PROMOS Final Thesis Abroad

• If the Federal Foreign Office has issued a travel warning for the destination country, a PROMOS application is not possible.
• For the funding year 2026, there are three application deadlines: November 1, 2025; March 1, 2026; and June 1, 2026. Please choose the one that suits best for your project.
• It is not possible to apply more than once for PROMOS funding for the same stay within the same funding year.
• Ongoing research stays can also be funded, as long as the application can be submitted in due form and time before the end of the stay. Please note, though, that funding is only possible from January 1 of a calendar year and that the minimum funding period of one month must be met.
• Minimum funding period: 30 days
• Maximum funding period: six months
• This PROMOS funding is solely intended for the purpose of completing a final thesis and not the participation in courses at a foreign host university.
• If the applicant plans to receive additional monetary compensation for their research stay, possible PROMOS funding will be examined on a case-by-case basis. In this case, it is possible that only a mobility grant may be awarded.
• Unfortunately, stays abroad for the purpose of completing a doctoral (PhD) thesis cannot be funded.
• Medical students who are doing their doctorate during their studies can exceptionally be funded via PROMOS.
• According to DAAD regulations, international degree-seeking RUB students can be funded in all subprograms, as long as they do not intend to stay in their home country. The home country is defined as the country in which the applicant has had their main place of residence for at least five years. However, exceptions may apply within the RUB PROMOS program to international students who are completing a stay abroad in their home country to do research for their final thesis.

Please apply via our online portal and upload all the required documents.

To the online portal

The CV should be about one to two pages; can be written in German or English.

The motivation letter should provide a detailed justification for conducting research abroad. It should be about one to max. two pages in length; can be written in German or English.

This description should include methods, a time schedule and a description of preliminary work/studies and, if applicable, a bibliography; can be written in German or English.

This can be created automatically in eCampus or FlexNow and saved as a PDF. Medical students please upload your Zeugnis über den Zweiten Abschnitt der Ärztlichen Prüfung (also known as "M2"). A Transcript of records issued by the Examination Office is also accepted.

You can download your current enrolment certificate (Studienbescheinigung) yourself from eCampus.

The confirmation of the thesis allocation should be written by the supervising university lecturer at RUB. This can be an informal letter (or possibly an email); can be submitted in German or English.

The letter of recommendation is a mandatory document for applying for a PROMOS scholarship. Without this document, your application cannot be considered.

Template for the PROMOS Letter of Recommendation

The letter of recommendation must be issued by a RUB lecturer specifically for your current PROMOS application. Please note that general letters of reference or employment references, as well as letters of recommendation issued for another purpose or program, cannot be accepted.

The letter of recommendation will be sent directly to the International Office by the lecturer. Please include a short note with the name of the person issuing the letter of recommendation and upload it (in PDF format) as part of your online application.

This can be submitted in German or English; for other languages, please prepare your own translation. An informal letter or, under certain circumstances, an e-mail will be accepted.

In exceptional cases (e.g. in the case of field research), it may be possible to waive the requirement of a letter of acceptance from a contact person abroad. In this case, please contact us as soon as possible!

Current and valid proof of sufficient knowledge of the working language.

Please note that the language certificate is a mandatory part of the PROMOS application! Only selected certificates are accepted (see below). The language certificate cannot be submitted later and must not be older than two years at the application deadline. If you have any questions, please contact us in due time.

Accepted language certificates are:

• DAAD language certificate issued by the RUB University Language Center (ZFA)
• If you are enrolled in a language program, one of your lecturers can issue the DAAD language certificate; please get in touch with the PROMOS-Team at an early stage!
• UniCert (further information on the ZFA website)
• Bachelor degree in a philology
• Further certificates for English: TOEFL, IELTS, TOEIC, CAE, Duolingo
• Further certificates for French and Spanish: DELF, DELE, SIELE
• Further certificates for Asian languages: JLPT, TOPIK, HSK
• Native speakers: Please provide proof that the language is your first language by submitting a passport from a country where the language is an official language. In addition (!), please hand in proof of a school or university degree from a country where the language is an official language. The school or university degree must have been completed in the relevant language.

If you are in doubt about your language certificate, please reach out to us early!

Language certificates that are not accepted:

• DAAD language certificates that have not been issued by RUB (unless they are equivalent)
• All above mentioned certificates, if they are older than two years at the application deadline
• Language course certificates of participation
• A-level (Abitur) certificate

If you have already completed a university degree, please submit official proof (certificate and/or diploma) of this - including final grade (!).

Please note that the certificate of general higher education entrance qualification (allgemeine Hochschulreife) is not a university certificate.

If you receive other funding and/or monetary compensation for your research stay abroad, please upload proof of the amount and purpose of the scholarship or the compensation respectively.

In case of doubt, the International Office must consult with DAAD whether parallel funding is possible. If you have any questions, please contact us in due time.