DAAD-GSSP Scholarships

The International Max Planck Research School for Biology And Computation (IMPRS-BAC) at the MPI for Molecular Genetics and Freie Universität Berlin invites applications for

 

two DAAD-GSSP scholarships for international doctoral candidates

 

funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as part of the Graduate School Scholarship Programme (GSSP) for a maximum of 4 years. The DAAD provides detailed information on the scope of the scholarship in theGuidelines and Information for Nominees.

 

We invite applications from highly motivated international doctoral candidates who will carry out their own doctoral research project closely related to ongoing research in the working group of their potential supervisor. They will be supervised by a faculty member of the IMPRS-BAC at the MPI for Molecular Genetics or Freie Universität Berlin. Check general information on the program, required application materials, and partaking supervisors and their proposed research projects. Please submit your application using our application portal. 

 

What we offer:

• full membership at the IMPRS-BAC for the duration of the doctoral studies;
• cutting-edge research in a variety of areas in biology and computation, with possible specializations in genomic and molecular biology techniques as well as in algorithms, statistics and artificial intelligence for molecular genetics;
• a degree from the Freie Universität Berlin;
• excellent structured supervision through a thesis advisory committee; 
• a diverse community to exchange ideas with ;
• a flexible and challenging curriculum of scientific courses and transferable skills; 
• support for attending conferences to present your work; 
• an international graduate program in one of Europe's most exciting cities; 
• German classes

 

The scholarship includes:

• scholarship payments of currently € 1,300 a month;
• a travel allowance;
• payments towards health, accident and personal liability insurance cover;
• a research allowance of currently € 460 per year (for scholarship holders from countries listed in the DAC List of ODA recipients), or € 260 per year (for scholarship holders from other countries);
• under certain circumstances, grant holders may receive the following additional benefits:
  • monthly rent subsidy (calculated individually, usually about € 50 to 125 per month);
  • monthly allowance for accompanying family members (about € 200 child allowance per child and about € 275 marriage allowance);
  • in the case of a disability or chronic illness: subsidy for additional costs which result from the disability or chronic illness and are not covered by other funding providers
• a preparatory German language course (if available, applicable and feasible, taking into account the starting date of the scholarship);
• a material resources and supervision allowance of currently € 1,000 per year, which is paid upon application to the host institution.

 

Your profile:

• You are highly motivated to pursue a doctorate in your chosen research field and you not have completed a PhD previously.
• You hold an above-average Master’s degree (or equivalent) in a discipline relevant to the chosen project.
• You have very good English skills and are willing to learn basic German.
• You are a non-German citizen, and, as of 30 April 2025, you have not been resident in Germany for more than the last 15 months.
• You should not have graduated any longer than six years before 30 April 2025 (exceptions s. Section 2)

 

Timeline :

• The deadline for applications is 7 January 2025 (18:00 CET). For details of the application process, including a link to the online application form, please visit the call website.
• Follow the application steps described on the call website.
• Once all the new doctoral candidates have been admitted, the IMPRS-BAC will nominate some of them for a GSSP scholarship to the DAAD by 30 April 2025.
• Candidates nominated by the IMPRS-BAC will have to submit their application to the DAAD within 3 weeks after receiving a positive reply from the IMPRS-BAC.
• Nominated candidates wait for the final admission by DAAD (estimated mid-June to mid-August 2025).
• Please note that admission to studies and receipt of a scholarship will be subject to assessments by both the Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy/ Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the Freie Universität Berlin and the DAAD, respectively.
• When admitted by the DAAD: start of scholarship between 1 July and 1 December 2025.

 

Selection procedure:

The selection of doctoral candidates is highly competitive and entirely based on qualification, motivation for doctoral studies at the interface between molecular life sciences and computational sciences, a research proposal, and references. The IMPRS-BAC is committed to increasing the number of individuals with disabilities in its workforce and therefore encourages applications from such qualified individuals. Furthermore, the IMPRS-BAC strives for gender equality and diversity and aims for a balanced composition with respect to gender and regarding national and international candidates. We seek to increase the number of women in areas where they are underrepresented, so we explicitly encourage women to apply. To minimize unconscious bias, we kindly ask you not to include a photo in your CV. 

 

For additional inquiries, please check the application FAQ and feel free to contact the PhD coordinator. 

 

The PhD scholarships are funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) through the Graduate School Scholarship Programme.