for Postgraduate courses in Germany that are listed
List of all Postgraduate courses with application deadlines 2026/27.
Based on the official DAAD EPOS document for the 2026/2027 intake, here is the list of universities and programs where the application period is either currently open or will open soon, categorized by their application deadlines:
Upcoming Deadlines: August / September 2025
* HTW Berlin: MA International and Development Economics (MIDE) – Aug 31, 2025
* University of Bonn: PhD at Bonn International Graduate School for Development Research (BIGS-DR) – Aug 31, 2025
* U Giessen / U Hohenheim: PhD IPPAE (Agricultural Economics) – Aug 31, 2025
* TU Dresden: MSc Textile Machinery and High-Performance Material Technology (German) – Sept 15, 2025
* TU Dresden: MA Vocational Education and Personnel Capacity Building (German) – Sept 15, 2025
* RU Bochum: MA Development Management – Sept 30, 2025
* University of Hannover: MSc Water Resources and Environmental Management (WATENV) – Sept 30, 2025
* TH Köln: MSc Natural Resources Management / IWRM / REM – Sept 30, 2025
October 2025 Deadlines
* University of Leipzig: MBA Small Enterprise Promotion and Training (SEPT) – Starts Oct 1, 2025
* GAU Göttingen: MSc Development Economics – Oct 1 to Nov 15, 2025
* TU Dortmund: MSc SPRING (Regional Development Planning) – Starts Oct 1, 2025
* University of Oldenburg: MSc Sustainable Renewable Energy Technologies (SuRE) – Oct 15, 2025
* HfT Stuttgart: MSc Photogrammetry and Geoinformatics – Oct 15, 2025
* University of Stuttgart: MSc Air Quality Control, Solid Waste and Waste Water (WASTE) – Oct 15, 2025
* BHU Weimar: MSc Natural Hazards and Risks in Structural Engineering – Oct 15, 2025
* University of Bremen: MSc Marine Biology (ISATEC) – Oct 15, 2025
* University of Freiburg: MSc Environmental Governance (MEG) – Oct 15, 2025
* Charité Berlin / FU / HU: MSc International Health – Oct 15, 2025
* University of Heidelberg: MSc International Health – Oct 15, 2025
* MIPLC (Munich): LL.M. Intellectual Property and Competition Law – Oct 15, 2025
Late 2025 Deadlines (November / December)
* TH Köln / GJU (Jordan): MSc Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) – Nov 15, 2025
* University of Bonn: MSc Global Health – Nov 15, 2025
* University of Greifswald: MSc Landscape Ecology and Nature Conservation – Dec 1, 2025
* TU Darmstadt: MSc Tropical Hydrogeology and Environmental Engineering – Dec 15, 2025
* University of Hohenheim: MSc Agricultural Economics (AgEcon) – Dec 15, 2025
* University of Bonn / UNU: MSc Geography of Environmental Risks and Human Security – Dec 15, 2025
Duration of the funding
12 to 42 months (dependent on study programme)
Value
- Depending on academic level, monthly payments of 992 euros for graduates or 1,300 euros (1,400 euros beginning with February 2026) for doctoral candidates
- Payments towards health, accident and personal liability insurance cover
- Travel allowance, unless these expenses are covered by the home country or another source of funding
Under certain circumstances, scholarship holders may receive the following additional benefits:
- Monthly rent subsidy
- Monthly allowance for accompanying members of family
Selection
- Candidates fulfil the necessary academic requirements and can be expected to successfully complete a study programme in Germany (above-average result for first academic exam – top performance third, language skills)
- Candidates have a Bachelor degree (usually a four-year course) in an appropriate subject
- Candidates have at least two years’ professional experience
- Candidates can prove their motivation is development-related and be expected to take on social responsibility and initiate and support processes of change in their personal and professional environment after their training/scholarship
Application Requirements
What requirements must be met?
The Typical Scholarship Holder
- works either for a public authority or a state or private company in a developing country and, as such, is engaged in the planning and execution of directives and projects with emphasis on development policies having a bearing on technological, economic or social areas.
- holds a Bachelor’s degree (normally four years) in a related subject.
- has completed an academic degree with far above average results (upper third) and at least two years of related professional experience after the first degree (bachelor) at the time of application.
- His/her academic degrees should normally not be more than six years old.
Applicants who have been resident in Germany for longer than 15 months at the application deadline cannot be considered
Language skills
- For study courses in German (scholarship includes a preparatory 6-month German language course in Germany): Successful passing of the language examination DSH 2 or TestDaF 4 before the start of the study course. Therefore, a minimum German language level of B1 at the time of application is a requirement, that needs to be proofed by providing a current certificate.
Note: It is not possible to pass the required German language courses (DSH or TestDaF) without any previous basic knowledge in the German language (at least B1 Level), even with the preceding six-month intensive course in Germany. Passing the language test is a formal prerequisite for matriculation at the respective German university. - For courses in English: Proof of adequate language skills, according to the regulations of the respective course. For detailed information see the relevant course description on the following pages.
Application Procedure
Application deadline
Depending on chosen study programme; please check scholarship brochure or the website of your chosen study programme.
Application documents
Applications have only to be sent to the respective course directly! Please refer to their respective websites for the application procedure (e.g. online application), for the application deadline and the documents to be submitted.
Applications sent to the DAAD will not be forwarded to the respective course/university.
You can apply for up to three courses. If applying to more than one course, please list courses in order of priority in the DAAD application forms (see 7. Choice of host university/institution in Germany) and do not change the priorities in the according application form!
Application documents
Required documents (in the following order):
- Completed and signed checklist
- EPOS application form (please type your answers or make sure they are easy to read).
Current Note: If you cannot open the file, please try using a different browser. - A curriculum vitae in reverse chronological order without any unexplained gaps (please use the europass template including exact information about your studies, and on practical experience
- One Letter of Motivation with detailed reference to academic, professional and personal reasons for applying for the programme.
IMPORTANT: When applying for more than one postgraduate course (maximum 3 courses), please also give detailed reasons for your choice of courses and prioritisation in the letter of motivation. Please submit a uniform letter of motivation to all postgraduate degree programmes of your choice. - Letter of recommendation from your current employer; the letter must include official letterhead, signature and official stamp and must be of current date (not in a sealed envelope)
- Certificate(s) of Employment from the employer(s) showing at least two years of relevant work experience after the Bachelor’s degree up to the time of application and if possible, a guarantee of re-employment from your current employer upon returning home. The certificate of employment from the current employer should, if possible, include a guarantee of re-employment after returning to the home country.
- Recent proof of Language Skills:
o English – IELTS or TOEFL (Note: The institutional TOEFL is not accepted)
o German – required for courses taught in German - Copies of your higher education degree certificates. Please provide a certified translation if the original is not in German or English, and make sure these are clearly legible.
- Copy of your full set of transcript of records. Please provide an explanation of the grading system if this is not part of the transcript.
- Applicants from the People’s Republic of China are asked to submit an APS Certificate with their application documents.
Note: Some courses may require additional documents. For detailed information, please see the relevant course description in the Brochure and on the respective websites.
IMPORTANT:
The complete applications have to be submitted in English or German to be considered.
Incomplete applications cannot be considered.
When applying for more than one postgraduate course (maximum 3 courses), you have to submit one motivation letter explaining why you are applying for these specific courses and why you chose that priority. If this information is ignored, the application cannot be considered or an already awarded scholarship might be withdrawn.
Please check with the requirements of the according University whether certified copies are required.
Application location
Apply directly to the chosen study programme
Application and Selection Procedure
Step 1: You send your complete application(s) directly to the according postgraduate course.
Step 2: A selection committee suggests potential candidates for a DAAD scholarship.
Step 3: The suggested candidates will be contacted by DAAD to upload their complete application to the DAAD Portal.
Step 4: The selection process will be finalized, and the suggested candidates will be informed accordingly.
IMPORTANT:
Make sure that you have a copy of each document of your application ready, as those documents (as PDF files) have to be uploaded to the DAAD Portal in case you are suggested for a DAAD scholarship!
Further information
- EPOS Brochure 2026/2027 “Development-Related Postgraduate Courses – Educating Professionals for Sustainable Development”