There are no tuition fees. Ph.D. students will receive funding for the expected length of the program – five years. For the course phase, a stipend of 1,450 Euros per month is provided; funding during the research phase is normally provided through employment at one of the DIW’s research departments. Funding for the research phase is conditional on having fulfilled the Performance Criteria.
We recommend enrolling at one of Berlin’s universities, as this allows access to public transportation at no additional cost and ensures student health insurance. Note that the universities charge a semester fee of approximately 280 – 315 Euros per semester.

Eligibility Criteria for DIW Berlin PhD Scholarship

• Eligible Nationalities: This scholarship is open to international students.
• Applicants should have a Master’s in Economics or Business Studies and have performed exceptionally well in their studies. Applicants from related fields (such as Industrial Engineering, Statistics, or quantitative social sciences) may also fulfill the admission requirements if they have a sufficient background in Economics or Business Studies.
• Applicants with a Bachelor’s degree are eligible to apply for the program if they also apply for a Master’s program offering a fast-track option.

Application Documents

As part of the online application procedure, you will be asked to upload the following documents:

• Motivation letter (max. 2 pages): this should state your motivation for applying to the program and should include a short outline of your major research interests;
• Two academic letters of recommendation. Note that reference providers are requested to send their recommendation letter by email to [email protected];
• Filled out application form;
• Detailed curriculum vitae (without photograph);
• Copies of academic transcripts and other certificates;
• GRE scores, if applicable (institution code 0096);
• IELTS or TOEFL scores, if applicable.

The application is to be completed in English.

Detailed Requirement for DIW Berlin PhD Scholarship

• Applicants are asked to provide GRE General Test scores with their application. Providing GRE General Test scores is highly recommended but not mandatory. In addition, please note that the minimum scores in the GRE General Test above which applicants are admitted to the program depend on the score level of all applicants in the respective year. Therefore, we do not specify a minimum score that must be achieved.
• Applicants whose native language is not English must demonstrate English language proficiency unless they hold a degree from a university in an English-speaking country or can document at least one year of studies at an English-speaking university. Sufficient evidence for a good command of English is a high score on the “Test of English as a Foreign Language” (TOEFL) or the “International English Language Testing System” (IELTS). As a rule of thumb, successful applicants will score at or above 7.0 (IELTS) or 95 (Internet-based TOEFL).
• Knowledge of German is not a necessary requirement for a successful application, but students are encouraged to learn and improve their skills. In addition, evidence of creativity and inclination toward research will be taken into consideration. Please note that it is not necessary to find a supervisor before applying to the DIW Graduate Center.
• Start of the next application period (intake 2023): November 14, 2022
• Please note that applications may only be sent during the application period via our application portal (the link to the portal is available only during the application period). Applications received by e-mail outside this application period will not be considered.

Website

To explore more about the DIW Berlin PhD Scholarship, please visit the official website.

Official Website