Funding opportunities outside of Europe
An internship in a non-European country brings many advantages for your personal and professional future. It is also a particularly valuable experience for life.
However, an internship far away is unfortunately also associated with high costs: travel, accommodation, food, insurance, visa and sometimes vaccinations are the biggest cost items. A paid internship is helpful in covering the costs, but there are also many other ways to secure financial support for the project. A combination of funding options is possible in many cases and should be clarified.
We advise you to allow enough lead time when looking for funding opportunities, as application deadlines sometimes have to be considered well in advance. In many cases, it is worth checking the funding opportunities and submitting applications before the internship is actually confirmed.
- PROMOS partial scholarshipsHide
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The International Office offers the possibility to support study-related and self-organized internships outside Europe through the PROMOS partial scholarship provided by the DAAD. More detailed information on the scholarship, the application process, and the scope of funding can be found here.
A minimum duration of six weeks is required. A firm internship confirmation is not necessary at the time of application and can be submitted later.Applications are accepted twice a year via the MoveOn portal of the International Office:
- 1 December for periods abroad with a planned start from January - June of the following year
- 1 June for periods abroad with a planned start in July - December of the current year.
Excluded are internships for which specific internship programmes of the DAAD can be used. These include IAESTE, German diplomatic missions abroad, teacher training programmes, and Goethe Institutes.
Internships in the ERASMUS+ area are also excluded from PROMOS funding.
Please note that PROMOS is a partial scholarship which can generally only support your stay on a pro rata basis. Travel is generally not funded.
You can find more detailed information on the scholarship in the current call for applications here.
Your contact person for the PROMOS scholarship is Sabine Paez.
- DAAD scholarship databaseHide
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The DAAD offers a large number of funding opportunities for internships outside Europe, which have been compiled in a central scholarship database.
There are also numerous DAAD programmes that arrange funded internships worldwide. - Country-specific scholarshipsHide
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Other funding opportunities for your internship include country-specific scholarships.
For example, Bavarian university centres offer scholarship programmes for internships. Here you will find a list of various country-specific funding opportunities. Please contact the respective scholarship providers to find out more about application deadlines, the scope of funding, and compatibility. - International BAföGHide
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Comprehensive funding for your compulsory internship can also be obtained through BAföG. Even if you do not receive BAföG within Germany, you may qualify for BAföG abroad. This is mainly due to the difference in your cost of living abroad. The BAföG office responsible for you depends on the country of destination. You will find more detailed information on the website of the BAföG office.
We recommend that you submit your application at least six months before you plan to travel due to the processing times.