The Goethe Research Academy for Early Career Researchers (GRADE) awards up to 15 starting scholarships for international candidates who are preparing or starting a doctorate at Goethe University. The scholarships are funded by the Franz Adickes Stiftungsfonds. International candidates face special challenges at the start of their doctorate in Frankfurt: costs for mobility and furnishings, effort for residence permits and other administrative issues as well as language requirements for scholarship applications, to name just a few. The scholarships are intended to facilitate the start of their doctorate despite these challenges by providing funding for the preparation and start of their research. The scholarships amount to 1650 € per month for a period of three months. The eligibility criteria are:
- non-German citizenship
- university-qualifying degree (e.g. school-leaving certificate) obtained outside Germany
- degree qualifying for doctorate (e.g. Master) completed or near completed
- commitment from a supervisor at Goethe University to supervise your project
- candidates must have either submitted an application for doctoral funding or received a funding commitment from their supervisor.
Grantees of a starting scholarship cannot have substantial employment or another scholarship during the period of the starting scholarship.
Deadline: 8 May, 2026
You can find further information as well as the application form at www.grade.uni-frankfurt.de/funding
