Deutschlandstipendium

Leuphana University of Lüneburg is awarding 24 new scholarships for the 2024 summer semester. The next application phase is planned for February 2025.

Further details and the call for applications 2024 are published below. This can serve as a guide, as the 2025 tender is likely to be formulated in a similar way.

APPLICATION FOR THE SUMMER SEMESTER 2024

With the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), a scholarship program has been created that meaningfully accompanies and supports performance-oriented and socially committed students on their academic path in a joint project of politics, business and science. From the start of the 2024 summer semester, Leuphana University of Lüneburg is expected to be able to offer 23 scholarship places for students on all courses as part of this scholarship program.

The aim of the scholarship program is to improve the study and living conditions of particularly talented and high-achieving students and to create a network between sponsors, scholarship holders and the university at an early stage. Social commitment and special social circumstances are also taken into account when selecting scholarship holders.

Support from the Deutschlandstipendium is independent of income and can be combined with support from BAföG. Double funding through other performance-based, material benefits from the organizations for the promotion of gifted students is legally excluded (for exceptions, see StipG §4). There is no legal entitlement to the scholarship. Scholarships are paid for two semesters, starting with the summer semester 2024.

Applications are open to Bachelor's students enrolled at Leuphana University Lüneburg in the College, Master's students in the Graduate School and Bachelor's or Master's students in the Professional School. The scholarships are awarded in accordance with the "Guidelines of the Presidential Board of Leuphana University of Lüneburg for awarding the Deutschlandstipendium". Applications must state the degree program in which the student is enrolled or has applied for.

Selection criteria
The selection criteria of Leuphana University of Lüneburg are based on the official selection criteria of the Federal Government's Scholarship Program Act (cf. § 2 StipV). This means:

• for first-year bachelor students, the average grade of the university entrance qualification, taking into account the individual grades relevant to the chosen subject, or the special qualification that entitles the applicant to study at this university,
• for students who are already enrolled, the academic achievements to date, in particular the average grade and the CPs achieved. For students on a Master's degree course, also the final grade of the previous degree course.

The overall assessment of the applicants' potential also takes into account

• special successes, achievements, awards and prizes,
• a previous or existing professional activity (with a minimum duration of 6 months) or extracurricular internships (with a minimum duration of 6 weeks),
• extracurricular or extracurricular commitment (to a significant extent) such as voluntary work, social, societal, university or political commitment or participation in religious communities, associations or clubs as well as other voluntary work.
• special personal or family circumstances (such as proven illnesses and disabilities, proven care of own children, especially as a single parent or close relative in need of care, work in the family business (to a significant extent), gainful employment during studies (to a significant extent), a migration or refugee background) or status as a first-time graduate.

The Deutschlandstipendium scholarships are initially awarded for a period of two semesters at a rate of 300 euros per month, with 50% of the sum being provided by private sponsors (companies, foundations, private individuals) and a further 50% by the federal government. Funding is unilateral and does not require anything in return. The funding period begins on April 1 of each year. The maximum funding period is generally based on the standard period of study and can only be granted beyond the standard period of study in justified cases. An extension of the maximum funding period must be applied for in writing, stating the reasons.

Current information on the application procedure can be found at the following link: www.leuphana.de/deutschlandstipendium

Applications must be submitted electronically using the online application form. The Link will be published on this website, when the application period starts.

Application documents
While completing the online application form, the application documents can be uploaded as labeled below. Please also label the files with your surname (e.g. CV_Mustermann) so that all documents can be clearly assigned to you.  

1.    Signed application agreement,
2.    Certificate of higher education entrance qualification (for foreign certificates, a translation and conversion into the German grading system)
3.    Certificate of enrollment, stating the current semester of study, or letter of admission for first-year students,
4.    Study certificate stating the (individual) standard period of study,
5.    Curriculum vitae in tabular form,
6.    Higher semesters: Proof of previous study or examination achievements with average grade and number of CPs earned to date by means of current proof.

As well as, if applicable - according to the information in your application - certificates or evidence for:
7.    Successfully completed previous studies
8.    Special awards, achievements and prizes
9.    Previous internship and job references
10.    Extracurricular or extracurricular commitment
11.    Special personal or family circumstances: Chronic illnesses and disabilities; care of own children or relatives in need of care; migration background (according to §6 of the Migration Background Survey Ordinance) or refugee background (refugee background no longer than 60 months after arrival in Germany), work in the family business or gainful employment during studies (to a significant extent); status as a first-time graduate.

If the application documents are not written in German or English, an officially certified translation into German must be enclosed.

Important notes

• Only complete applications uploaded by the deadline will be considered. Please do not submit any unsolicited documents after the application deadline, as we will no longer be able to consider them.
• All documents MUST be attached in PDF format, other formats cannot be considered for evaluation. All supporting documents must be submitted in electronic form and only via the online form. Paper documents will not be accepted. All documents must be uploaded to the application server.
• Please do not send any inquiries about the Deutschlandstipendium to the faculties or schools. Please also do not request any expert reports from professors for your application; such reports will not be included in the selection process.
• Simultaneous receipt of another scholarship will be reviewed when the Deutschlandstipendium is approved. Parallel scholarship funding may be possible and depends on the type of funding. As a general rule, anyone who already receives material support based on talent and performance that amounts to an average of 30 euros or more per month cannot receive a Deutschlandstipendium. An overview of the admissibility of receiving some scholarships at the same time as the Deutschlandstipendium can be found on the BMBF website  . There is a statutory obligation to provide information during the scholarship period. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research carries out spot checks to avoid double funding. Leuphana University of Lüneburg is obliged to provide the necessary data for this purpose (see §4 StipG).
• Please refrain from asking questions about the status of processing. All applicants will be notified in writing once they have been selected.

The application period begins on 1.2.2024 and ends on 15.2.2024

Selection is based on the recommendation of the scholarship selection committee by the Executive Board of Leuphana University of Lüneburg.

Thank you for your interest in the Deutschlandstipendium at Leuphana University of Lüneburg and we wish you every success with your application.