Sino-German (CSC-DAAD) Postdoc Scholarship Program

Benefits & funding

• CSC scholarship of €1,350 per month.
• DAAD adds €700 per month, bringing the monthly payment to €2,050.
• CSC pays a one-off international return airfare and visa fees.
• DAAD arranges insurance cover for the scholarship holder.
• DAAD pays the German host institute a research allowance of up to €200 per month.
• DAAD offers an optional two-month German language course in China before departure, plus a two-day pre-departure briefing.
• Funding runs 6 to 24 months. After the first 12 months CSC and DAAD decide jointly whether to continue for up to 12 more. The award cannot be extended beyond 24 months.

Eligibility

• Open to outstanding doctoral graduates of universities and research institutes in China.
• The doctorate must have been awarded no more than two years before the application opens.
• Doctoral candidates who will finish before the scholarship starts may apply, provided their certificates are submitted in time.
• Language proof required: IELTS 6.0 or TOEFL iBT 80 for English; DSH2, TestDaF 14 or onDAF for German; or a letter from the German host professor confirming the applicant’s language level is sufficient for daily work in Germany.
• A German host must agree to supervise the project: the research proposal and the work schedule are signed by the host professor, who also writes a separate letter confirming supervision.
• The programme names no subject restriction, no age limit and no minimum years of work experience.

Application process

1. 1
   Identify a host professor at a German university or research institute and agree the research proposal and work schedule with them; obtain the signed supervision letter.
2. 2
   Register in the DAAD Portal, fill in the online application form and upload the scanned documents as PDFs — CV, list of publications, research proposal, work schedule, supervision letter, degree certificates and language certificate.
3. 3
   Request the two recommendation forms through the portal, have university lecturers complete them, and deliver the signed paper originals to the DAAD Beijing branch office.
4. 4
   Submit inside the DAAD application window: the DAAD Beijing office states 1–30 November, while the DAAD scholarship database entry states 7 November to 9 December. Applicants should confirm the current year’s dates on both sites and treat the earlier close as binding. The portal shuts at 24:00 CET on the closing day.
5. 5
   Submit the separate CSC application in the same season. CSC publishes its own document list and its own dates each year, and the two sets of requirements are not identical.
6. 6
   A selection committee of CSC and DAAD experts reviews the applications and interviews shortlisted candidates in English.
7. 7
   Funding starts in July of the following year at the earliest, and by 31 May of the year after that at the latest.

Program timeline

1. DAAD applications open (date given by the DAAD Beijing office).

   1 November

2. 30 November

   DAAD application close per the DAAD Beijing office; the DAAD scholarship database gives the window as 7 November to 9 December.

3. Autumn to winter

   CSC runs its own submission round, announced yearly.

4. After the deadlines

   joint CSC-DAAD committee review and English-language interviews.

5. earliest start of funding.

   July of the following year

6. latest start of funding.

   31 May of the year after