Humboldt Scholarships for International Students

Humboldt Scholarships are offered by the Humboldt Foundation, in Germany to sponsor scientists and scholars, irrespective of their academic disciplines and nationalities. International students from various nationalities can apply for 20+ scholarship programs offered by the Humboldt Foundation annually.

The range of Humboldt Scholarship awards offered to international students varies between €45,000 to €500,000. Only researchers, postdoctoral and junior researchers are eligible to apply for Humboldt Scholarships. In the majority of the cases, applicants who qualify for the award, have to stay, research and study in Germany only. Check out this article for more details on Humboldt Scholarships for international students. 

Humboldt Scholarship Highlights

• To date, 30,000+ Humboldtians coming from over 140 countries have been a part of the Humboldt Foundation since 1953.
• 800 awards and fellowships are awarded annually by the Humboldt Foundation.
• Humboldt Foundation’s budget for the year 2022 was approximately €148.9 million​ and was 97% financed by the federal funds.
• Presently there are 59 Nobel Laureates who have been a part of the Humboldt Foundation.
• Overall, 26 scholarship awards and fellowship programs run at the Humboldt Foundation and are offered to students. 

What are Humboldt Scholarships?

Humboldt Scholarships are financial aid in the form of scholarships and fellowships offered by the Humboldt Foundation. This Foundation was started by Alexander von Humboldt in the year 1953. More than 30,000+ alumni form over 109+ alumni associations after being awarded by the Humboldt Foundation for their research. 

Top performers who are researchers or postdocs are offered to conduct their research in Germany while they are offered stipends, fellowships and collaborations across industries to fulfil their research. 

Check out: Scholarships for Researchers in Germany

Humboldt Scholarships Benefits

As part of Humboldt Scholarships, there are various benefits which come as part of being an awardee of the Humboldt Foundation. There are over 40 webinars, conferences are conducted in a year to amalgamate researchers from across the globe as a learning experience for the current Humboldt Foundation awardees. Apart from this are some more benefits which include:

• Receiving a fellowship based on the flexibility of the research being pursued.
• A good amount of stipend or award is given based on research.
• Not necessary that students study on-campus to be an awardees.
• Research fellowship recommendations can also be given.
• The amount offered for staying and researching in Germany for 5 years.

Humboldt Scholarship Programs

There are 26 scholarship programs offered by the Humboldt Foundation to top researchers of the world who apply for one. Each of these programs has a certain criteria which are to be fulfilled before application. In brief, the following Humboldt Foundation’s programs have been given below:

Humboldt Award Programs	Humboldt Scholarship Programs
Alexander von Humboldt Professorship	Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship
Carl Zeiss Humboldt Research Award	Frontiers of Research Symposia
Fraunhofer-Bessel Research Award	Georg Forster Research Fellowship
Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award	German Chancellor Fellowship
Georg Forster Research Award	Hezekiah Wardwell Fellowship
Humboldt Research Award	Humboldt Research Fellowship
Konrad Adenauer Research Award	International Climate Protection Fellowship
Max Planck-Humboldt Research Award	Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Research Fellowship
Philipp Franz von Siebold Award	NSTC (Taiwan) Research Fellowship
Reimar Lüst Award	Philipp Schwartz Initiative

Some of the common Humboldt Programs offered to students as awards and scholarships are as follows:

• Henriette Herz Scouting Programme
• Sofja Kovalevskaja Award
• German Research Chair at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in South Africa

Each program has a different set of eligibility criteria and requirements for applicants. Each program’s country requirements are also different. Thus, before applications are filed, the countries of origin must be checked out. 

Also check out: DAAD Scholarships

Who are Offered Humboldt Scholarships?

There are five target groups which are categorised based on which they are offered scholarship or fellowship awards. Check out the following table for Humboldt Foundation Programs, Humboldt Scholarship eligibility criteria and what all is offered for details:

Target Groups of Humboldt Scholarship	Humboldt Scholarship Eligibility	What all is offered?
Postdoctoral Researchers
Humboldt Research Fellowship  Georg Forster Research Fellowship Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship	An above-average doctoral degree, completed within the last 4 years  Research proposal	Fellowship for 6 – 24 months
Experienced Researchers
Humboldt Research Fellowship  Georg Forster Research Fellowship Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship	An above-average doctoral degree, completed within the last 12 years Own academic profile Research proposal	Fellowship for 6 – 18 months, flexibly divisible
Outstanding (Junior) Professors And (Junior) Research Group Leaders In Germany
Henriette Herz Scouting Programme	Internationally outstanding academic achievements Successful promotion of junior researchers’ careers International connections  Convincing concept for identifying, selecting and hosting international researchers	Up to three permissions to recommend candidates for a Humboldt Research Fellowship
Top International Researchers
Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award Fraunhofer-Bessel Research Award	An above-average doctoral degree, completed within the last 18 years First  internationally-visible academic achievements Nomination by host	€45,000 award amount Research stay in Germany
Humboldt Research Award  Georg Forster Research Award	Internationally outstanding academic achievements Nomination by host	€60,000 – €100,000 award amount Research stay in Germany
Max Planck-Humboldt Research Award	Internationally outstanding academic achievements Until 15 years after the promotion Nomination by committee of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft	€80,000 award amount €1.5 million over 5 years for research cooperation in Germany
Alexander von Humboldt Professorship	Internationally outstanding academic achievements Nomination by a German university and inclusion in an institutional strategy	€3.5 – €5 million award amount 5-year research activity in Germany
Prospective Leaders
German Chancellor Fellowship International Climate Protection Fellowship	Bachelor’s or comparable academic degree Leadership competence Own project	Chancellor Fellowship: 12-month project in Germany  Climate Protection Fellowship: 12–24 month project in Germany

These are the programs offered under the Humboldt Foundation for various types of researchers. The requirements vary per scholarship program and so does the award type and amount. 

Humboldt Scholarship Application Process

There is a registration option available on the official website of the Humboldt Foundation. After registering for the Humboldt Scholarship Program, the applicants can apply online. The applications are accepted online only for those who qualify for the Humboldt Scholarship Program. So applicants should log on to the website and then register for the online application. 

Humboldt Scholarship Application Deadline

The selection committee comes together to review applications in March, July and November. Thus, applicants must file their applications well in advance based on when they wish to receive the funding for their research work. 

Since 20-25% of the applications get selected upon reviewing for Humboldt Scholarships, the applications must be authentic, the research is original and innovative, quality of publications and that an at-par academic background.