Application and Scholarship

If you are enrolled in a degree program at TUM and have a TUM matriculation number, you can apply.

You can also apply for the Deutschlandstipendium as soon as you have submitted your application for a degree program at TUM and have received an applicant number.

You cannot be accepted into the program if you have exceeded the standard period of study, are already receiving performance-based funding of €30 or more per month or are doing a doctorate at TUM.

Also excluded are exchange students who are enrolled at their home university and are completing their stay abroad at TUM.

The following criteria apply for admission to the Germany Scholarship program:

• Good academic performance:
  • First-year students: Minimum university entrance qualification grade of 2.40
  • Enrolled students: Grade point average of at least 2.40
  • If you do not achieve a grade of 2.40, funding is only possible if you have demonstrated the following criteria, which have been approved by the committee:
    - Mental or physical illness
    - Care for close relatives
    - Childcare With the start of the funding,
• i.e., in the next winter semester, you must still have at least two semesters of the standard period of study remaining. 

Yes, the prerequisite is admission or enrollment at TUM. The basis for selection is the grade of your last degree.

If you receive an offer for a Deutschlandstipendium from us and would like to accept it, you must be a german resident and have a german bank account. If you are unable to provide proof of these requirements, the offer of funding will lapse. Therefore, please take care of these requirements and, if necessary, a visa in good time.

During the funding period, you may not receive any other talent and performance-oriented funding that amounts to a monthly average of €30 or more. Funding for a doctorate is not possible with a Deutschlandstipendium.

The maximum funding period is limited by the standard period of study for the degree program in question. 

With the start of the funding, i.e., in the next winter semester, you will still have at least 2 semesters of the standard period of study ahead of you.

Special case of individual standard period of study: The Deutschlandstipendium is also intended to provide support in times of the pandemic so that you can successfully complete your studies. You can also apply if you are in the individual standard period of study due to the pandemic beyond the original standard period of study. Please note that in this case you must fill in a corresponding field in the application form in which you provide a brief statement. This should briefly explain the reasons why you are exceeding the original standard period of study.

Other special cases: If the duration of studies is extended due to a leave of absence for serious reasons, such as a disability, pregnancy or the care and upbringing of a child, the maximum funding period can be extended upon application. Please note that no payment is possible during the leave of absence for the above-mentioned reasons. You are welcome to enquire about a scholarship for studying with a child at Studentenhilfe München.

Yes, a rejection does not mean that you have been rejected "forever". You can reapply for the Deutschlandstipendium in every application phase.

• All documents must be translated into either German or English.
• Please upload the documents as PDFs.
• Only upload the evidence relevant to each point.

• Length: max. one to one and a half pages
• Content: Explain why you should receive the scholarship.
• Language: German or English
• Important if applicable: In your cover letter, please also go into more detail about the information you provided in the fields on the application form (e.g. honorary posts, personal circumstances, etc.).
• If you have already received a Deutschlandstipendium scholarship, we would be pleased if you could also tell us about your previous experiences in your cover letter.

• Curriculum vitae in tabular form, 1 to max. 2 pages in German or English
• Please present your educational history in chronological order.
• Please make sure it is up to date.

If you are currently in the application phase for a Bachelor's degree program, you must enter the grade of your general university entrance qualification when applying. If you obtained your general university entrance qualification abroad, please enter your"uni-assist grade", which you also used when applying for a Bachelor's degree program in TUMonline.

If you do not yet have an examination notification for the winter semester 2025/26 or have not yet received a vpd from uni-assist, you have the opportunity to

• upload it to the portal by the end of the application deadline OR
• send it by e-mail to deutschlandstipendiumspam prevention@tum.de after the application deadline by August 15, 2026 at the latest

If you are currently in the application phase for a Master's degree program, you must state your Bachelor's grade when applying for a scholarship. If this is not yet available, please provide your current grade point average (transcript of records). If you have not obtained your Bachelor's degree in an EU or EEA country or Switzerland, please state your"uni-assist grade".

If you are currently enrolled at TUM, all achievements up to and including the winter semester (e.g. application in summer 2026 → grades and ECTS winter semester 25/26) will be evaluated. Only the grades that can be clearly assigned to the respective degree program according to the study regulations are relevant.

Where an upload is possible, please attach proof of your details. Many aspects can only be assessed if they are supported by a document! Confirmations must be in German or English language.

• Confirmation of voluntary work and commitment (period of the last 36 months and time spent in hours per month)
  • Please note that from summer semester 23 onwards, certificates for university commitment must be signed by the head of the student council (Fachschaft) or the student club. Please contact the Student Club management. They already have a template for confirming your commitment.
  • The confirmations for the management itself can be signed by the deputy in this case

  • The following must be included:
    - Date of issue
    - Who provided the commitment
    - Where did you volunteer - Period of commitment (from… to…)
    - Time commitment (how many hours per month)

  • If possible, please use following template for the engagement

• Medical certificates for physical or mental illnesses
• Child rearing (Birth certificate, proof of residence)
• Care of a relative (confirmation from your health insurance company that you are registered as a caregiver)
• Orphanhood (Death certificate and, if the family has different surnames, also the birth certificate)
• Experience of war or flight (Proof of refugee status)
• migration backgrund:

  • If the applicant is a former or current foreign national, their passport/identity card and/or birth certificate are required.

  • If the parents are foreign nationals, the parent's passport/visa/identity card is required, or alternatively, a written self-declaration from the parents.

• „zweiter Bildungsweg“

• non-academic familiy environment (informal confirmation from parents of their highest educational qualification)

Please do not send any inquiries about the Deutschlandstipendium to the student secretariats or chairs of the faculties. No ranking is required/desired for the application. For this reason, please do not request any references from professors for your application; such references may not be included in the selection process.

• Employment (working student position, internship, other employment) for the last 36 months:
  • Please upload your employment contract, which must include the following information:
    - Date of issue of the employment contract
    - Type of employment contract
    - First and last name of the employee
    - Period of employment (start and end dates) → If only the start date is shown and the employment contract is older than 36 months, please submit a current confirmation from the employer
    - Average weekly hours
    - Signature of the employer and the employee
  • Please do not upload employment references
• Prizes, awards, and special achievements:
  • Definition of prize and award:
    A prize is a competitive award given in an academic or school context that:
    - is based on a competition or comparative selection process,
    - in which several participants are compared,
    - and in which only a portion are recognized (e.g., rankings, "Top 3").
  • Definition of special achievements:
    - Contribution to/publication of papers
    - Presentation of the Bachelor's/Master's thesis at a conference

Not considered: athletic awards, participation in competitions only, participation in conferences, language certificates, prizes without apparent competition, Dean's List, TUM rankings (best of x%)

1) Upon receipt of your application documents, the academic performance (60%) as well as the information on the commitment (20%) and, if applicable, on special circumstances (15%), employment and awards (5%) in accordance with § 3 StipG will be checked. These so-called "soft factors" must be sufficiently substantiated, e.g. by an official certificate. Unsubstantiated or insufficiently substantiated information cannot be considered .
The scholarship will only be awarded to applicants who, in addition to points for academic achievement, receive further points for their commitment or due to special circumstances.

2) The selection committee reserves the right to invite individual applicants to personal interviews for a better assessment.

3) At the meeting of the selection committee in September, a shortlist will be drawn up from the applications, taking into account all selection criteria and the sponsors' earmarking. The final decision will then be made.

4) The successful applicants will then be informed by e-mail about the offer of admission to the scholarship program. They usually have a few days to accept the scholarship. If no acceptance is received within the period specified in the e-mail, the entitlement to the scholarship expires. To accept the Deutschlandstipendium at TUM, you must also provide your tax ID ("Steuer-ID“) in the online form.

5) The above-mentioned offers of admission to the scholarship program will be sent out from October. If you have not yet received an acceptance or rejection, you are on the waiting list. There is a chance that we will send you an offer of admission to the program by e-mail in the following months. It is not possible to provide information about the applicant's place on the program. Therefore, please refrain from making inquiries.

6) As soon as all scholarship places have been finally allocated, rejections will be sent by e-mail and can be viewed on the application portal. You will therefore always receive information about the outcome of your application.

7) The first payment (October/November installment) will be paid out by mid-December at the latest.

When awarding the TUM Deutschlandstipendium, a concept was developed that takes a broader view of the concept of achievement. In line with our principle "Achievement is multifaceted", social commitment (20%), social criteria (15%), employment and special awards (5%) are also taken into account in addition to academic achievement (60%).

In accordance with Section 11 (3) StipG, the funding providerscan stipulate that two thirds of the scholarships they fund are earmarked for specific subjects or degree programs.

The non-earmarked scholarships are distributed among all faculties. This means that every applicant has the chance to receive a scholarship, regardless of their field of study!

Starting in the winter semester of 2026/27, all scholarship recipients will receive funding until the end of their standard period of study, provided sufficient funds are available and the minimum requirements are met. The minimum requirements for continued funding are:

• Grade:
  • Bachelor's students and students taking the state examination must achieve a minimum grade of 2.40
  • Master's students must achieve a minimum grade of 2.00
• ECTS: 

• If you do not achieve the minimum grade or the minimum ECTS credits, funding is only possible if you provide evidence of the following criteria, which are then accepted by the committee:
  - Mental or physical illness
  - Care for close relatives
  - Childcare
  → If none of the listed criteria apply to you and you do not meet the requirements for continued funding, you have the option to reapply for the Deutschlandstipendium. In this case, your application will be reviewed again alongside all other applicants during the selection process.

Scholarship holders are obliged to notify TUM CST Fees and Scholarships immediately of any changes in their circumstances that are relevant to the approval of the scholarship.
Details of the change and all relevant supporting documents must be sent timely to deutschlandstipendium@tum.de.
This applies in particular to the following aspects

• Change of place of residence
• Change of bank details
• Voluntary internships and compulsory internships
• Leave of absence
• Study abroad
• Study-related changes (exmatriculation, change of university, change of degree program, last examination and recognition of academic achievements leading to a higher semester)
• Receipt of another scholarship during the funding period of the Deutschlandstipendium

Scholarship holders should make sure to proactively contact their sponsor 

As a rule, there is an official award ceremony every year, at which many sponsors are also present. Attendance at this event is expressly welcomed in order to promote the exchange between the economy and the university and to ensure an expansion of the scholarship program.

The Deutschlandstipendium also expressly welcomes social commitment, for example together with our initiatives.

Please inform the Deutschlandstipendium service center(deutschlandstipendium@tum.de) immediately so that notifications and payments arrive correctly! If fees are incurred through your own fault, these will be paid by the scholarship holder.

A distinction must be made between mandatory internships in Germany and abroad and voluntary internships:

Compulsory domestic internships are integrated into the degree course and do not prevent the scholarship from being paid out. The scholarship is paid out over the period stipulated in the study regulations.
The situation is similar for internships abroad, insofar as they are provided for in the respective study regulations; they can be regarded as "subject-related stays abroad".

Please be sure to register your internship project with us before you start/early on!

Documents required for further funding: Excerpt from the study regulations AND confirmation from the faculty that the internship is compulsory.

If scholarship holders complete voluntary internships that are not provided for in the respective study regulations, the scholarship will not be paid during this time.

The scholarship will continue to be paid even if you are on a subject-related semester abroad (“Fachrichtungsbezogenes Auslandsstudium”). Proof must be submitted before the start of the studies abroad. Provided that you go abroad for the duration of the scholarship. This applies regardless of any leave of absence at the univers)ity awarding the scholarship. If you are studying abroad via the ERASMUS program, the Deutschlandstipendium will continue to be paid even if you receive a mobility grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) at the same time; see also BMBF-FAQ.

Please note that a stay abroad can affect your standard period of study and therefore also your funding period. You must also achieve the minimum ECTS credits required for continued funding (see above). Therefore, it is advisable to discuss with your school in advance which credits earned abroad and to what extent they can be transferred to TUM, or you can take a leave of absence from your studies during your stay abroad.

The scholarship ends at the end of the month in which the higher education course is successfully completed. This is the case when the overall result of the successful completion of studies is announced, but at the latest at the end of the second month after the month in which the last part of the examination was taken.

Please inform us in advance of the planned end of your studies. IMPORTANT: Bachelor's and Master's degrees are considered separate courses of study! Therefore, the scholarship ends with the completion of the last examination in the Bachelor's program!

Since ERAMUS grants are not to be classified as talent- and performance-related, the Deutschlandstipendium will continue to be paid during an ERASMUS stay - also for study-related mandatory internships abroad; see also BMBF-FAQ.

As the DAAD provides various types of funding, these must be examined individually. As a guide: mobility grants do not compete with the Deutschlandstipendium. However, if there is a grant for living expenses that amounts to or exceeds 30 euros per month, no Deutschlandstipendium can be transferred for this period.

In principle, a "suspension" of payment is only possible for scholarships that are already in progress. In these cases, the payment can be resumed after the DAAD funding until the end of the approval period, provided that you continue your previous studies at TUM.

Yes, that is possible.

The Deutschlandstipendium is tax-free and, according to §5 Para. 3 StipG, is generally not counted as income for social benefits.

The Deutschlandstipendium therefore does not constitute remuneration for specific employment and - like all other comparable scholarships - is not subject to contributions as remuneration.

For recipients of the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship, simultaneous employment as a student assistant at TUM is generally permitted.

The Deutschlandstipendium is an exception here; many other scholarships and funding programs cannot be combined with work as a student assistant.

Many sponsors of the TUM Deutschlandstipendium offer events to get to know each other better and to network - be it lectures, factory tours, seminars, after-work meetings or other formats. All scholarship holders of the year can register for these events - regardless of whether they are funded by the respective sponsor. A great networking opportunity for everyone! - The events are designed and organized by the sponsors themselves.

You can find an overview of upcoming events here.