PROMOS Scholarship

Students from all the faculties at the University of Kassel:

• who are studying at a foreign partner university through an exchange programme organised by the University of Kassel (apart from ERASMUS+) or 
• who have organised a period of study abroad themselves without an existing partnership programme (period of study abroad/internship abroad) and
• who have not yet made full use of their Promos funding: 6 months during one period of study (Bachelor/Master/Diploma/Staatsexamen /PhD). 
• PhD candidates at the University of Kassel, who are funded as participants on a study trip.

Eligible persons are those who: 

a) have German citizenship.  

b) are treated on equal terms with Germans in accordance with section 8 (1) 2 et seq., section 8 (2, 2a) and (3) BAföG.

• An examination to b) is possible: Please submit an application, your residence permit and Annex 1 of Form 1 to the International Office.

c) non-German students who are enrolled as a degree-seeking student at the University of Kassel

For persons described under b) and c) exchange to the home country is excluded (cf. DAAD).

PROMOS funding period: periods of mobility during the period 1^st of January – 28^th of February of the following year

All eligible stays abroad can be funded for the whole period of stay with a scholarship and/or a travel allowance when you hand in your application in due time, but before having finished your stay abroad. This means, that your stay abroad can be funded although you might already be abroad. Please note that one part of your stay abroad has to be in the period belonging to the respective application deadline.

Example: Stay abroad from May to July. It is possible to apply for the 2nd application deadline (15th of June) and the stay can completely be funded retrospectively. You may of course also apply for the first application deadline.

Please note:

• In order to obtain funding for periods of mobility beyond 31 December , the period of study abroad must have already started in the year of application. 

• If you have been selected for a grant, you can not re-apply for the second deadline with the same project.

It is only possible to obtain funding for the period that serves the purpose of your stay; i.e. it is the time that you spend studying at your host institution or completing your internship. There is no funding for any periods before or after this (e.g. for travel). Please take note of this when indicating the period of your stay on the application form
 

a) Periods of study (1 month – max. 6 months) for students

Funding can be provided for both short stays (e.g. for completing dissertations) or study periods of at least one, but no more than six months.   

• The amount of the funding depends on the decision by the committee, the duration of your stay and the partial scholarship rate set by the DAAD for the destination country in question (cf. the PROMOS country list).

  A grant can also be awarded as a partial grant (eg only 1 month of the entire stay).

• No funding is available for tuition fees.
• Periods of study within Europe can only be funded if no ERASMUS+ cooperation arrangement exists.

Dissertations can be funded under the following conditions:

• The stay is justified for the completion of the dissertation.  
• No regular courses will be attended at a university.
• Dissertations, which are not completed at a university or a company, can attract funding, by way of exception, if the relevant faculty supports the project unreservedly (attach proof/a letter of recommendation from a university tutor) and the students submit a detailed timetable. 

b) Internship periods for students

Internships of at least 6 weeks and up to 6 months, which are organised by students themselves, can attract funding.  

• The amount of the funding depends on the decision by the committee, the duration of your stay and the partial scholarship rate set by the DAAD for the destination country in question (cf. the PROMOS country list).
• Internships in the ERASMUS area (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey) can only be funded if the duration is less than 2 months. There is ERASMUS funding for internships lasting more than 2 months. If you are interested in studying in the UK, please check whether Erasmus funding is possible.
• Internships that can be funded by one of the programmes at the DAAD – e.g. with international organisations (e.g. the UN), EU institutions, centres and organisations that manage EU programmes, German diplomatic missions abroad, the German Humanities Institutes, the Goethe Institutes, the German Archaeological Institute as well as German schools abroad, cannot attract PROMOS funding.
• If funding is provided for an internship, confirmation from the internship institution or the internship agreement signed by both sides is necessary. The type of activity, the duration of the internship and the money paid to the student during the internship, if any, must be clearly stated.

 c) Study trips for students and PhD candidates

Study trips for students and/or PhD candidates, which last no longer than 12 days, can attract funding. The journey must be accompanied by at least one university tutor; he or she can also attract funding through a scholarship for a study trip. Other university tutors are, however, excluded from any funding. In addition to communicating specialist knowledge and giving the persons a glimpse of the host country, meetings with students and academics should be the major focus. Trips mainly involving a tourism programme cannot be funded. Lecture or congress trips cannot be funded either. The amount of the funding depends on the decision by the committee, the duration of your stay, the number of participants and the rate set by the DAAD for staying in the destination country in question (30 € / day / participant within Europe and 45 € / day / participant outside Europe)

Please avoid applying for PROMOS and SHOSTA scholarships at the same time with the same project abroad. You must choose one of the two scholarship programs when applying. Double applications cannot be considered.

Applications for Promos

The following documents must be submitted in specified order by email in a PDF document to promos[at]uni-kassel[dot]de .

1. Letter of motivation
2. Tabular curriculum vitae
3. Online application
4. Current overview of academic achievements, signed by the applicant  (Note 1: Form for students of the University of the Arts for courses in which no ECTS are listed/ Note 2: Master's students please also submit a copy of their Bachelor's certificate/ Note 3: Doctoral students please submit the most recent certificate)
5. Current certificate of study/confirmation of doctorate
6. Confirmation of the host institution (e.g. copy of admission to the host institution, signed internship contract, etc.)
7. If applicable: Confirmation of your social commitment, stating specific periods of time.
8. Only for theses that are not carried out at a university or at a company: Expert opinion of a university professor and detailed time schedule.

Applications for the study trip program line

Please fill out the application form "Study Trip" for the PROMOS scholarship program. Please note that only university teachers of the University of Kassel are eligible to apply for study travel funding. A letter of invitation from the foreign university/subject institution or similar proof of contact must also be attached to the application form. Please send your complete application documents by email in one document (PDF) to promos[at]uni-kassel[dot]de.

Please note that only complete application documents can be considered!

The funding amount is based on the evaluation of your application by the selection committee.

Individual scholarships: max. 100 points can be achieved. Evaluation of the letter of motivation according to the 4-eyes-principle (maximum 45 points), study achievements (max. 45 points), social commitment (max. 10 points)

Depending on the funds raised and the number of applications, the Commission sets funding categories each year (see DAAD funding rates). The classification into the categories takes place according to achieved points and determines, how high your promotion is (eg travel expenses and / or part
scholarship rate or pro rata partial scholarship rate).

Study trips: max. 120 points can be achieved. Evaluation of the application form according to the 4-eyes-principle.

Please note that the scholarship will be paid in one payment.

• Before the stay abroad
  • Letter of motivation PROMOS
  • Application form study trip
  • Workshop letter of motivation
  • Amount of funding (DAAD)
  • Certificate of achievement for students of the art academy
  • Leaflet Combination with other funding
• After the stay abroad
  • Guide PROMOS Final Thesis Report
  • Guide PROMOS Study
  • Guide PROMOS Internship
  • Cover sheet PROMOS Experience Report

For study trips: please submit a written informal report.

1. A selection committee is responsible for choosing scholarship recipients. It decides on the type and amount of funding. Based on our experience, the best 10 percent of applications have a chance of receiving the maximum possible funding for their period of study abroad; the other applicants approved and classified as eligible for funding usually obtain funding for a shorter time than their actual period of study. In the light of rising numbers of applicants and only restricted funds available, not every application, however suitable, can be considered. There is therefore no entitlement to any funding.

2. Criteria for assessing applications for the study and internship programmes:

• Excellent/good coursework (45 %)
• Statement of purpose/presentation of the project abroad (45 %)
• Social/civic involvement/studying with children (10 %)
• If you exceed the formal criteria (here: number of letters) and do not comply with a correction, this will result in a deduction of points: Up to 10%: no deduction | 10-30%: 10 points | from 30%: Application will not be accepted

3. Criteria for assessing applications for the study trip programme

• Communicating specialist knowledge
• The opportunity for German students to meet foreign students and academics
• To what degree are aspects related to a knowledge of the country considered?
• Preparation in terms of content by the participants

4. If the number of PROMOS applications is very high, the University of Kassel retains the right to fund applicants for a shorter time than the actual period spent abroad in order to enable as many suitable applicants as possible to obtain funding.

5. If you already receiving other scholarships or BAföG for your period of study abroad or intend to, please note the information in the "Leaflet for recipients of other funding benefits".

6. Scholarship recipients are responsible for taking out suitable insurance to cover their period of study abroad. Students and PhD candidates, who obtain funding through PROMOS, can make use of the DAAD group insurance policy.

7. Please note that PROMOS at the University of Kassel does not cover the tuition fees at your host institution.

8. Information about financing tuition fees in Australia or New Zealand:

It is possible to receive a grant amounting to 10% of the tuition fee after successfully having completed the exchange semester at a university in Australia or New Zealand regardless of the amount of the PROMOS scholarship. All the conditions regarding this possibility you can find by clicking on the link that lead to the webpages of Institut Ranke-Heinemann.

We are more than happy to answer your questions by e-mail (promos@uni-kassel.de) or personally during the consultation times at the International Office (Monday-Thursday: 1 – 3 p.m.).