DAAD Scholarships - Frequently asked questions

Transcription

1 DAAD Scholarships - Frequently asked questions (These FAQs refer to DAAD Applications for Research Grants and Study Scholarships, including Scholarships for Artists) DAAD scholarships in Israel are only for Israelis!!!!!!!! 1. Do I really need to submit my Bagrut? 2. What do you mean by certified copies/certified translations? 3. Diplomas 4. Do I need to be admitted into a German university when applying for a study scholarship for a Master program? 5. When will the interview take place? 6. In which language will the interview be conducted? 7. Can I have a telephone interview instead or be interviewed in Germany directly? 8. What does it mean having to submit the application with one original and one duplicate? 9. How do I submit the application? 10. Recommendation letters / referee s report 11. What is an invitation letter? 12. What is a motivation letter? 13. Health certificate 14. Language certificates 15. Is there an age limit? 16. Re-Invitation 17. Application Deadline 18. When will I know whether my application is successful and I will be awarded a scholarship or not? 19. What is the earliest point in time that the grant can be paid? 1. Do I really need to submit my Bagrut papers? Yes, you do. Even you hold a further degree such as Bachelor or Master, in ALL cases we need the Bagrut. Please submit it as certified copy of the original together with a certified translation (either into German or English). (see 2. below) 2. What do you mean by certified copies/certified translations? We do not require or accept originals of your supporting documents. We require certified copies of the originals as well as certified translations (with Bagrut or other Hebrew documents). The Embassy provides certification of copies free of charge for scholarship applicants during office hours Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri from to am. No appointment necessary, just go to the public receiving area. For certification of translations please contact an entitled notary/lawyer. A list with possible choices can be found on our website aviv.diplo.de/vertretung/telaviv/de/04_20- _20Konsularangelegenheiten/Konsularischer Service/Rechtsanwaltsliste,property= Daten.pdf

2 3. Diplomas The application needs to be accompanied by your Bachelor and/or Master diplomas, translated into English or German. Grade transcripts alone are not enough. Only if you are a recent graduate and your university has not yet issued the diplomas will your transcripts alone be accepted. But you need to submit the diploma as soon as you receive it. (see 2. above) 4. Do I need to be admitted into a German university when applying for a study scholarship for a Master program? Ideally, yes, you will submit your certified photocopy of the admission letter to a German university. If you do not yet have an admission, you will need to submit the correspondence with the German university regarding your admission. Also, you need to provide three university alternatives. (If you have already been admitted to a university, you do nott need to give alternatives, of course.) 5. When will the interview take place? The interview will take place in either the second, third or fourth week in November at the German Embassy in Tel Aviv, most likely on a Thursday or Friday. The exact date will be communicated to you about 10 days before Applicants for scholarships for artists do not have an interview. 6. In which language will the interview be conducted? In German or in English. 7. Can I have a telephone interview instead or be interviewed in Germany directly? Only under very special circumstances (for example studies already begun in Germany) can we conduct a telephone interview. A short stay abroad does not qualify for an exception to the rule of personal interviews! Interviews in Germany are not possible at all. 8. What does it mean having to submit the application with one original and one duplicate? The original application is one application form filled in, together with all supporting documents. Do NOT attach real original supporting documents but always have certified copies made of your original documents. In the context of this application, they will be part of the original application. Then you make a copy of all of this (application form plus documents), this is the duplicate. Then you submit the two stacks, separated into original and duplicate. You have to hand in two sets of applications, bound/stapled together respectively. Do NOT simply submit each document two times leaving the sorting to us. The Embassy and the DAAD

3 are NOT sorting your application. The application would be considered as incomplete and rejected!!!!!!!!! Please note: As stated above, we do not require or accept originals of your supporting documents. We require certified copies of the originals as well as certified translations (with Bagrut, degree diplomas or other Hebrew documents). The Embassy provides certification of copies free of charge for scholarship applicants during office hours Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri from to am. No appointment necessary, just go the public receiving area. Also: The DAAD info material says that you should not put the application into plastic file holders. And please really stick to that. All we do in the other cases is taking the application out of the plastic/the file that you send discard it. So, NO PLASTIC means NO PLASTIC. Staple the application form together and attach the supporting documents. And: Photographs need to be GLUED onto the file! 9. How do I submit the application? Please send it to the German Embassy, Cultural Section, marked with DAAD scholarship (Postal address: POB in Tel Aviv). Personal delivery is not necessary although possible during opening hours. Then please just hand it in to the receptionist of the Embassy on the 19 th floor in 3 Daniel Frisch Street, Tel Aviv. Do NOT leave any documents with the security guards in the entrance lobby of the building!!!!!!!! 10. Recommendation letters / referee s report Do not be irritated by the term referee s report in the application form (page 5), It means a detailed recommendation, not simply a line saying that you are an excellent student. Best you use the form provided on the DAAD website (-> services -> application forms) The recommendation letters are part of the application. Please submit everything altogether and do NOT have the recommendations sent separately to the Embassy. The recommendation letter/referee s report can be free-style but it must have a header giving name, institution and contact of the person that recommends and it must have a header giving name, position and dept. & university address of the referee and end with his/her signature by hand, the full name given in print below the signature. Again, best is if you use the form provided by the DAAD on its website. 11. What is an Invitation letter? For research scholarships and scholarships for artists that will be supervised on an individual basis:

4 One of the most crucial aspects of an application to the DAAD for research and in some cases for artists is a well-established contact to a German professor at your chosen host university. This person needs to invite you with an official letter (header and footer, hand-signed! as with the recommendation/referee's report) that - indicates familiarity with and interest in your research project and - states his/her willingness to supervise/mentor you and - confirms that all you need to conduct your research will be at your disposal, e.g. access to library, laboratories etc. - If you do not speak German, the professor also needs to state that you can communicate with your German academic partner(s) in English or another foreign language, e.g. French, Spanish, Russian etc. Applicants for study scholarships for a Master program should either submit a certified copy of the admission letter to their chosen host university or, if they are not admitted yet, give three university alternatives. 12. What is a Motivation letter? Motivation letter means a short text (essay, not list or table) giving your reasons for applying, i.e. why you apply altogether, why in particular for this course, maybe why for this university, why studying in Germany is accademically important for the work/for you. 13. Health certificate Health certficates are NOT necessary at the time of application 14. Language certificates Language certificates must not be older than 6 months. Please contact daad.huji@gmail.com for information as to the necessity of submitting a language certificate for your research application. 15. Is there an age limit? There is no age limit for application. 16. Re-invitation In order to apply for a re-invitation you have to have had a DAAD scholarship for a one year minimum. There is no re-inviation possibility for emerited professors. 17. Application Deadline

5 Deadline for application submission truly is 31 st October Any application handed in after this date will be returned to you. 18. When will I know whether my application is successful and I will be awarded a scholarship or not? The first selection takes place in November in the Embassy in Tel Aviv (see 5. above). Afterwards you will be notified by the Embassy via whether your application will be passed on to the DAAD Germany. There, the final decision will be made in January/ February. In late February, you will be informed whether you are awarded a scholarship. 19. What is the earliest point in time that the grant can be paid? The earliest point in time from which the grant can be paid is April of the following year, there is no payment in retrospective. (Different regulation for the re-invitation program is stated on the application form for this program) Research applicants, please plan the start of your research stay in Germany accordingly.