DAAD EPOS Scholarships 2027: Courses, Deadlines and Who Can Apply

DAAD, a government organisation based in Germany, ties its EPOS scholarships to particular master's courses. This guide covers five of them that are taking applications in the current round. Three of them close on 15 October 2026, so time is short. All five open their EPOS places to applicants from developing countries, and four ask for at least two years of work experience, so this is a route for people whose careers are already under way.

How DAAD EPOS scholarships work

An EPOS scholarship belongs to a course. Each course page listed here publishes its own window for EPOS places, its own deadline and its own entry rules.

The timing is easy to misjudge. The Oldenburg page states it plainly: the deadline for DAAD EPOS sponsored study spots falls one year before entry. The Charité window that closes on 15 October 2026 is for admission in September 2027, and the Greifswald call is for a course starting in October 2027. You are applying about a year ahead, so talk to your employer early about leave and expect a long gap between submitting your file and arriving in Germany.

All five are master's programmes taught in person, not online. Three give their length as 24 months: Oldenburg, Greifswald and the joint degree in Bonn.

Money is usually the first question, and these pages leave it open. The EPOS course pages in this guide do not state a scholarship amount, so we do not quote one. Check the payment rules that the course office and DAAD publish before you plan a budget.

Open EPOS courses and their deadlines

The five courses, by closing date:

• 15 October 2026: ISATEC (MSc Marine Biology), University of Bremen: DAAD EPOS 2027 (closed)
• 15 October 2026: Sustainable Renewable Energy Technologies MSc, Oldenburg: EPOS 2027 (closed)
• 15 October 2026: International Health MSc, Charité Berlin: DAAD EPOS Scholarship 2027 (closed)
• 31 October 2026: Joint MSc in Environmental Risks and Human Security in Bonn, Germany
• 1 December 2026: Landscape Ecology and Nature Conservation MSc, Greifswald: EPOS 2027

The Bremen course is a master's in marine biology, and its online application portal opened on 1 August. Oldenburg's course belongs to engineering and covers sustainable renewable energy technologies. Applications there opened on 15 August 2026.

Charité in Berlin runs the international health master's, the obvious choice for applicants from health and medicine. Its EPOS window opened on 1 August 2026.

The joint master's in Bonn is offered by the United Nations University and combines environment and climate with the social sciences. Its application period runs from 31 July to 31 October 2026, but the page marks those dates as still to be confirmed.

Greifswald gives you the most time. Its course in landscape ecology and nature conservation takes EPOS applications until 1 December 2026.

A mid-October deadline leaves little room if your language result or your employer letters are still missing. Submit several days early. A slow upload or an unsigned letter on the final evening is hard to fix, and you cannot count on a reply from the course office in the last hours.

Who can apply

Every EPOS course in this guide opens its scholarship places to applicants from developing countries. That is the wording the pages use. It does not mean that every African country qualifies automatically, so confirm on the course page, or with the course office in writing, that your country counts before you spend weeks on the application.

Work experience is the second filter. The Bremen, Oldenburg, Charité and Bonn pages each ask for at least two years. Count those years from the start and end dates on your contracts and employer letters rather than from memory, because a shortfall is hard to explain once the file is in. For Greifswald, check the admission rules on its page before assuming the two-year minimum does not apply.

All five courses lead to a master's degree. Final-year PhD candidates and postdocs should look instead at the Heilbronn fellowship described further down.

How to prepare the course and scholarship application

Because each course handles its own EPOS places, your application has to show two things: that you can manage the degree, and why funding you makes sense.

Start with the document requirements on the course page, not the motivation letter. Items that depend on other people, such as an employer letter or a test result, are the ones that miss deadlines, so request them first.

Language rules differ from course to course:

• Bremen: English at level C1, required from applicants whose native language is not English or whose last study was not completely taught in English.
• Oldenburg: English at level B2, shown through TOEFL iBT, IELTS, Cambridge, PTE Academic, TOEIC, telc or UNIcert.
• Bonn: IELTS 6.5, TOEFL iBT 79, TOEFL 550, TOEFL CBT 213, PTE Academic 67 or Duolingo English Test 120, or a Cambridge CAE at B2 or above, CPE, or telc B2-C1.
• Greifswald: English at level B2, which the page calls a prerequisite for admission with no exceptions.
• Charité: check the language rule on the course page before you book a test.

If your last degree was taught entirely in English, ask the Bremen office whether proof of that is enough before you pay for a test. For Oldenburg, Bonn and Greifswald, book the test now if you have not sat it yet.

Ask each employer for a letter that gives your job title, your start and end dates and your main duties. A letter that only says you worked there does not prove two years.

Then write the statement. Name a specific problem from your own work and explain how the course helps you deal with it. An engineer who plans solar mini-grids has an obvious story for Oldenburg, and a district health officer has one for Charité. Replace general ambitions with the project, the budget or the team you already know.

Two routes with different rules: Bonn and Heilbronn

Joint MSc in Environmental Risks and Human Security in Bonn, Germany is the EPOS option with the clearest funding language in this list. Its page says that a number of fully funded scholarships can be offered to students from developing countries through this scheme, and it confirms a stipend without giving an amount. The degree is a joint one and lasts 24 months. Its test list gives minimum scores for most accepted certificates, which makes it easy to check your result. Until its dates are confirmed, work towards 31 October 2026.

The rules change with Heilbronn AI Fellowships: DAAD-funded research stays in Germany for AI researchers. These DAAD-funded research stays in Germany are for artificial intelligence researchers, aimed at postdocs and PhD candidates in their final year, in computer science and IT. They are open to all nationalities, so the developing-country rule does not apply. The package is concrete: EUR 2,800 a month, plus travel and insurance, for a stay of 12 months. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and may be submitted at any time. No official language certificate is required, although very good English is essential. A rolling call rewards a finished file, so send yours when your research plan is ready.

Frequently asked questions

Is the DAAD EPOS scholarship fully funded?

The EPOS course pages in this guide do not state an amount or say what the scholarship covers, so do not assume full funding. The Bonn page says a number of fully funded scholarships can be offered through the scheme.

When are the current EPOS deadlines?

Bremen, Oldenburg and Charité close on 15 October 2026. Bonn gives 31 October 2026, still to be confirmed. Greifswald closes on 1 December 2026.

Can applicants from any African country apply?

Not automatically. The EPOS pages open their places to applicants from developing countries, so confirm that your country counts under the rules of your course. The Heilbronn fellowship accepts all nationalities.

Do I need IELTS?

Only some courses name it. Bonn asks for IELTS 6.5 or an equivalent score, and Oldenburg accepts IELTS as one of seven tests at level B2. The Heilbronn fellowship requires no official certificate at all.

If none of these courses fits your field, compare other scholarships and fellowships before the October deadlines pass.