Pursuing higher Studies in Germany A Step-by-Step-Guide Welcome to the DAAD!

! We are happy to know that you are considering Germany as a destination for your higher education. With over 350 universities offering a wide variety of courses in various disciplines to over 240,000 international students among others, Germany is all set to add that extra element to your professional life. We hope that the information we provide you here help you in making a decision that will lay a solid foundation for your career. 1. Collection of general information Start by collecting general information from the DAAD (www.daad.de), the internet and brochures. Additionally you are kindly invited to attend one of the regular DAAD-counselling sessions at the DAAD close to you! For information sessions at the DAAD Office in Chennai please check the news section of our website www.ic.daad.de/chennai. DAAD has also offices in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune. For the addresses, please visit www.daaddelhi.org 2. Shortlisting of programmes covering your interest and your professional qualification. Browse relevant websites as www.daad.de/international-programmes, www.study-in.de and www.higher-education-compass.de in order to find suitable programmes. Please consider the medium of instruction (German, English or another language as the sole or primary medium of instruction).

Decide whether a University or a University of Applied Sciences rather suits your interest. German Universities (including Universities of Technology, abbr. TU) are research-oriented and offer a wide variety of subjects. These can award doctorate degrees. Universities of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschulen, abbr. FH), on the other hand, are practice-oriented and offer courses mainly in engineering, business administration, social sciences and design. These have strong links to the industry and offer possibilities like joint supervision of the professor and a company for a master thesis. Fachhochschulen do not award doctorate degrees, however as a master degree holder from a Fachhochschule, one is in principle eligible to apply for a doctoral position at a University. Your interest and inclination should define which of the two kinds of institutions you choose! If you have set your mind on a PhD in Germany, you can consider two approaches: the traditional approach and the structured doctoral programmes. The traditional approach involves identifying a supervisor (Doktorvater /Doktormutter) at a German University who is willing to guide your research. This system offers a lot of freedom with no compulsory attendance, deadlines or curriculum, but calls for a great deal of personal initiative right from identifying a topic in your research field. This kind of doctorate takes about 3-5 years to complete. Structured doctoral programmes are internationally oriented, conducted largely in English and are comparable to PhD programmes offered in English-speaking countries. Here supervision is carried out by several

university teachers. These programmes lead to a PhD in about three years. There are over 600 structured programmes in Germany: 1. Doctoral programmes at Universities (http://www.daad.de/international-programmes) 2. Graduate schools at Universities (http://www.daad.de/international-programmes) 3. Research Training Groups coordinated by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (www.dfg.de/gk) 4. International Max Planck Research Schools (www.mpg.de) 3. Finding more details in regard to shortlisted programmes Contact the selected university. This will be your most important source of information as far as exact details about eligibility, course duration, fee, application procedure etc. are concerned. Check the application deadline for courses chosen! General Application requirements Bachelor courses PhD Master degree from a recognised university 1 year preparatory course at a Studienkolleg + Feststellungsprfung OR min. 1 year of undergraduate studies in India TOEFL/ IELTS or equivalent Bachelor degree from a recognised university TOEFL/ IELTS or equivalent if applicable: GRE/ GMAT, German language test

Master courses

4. Preparing and sending of application It is up to the university to decide whether the university directly or uni-assist is to be addressed. Direct application to the university Contact your selected university/department directly. Contact details are provided in the IDP database of DAAD (follow instructions given on the website). Normally there are no application fees. Through uni-assist: www.uni-assist.de Apply at the Application Services for International Students. Send only one set of documents to apply for several universities. There is an application fee.

Optional: Application for a scholarship Two scholarship programmes that the DAAD offers for master level education are: 1. Masters Scholarship for Public Policy and Good Governance PPGG

2. Postgraduate Courses with Relevance to Developing Countries If you are participating in a structured doctoral programme and doing your doctorate at a graduate school, research centre or research training group, the issue of funding is usually resolved with you either working as a research assistant or receiving a scholarship of about Euro 1000 per month. If you are pursuing your doctorate on the basis of the traditional approach, you can apply for a job as a research assistant, if there is vacancy. Working as a research/doctoral assistant involves collaboration in research/teaching and doing administrative work in addition to completing the dissertation. Non-university institutions like Fraunhofer Institutes and also some companies offer doctoral candidates employment and / or fund their doctoral dissertations. A complete list of scholarship programmes for Indian candidates can be viewed at www.daaddelhi.org. A database of scholarships offered by various German organizations can be found at www.funding-guide.de. In the past few years, some universities have launched their own scholarship programmes. If you are interested, you can enquire at the International Office of the respective university. 5a Application for the visa Apply for a student visa as soon as you have the admission letter, as the procedure can take around two months. The German Embassy and the Consulates require proof of funding for the first year of studies (approx. INR 4-5 lakh). To find out where you should apply for a visa, visit: http://www.newdelhi.diplo.de/Vertretung/newdelhi/en/02/Embassy.html German Consulate General in Chennai requests all visa applicants to contact one of the German Visa Application Centers in Chennai, Puducherry, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Cochin. You can find the contacts of the German Application Centres on the Consulate`s website: http://www.chennai.diplo.de.
German Consulate General Chennai No. 9 Boat Club Road RA Puram Chennai 600028 Mail: [email protected]; Web http://www.chennai.diplo.de Tel. +91 44 2430 1600

5b Finding an accommodation Apply for a place in a hostel. In some cases the International Office (Akademisches Auslandsamt) of the university will help you. Students in Germany either live in a student hostel or in a private accommodation. In contrast to other countries, German Universities do not automatically allocate rooms to students when they

enrol. So you are responsible for finding your own accommodation. Because it's not always easy to find a flat, start looking for a place to stay early-ideally before you arrive in Germany. The International Office at the university of your choice can provide useful information for finding private and shared flats. The following links contain search engines for shared flats or single apartments. http://www.studenten-wg.de http://www.wg-gesucht.de http://www.mitwohnzentrale.de http://www.homecompany.de http://www.studenten-wohnung.de http://www.easywg.de 6 Arrival in Germany Arrive in Germany at least a week before your course begins (Wintersemester tend to begin in October, Sommersemester usually begin in April.) Contact the International Office (Akademisches Auslandsamt) of your university for guidance.

If you have further questions please dont hesitate to contact us: DAAD Information Centre - Chennai at Max Mueller Bhavan 4 Rutland Gate 5th Street, Chennai 600 006 E-Mail: [email protected] Phone: 044-2833 1442/50 Fax: 044-2833 1450