DAAD Scholarship: A Guide for Russian Students (2026)

The DAAD, known as the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst in German), stands as the largest scholarship provider for international students looking to study in Germany.

Guided by its motto, "Change through Exchange," the DAAD finances both Germans who want to go abroad and international students (including Russian students) who want to come to Germany. Headquartered in Bonn with an additional branch in Berlin, the DAAD operates a vast global network. This includes 20 Regional Offices and 37 Information Centers in around 50 countries. For instance, in Russia, DAAD has a Regional Office in Moscow and an Information Center in Saint Petersburg.

The DAAD offers different types of scholarships, like funding for undergraduates, graduates, PhD, language courses and more. In total, as of 2024, DAAD offers 86 scholarship programs, all of which vary and, hence, have diverse application and procedural requirements. As already noted, here we focus on two types of funding: DAAD scholarships for Russians to pursue their Bachelor's degree in Germany and DAAD scholarships for Russians to do their Master's studies in Germany. These are merit-based full scholarships, aka entirely covering the living costs of Russian students in Germany.

Having a full scholarship that covers all of your living costs in Germany sounds like a great deal, doesn't it? And at this point you might be wondering: "Is Russia eligible for the DAAD scholarship?" And here is the good news: Yes, as a Russian, you are also eligible for a DAAD scholarship!

However, not all DAAD scholarship programs are open for Russian applicants. As of 2024, there are 15 DAAD scholarships available for Russian students, out of which 6 scholarships are for those Russians, who would like to pursue a degree (excluding a PhD) in Germany. It is noteworthy, that all of those DAAD scholarships are for the Master's (graduate) level. Below, you can find the list of these 6 scholarships with key information in a nutshell. However, before moving to that part, let us tell you what are the options, in case you are an undergraduate student from Russia.

The above-presented table demonstrates the following: despite the fact that currently there is no DAAD scholarship for Russian students who intend to pursue their Bachelor's in Germany, Russian undergraduate students can still come to Germany with DAAD funds to participate in a summer course. It is noteworthy that doing this summer course will assist Russian students in performing better for their potential DAAD master's scholarship applications presented in the upcoming section.

As the table vividly shows, Russian students who want to do their master's in Germany can find a relevant full DAAD scholarship to completely cover their living costs during their studies. And the scholarships are available for almost every discipline, ranging from Physics to Business Administration.

DO NOT FORGET: In order to come to Germany and pursue a degree with a DAAD scholarship, you need to also meet all of the requirements of the specific study program you are applying to. Hence. in addition to checking the DAAD website, you also need to get well acquainted with the respective pages of the study course(s) you want to enroll at.

Important: 

1. If your documents are not originally in English or in German, you need their (certified) translations.

2. If your DAAD scholarship application is incomplete, the documents are not in the right shape, or even one signature is missing, it can be rejected. That is why we recommend you take your time and closely inspect the requirements of your chosen scholarship program to ensure that you are well and correctly informed and do not miss anything (hence, your application is not rejected for formal reasons).

3. Usually, you do not need to wait for the letter of admission from the German study program to apply for the DAAD scholarship. The reason is that the DAAD scholarships are pre-admission scholarships. To put it differently, as a rule, you first apply for the DAAD scholarship and then for the desired Bachelor's or Master's study program in Germany.

In general, it is not easy to get a DAAD scholarship, no matter where you are from. The reason is that it is one of the most competitive and prestigious scholarships in Germany. That is why, as per our research conducted in 2023, the DAAD scholarship success rate for Russia is about 10%. In other words, approximately 10 out of 100 Russian students succeed in their DAAD scholarship application. Consequently, the rejection rate for a DAAD scholarship for Russians is approximately 90%. Low GPA and, in general, weak academic profile can be the major reasons for the rejection.

In a word, even if you meet all the basic requirements and have completed the whole application procedure correctly, it is very likely that your application for the DAAD funding in Germany will be rejected, if, for instance, your GPA is not very good, your CV is not "rich" or your Motivation Letter is not "impressive".