Uni Leipzig Summer School Scholarships 2021 for Developing Countries

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), with financing provided by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), supports academic qualification measures for individuals from developing countries who participate in the In-Country / In-Region Programme.

Uni Leipzig Summer School Scholarships

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), with financial support provided by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), supports academic qualification measures for individuals from developing countries who participate in the In-Country/In-Region Programme. The programme aims to enable trained professionals to address and deal with diverse societal, economic, and ecological issues in developing countries. A further objective is to sustainably improve the teaching and research conditions in the partner regions and to strengthen their higher education profile.

As an additional offer for scholarship holders of the In-Country/In-Region Programme, the DAAD cooperates with German universities in organising a range of summer schools in Germany. One of these four-week measures is the training workshop “Project development for knowledge transfer” offered in cooperation with the international SEPT program (Small Enterprise Promotion and Training) located at Leipzig University, Germany. At the heart of this summer school is an individual project idea, which participants are required to include already in their application. A project idea canvas template will be provided. This canvas enables the applicants to further develop their ideas in the course of the training. Course content will always reflect on and relate to these projects.

The training course will be open for students on master’s level or PhD students of all disciplines. Especially welcome are students from economics and social sciences. The course will focus on four key areas:

• Innovation Management
• Entrepreneurship Promotion
• Participatory Teaching Methods
• Academic Writing and Research Project Development

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, the programme will be divided: The former two topics will be covered in the first – digital – phase in March 2021, the latter two will be subject of the second – attendance – phase at Leipzig University in September 2021.

A first digital run of the 2020 summer school was successful and well received by the 2020 participants. Digital teaching tools and platforms such as Zoom and Mural, online lectures, coachings, and workshops combined with phases of self-study proved highly effective. To create a ‘summer school atmosphere’ over distance, the university developed a special app for communication among the participants and offered various digital social and cultural activities. Additionally, Leipzig University was able to accommodate participants’ costs of increased data usage (mostly for Zoom lectures). While the digital phase of the Project Development for Knowledge Transfer summer school 2021 will be held only with participants from the 2021 intake, in the attendance phase in September 2021, participants will be joined by the 2020 group.

Uni Leipzig Summer School Scholarships Eligibility

The Project Development for Knowledge Transfer training is targeting advanced students on master’s or PhD level of all disciplines from developing countries. The programme is especially of interest to those who have an interest in setting up their own business or implementing their own ideas as development projects.

The key criteria are:

• – Applicants are active scholarship holders of the DAAD’s In-Country/In-Region Programme as of 1st January 2021 (if your scholarship expires before or starts after that date, participation is not possible).
• – Applicants should hold at least a bachelor’s degree.
• – Active and excellent English language skills (speaking and writing) are indispensable as the language of communication of the summer school will be English. If you are not sure about your level of fluency and/or the suitability of your documents, please contact the coordinators at the university in charge.
• – The provision of international experience will be considered an asset.
• Please mind that participation is possible only once: if you have joined one of the In-Country/In-Region programme’s summer schools in the last years, it will not be possible to participate again in 2021. You may submit an application for up to two DAAD summer schools in 2021. However, participation will only be possible in one of them.
• The programme aims to achieve a fair gender balance amongst the participants. Further, it is foreseen that the group represents a balance of master’s students and PhD candidates.
• People with disability are explicitly encouraged to apply! Should you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the coordinators at the university or the team at the DAAD.

Value of Award: During the attendance phase of the training, participants will be guests of Leipzig University. Following expenses will be covered by the DAAD:

• Course costs: 4.500 €.
• Travel costs: Flights (economy class) to and from Germany and ground travel to and from Leipzig according to maximum reimbursement rates depending on the country of origin.
• Your 2 weeks stay will be financed with 600,00 € total (accommodation in gender divided shared apartments as well as partial living costs will be covered by this amount). The accommodation will be very central in Leipzig in apartments with 3 to 5 people each. In the apartments you will find double rooms. The apartments come with kitchens so you can prepare your own food if you wish. You will be able to use the university library if you need to work after class.
• You will be invited to participate in a number of joint meals.
• A local transportation ticket for Leipzig will be provided.
• Visa costs: For those of you who have to pay the visa fees, you will have to pre-finance the visa fee, but it will be reimbursed in Germany based on the original receipt.
• Emergency health, accident and liability insurance – please note: In some cases, part of the cost of treatment is at your own expense. Especially dental treatment is not fully covered. Coverage with regard to pregnancy-related issues is very limited.
• Costs for additional mobile data bundles (e.g. for Zoom lectures).

Expected co-funding: Participants or participants’ home institutions are expected to cover local transportation in their home countries and per diems (if applicable) for the stay in Germany.

Further details on terms and conditions will be given to the admitted applicants together with the invitation letter.

Duration of Award:

• Digital phase: March 15th-18th, 2021
• Attendance phase: September 12th-26th, 2021

How to Apply for Uni Leipzig Summer School Scholarships

To apply for the training, the below steps need to be followed:

1. Submission of application via the online application form.

Please note: The online application will be available for you from 9th November 2020.

2. Submission of documents via email (pdf files) to the programme coordinator septschool(at)uni-leipzig.de. The subject of the email should be “Application Summer School 2021 – Name Surname”. Please name the files as indicated in brackets in this list. Kindly use name and surname as indicated in your passport. The project idea canvas and a sample of the Letter of Endorsement can be downloaded from the webpage listed under step 1.

– Project Idea Canvas – using the form provided on the above webpage. (Please name this file as Canvas_Name_Surname)

– Letter of endorsement from PhD supervisor (for PhD candidates) or leader of degree programme (for master’s studies candidates) with date, seal and signature – using the form provided on the above webpage. (Please name this file as Endorsement_Name_Surname)

– Letter of motivation (max. 1 page) outlining which role you think the training will play for your professional career. (Please name this file as Motivation_Name_Surname)

– Proof of excellent English proficiency (e.g. TOEFL, Cambridge Certificate) is considered an asset. Should a proof of English proficiency not be provided together with application, shortlisted candidates will need to participate in a telephone interview. (Please name this file as English_Name_Surname)

– Copy of passport (Please name this file as Passport_Name_Surname)

– CV (Please name this file as CV_Name_Surname)

The selection will be based on the implementability of the project and the expected value addition through SEPT and the summer school. The potential to link the project owner with relevant experts will also be considered as well as the formal quality of the application. The selection committee, comprised of high-profile higher education management experts and staff of DAAD, meets in early February 2021 and the selected candidates will be informed about the results of the selection meeting by the end of February 2021. The reason for such a delayed response to your applications is that Leipzig University plans to offer the training to new DAAD In-Country/In-Region scholarship holders as well, which will only be available from January 2021. The final selection can only be made once the ‘old’ (you – until 7th December 2020) – and the new scholarship holders have submitted their applications for the summer school.

For more information, visit the Uni Leipzig Summer School Scholarships.

Application Deadline: 7th December 2020, 23:59 Central European Time.