BIGSS DAAD Graduate School Scholarship Program (GSSP) 2025

The DAAD Graduate School Scholarship Programme (GSSP) represents a financial assistance initiative administered by the German Academic Exchange System (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, DAAD), to augment the quantity of international doctoral candidates participating in German-structured graduate education programs.

Eligibility Criteria for the Scholarship:

• Applicants must identify as international students.
• Applicants must be proficient in the English language.
• Applicant must not have resided in Germany any time after January 1, 2024.
• Applicants may apply before having finished the MA degree.
• Applicants must have an excellent MA degree (or national equivalents) in Sociology, Political Science, Psychology, or related social science disciplines e.g. Law, Economics, or Media Sciences.
• The applicants' dissertation project must be in the field of “Contentious Politics in the Digital Age”.

Application Process:

• Interested candidates must submit an online application.
• The application should include the following documents:
  • Personal Information form (to be completed in the online admissions system),
  • Curriculum Vitae,
  • Preliminary Dissertation Proposal,
  • Statement of Purpose,
  • Statement of Skills and Experience with Methods of Empirical Social Research,
  • MA/BA/Diplom/Magister Certificates,
  • University Grade Transcripts,
  • Certification of English Proficiency,
  • Two Recent Letters of Recommendation.

Value of the Scholarship:

• Selected candidates are awarded the following benefits:
  • A stipend of EUR 1,300 monthly, for a maximum of 48 months,
  • Travel allowance;
  • Payments towards health, accident, and personal liability insurance cover;
  • Research allowance of currently € 460 per year (for scholarship holders from countries listed in the DAC List of ODA recipients),
    • or € 260 per year (for scholarship holders from other countries).