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DAAD In-Country / In-Region master’s scholarships

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) · A university in Sub-Saharan Africa, not Germany

Level
Master’s
Where
A university in Sub-Saharan Africa, not Germany
Money
A monthly scholarship, tuition, and a research allowance
Fields
Medicine, Engineering

In short

DAAD pays for a master’s at an African university, for someone who means to teach or do research afterwards. This round is not a ticket to Germany. The courses that are open now are a fixed list, and the page says applications close on 12 November 2026.

The open list is medicine-adjacent and engineering, not law. Infectious-disease biology at the University of Ghana, environmental health at Jimma and at MUBAS in Malawi, water and environmental engineering at 2iE in Burkina Faso, electrical power systems at the University of Rwanda, geomatics at Ardhi in Tanzania, and irrigation engineering at LUANAR in Malawi are the closest fits. Crop science, plant breeding, agricultural economics, climate and disaster management, aquaculture, and a Master of Education in Research are also open.

Who can apply

  • You are a graduate from Sub-Saharan Africa and you hold a first degree the programme will accept.
  • You want the master’s either in a country where you already have a residence permit, or in another Sub-Saharan country where you do not. A Sierra Leonean without residence in the host country applies as In-Region.
  • You can say how the degree leads to teaching or research at a university in the region. That is the point of this programme.
  • Women, recognised refugees, and applicants from marginalised regions or groups are specifically encouraged.

Papers they ask for

  • The documents named in that programme’s call. They are not identical. Expect a degree certificate, transcripts, a CV, a motivation letter, and references.
  • Proof of citizenship. For In-Region, do not claim residence in the host country if you do not have it.

What it pays

  • A monthly scholarship for the normal length of the master’s, generally up to two years
  • Tuition fees
  • A study and research allowance
  • A contribution to thesis publishing costs
  • For an In-Region award only: a travel allowance and health insurance

How to apply

  1. Open the DAAD In-Country/In-Region page and read only the programmes marked as currently open.
  2. Choose one you are actually qualified for. A Sierra Leonean can apply to a programme in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda or Malawi.
  3. Follow that call’s link and submit there before 12 November 2026, or before the earlier date the university prints.
  4. More courses, including physics at FUNAAB in Nigeria, urban studies at the University of Cape Town, and mathematics at the University of Pretoria, are listed as opening in spring 2027. They are not open now.

Read this before you file

  • An In-Country award is for study in your own country. Sierra Leone has no host course on the open list, so do not file as In-Country.
  • The monthly amount is in the programme call, not in a general DAAD table from a previous year.
  • A course that is merely ‘in Africa’ is not funded. If it is not on this list, this scholarship is not attached to it.

Checked against the provider’s page on 11 October 2026. If this note and that page disagree, the provider is right. Lanbuk does not award this scholarship.