StudyDesk Scholarships
About the scholarship
The University of Kassel (Universität Kassel, founded 1971, in central Germany) awards Exposé Scholarships to people who are planning a doctorate at the university and need paid, supervised time to write the dissertation exposé — the detailed research proposal that German universities require for acceptance as a doctoral candidate, and that also serves as the basis for applying to external scholarship foundations. This is a bridge grant: it covers the months between having a supervisor and being formally accepted as a doctoral candidate.
The scholarship is €1,300 per month for up to nine months, with a family allowance of €200 per month possible on request. You work on the exposé under the guidance of your supervisor and gain access to the university’s academic environment while you prepare the full doctoral proposal.
The current call (published 26 August 2026) closes on 1 December 2026 — 40 days from today (22 October 2026).
Eligibility
- Have a commitment from a professor of the University of Kassel to supervise your doctorate. You cannot apply without this.
- It must be your first doctorate — repeat doctoral funding is not permitted.
- An application is possible only once; re-application is allowed only if a previous funding period was interrupted by unusual life circumstances such as childbirth, long-term illness or caregiving duties.
- Each supervisor may support only one person per award round, so secure the commitment early.
- All disciplines at the university are eligible — natural sciences, engineering, architecture and planning, agriculture and environmental protection, social sciences, humanities and fine arts.
Benefits
- €1,300 per month, granted for up to nine months.
- €200 per month family allowance on request.
- Structured supervision by a University of Kassel professor while preparing the dissertation exposé.
- A finished exposé that qualifies you for acceptance as a doctoral candidate at Kassel and for applications to other German scholarship foundations.
- No tuition fees are charged to doctoral candidates at public German universities.
Documents required
- A letter of motivation (max. two pages) stating (a) your motivation for the doctorate, (b) your motivation for doing it at the University of Kassel, and (c) how you plan to finance the doctorate after the funding period ends.
- An abstract of the planned project (max. two pages plus bibliography): current state of research and your preliminary work, goals and research questions, methods, and expected scientific contribution.
- A CV in tabular form.
- A copy of your higher qualifying university degree (if not yet available, attach a transcript of records).
- A letter of recommendation from your supervisor, assuring supervision and outlining how the doctorate should be financed after the funding period — you attach this letter to your own application.
How to apply
- Secure a supervisor firstContact professors at the University of Kassel in your research area with a CV and research idea, and obtain a written commitment to supervise your doctorate plus a letter of recommendation.
- Draft the exposé materialsPrepare the motivation letter and the two-page project abstract with bibliography in German or English, following the official call exactly.
- Combine everything into one PDFMerge the documents in the order stated in the call (motivation letter, abstract, CV, degree copy, supervisor letter). A wrong order or split files is an exclusion criterion.
- Submit electronicallyApply via the official electronic application link given in the call for applications on uni-kassel.de by 1 December 2026.
- Wait for the committee decisionThe exposé-scholarship committee meets in mid-February; results are sent out by the end of February.
FAQs
No — and that is its honest purpose. It is a preparatory grant (up to 9 months) that pays you to write the dissertation exposé needed for acceptance as a doctoral candidate. Full doctoral funding (employment contract, DAAD, foundations) comes afterwards.
Yes. A confirmed supervision commitment from a University of Kassel professor is a hard requirement, and each professor may support only one applicant per round. Without it, the application cannot succeed.
No. Only the first doctorate of a person can be funded, and each person may apply only once.
German or English, per the official call. All documents go into a single PDF in the order the call lists them.
The call states the documents must be combined in one PDF in the order given — an exclusion criterion. Attach the supervisor letter yourself; do not have the professor send it separately.
€200 per month, possible upon request — on top of the €1,300 monthly stipend.
Verified 22 Oct 2026 via the official call for applications "Exposé Scholarships of the University of Kassel" (call of 26 August 2026, hosted on uni-kassel.de): closing date 1 December 2026; €1,300/month up to 9 months; €200/month family allowance on request; supervisor commitment required; first doctorate only; one application per person (re-application only after interruption by childbirth/illness/caregiving); one applicant per supervisor per round; committee meets mid-February, results by end of February; documents in German or English in one PDF in stated order (motivation letter max 2 pages incl. post-funding financing plan, project abstract max 2 pages + bibliography, tabular CV, degree copy or transcript, supervisor recommendation letter attached by the applicant); contact per the official call: stipendium@uni-kassel.de, phone +49 561 804-7742 / -2263. Corroborated by the uni-kassel.de exposé-scholarships page ("Next application deadline: 1 December 2026"), opportunitiesinfo.com and the Earlier round Indeed posting. The exact funding start date for this round is not stated in the call and is not invented. No GPA, IELTS or test thresholds are published — none are stated.
