DAAD WISE Application Walk-through

Most of you who are reading this article would definitely have an idea of what exactly Daad-wise scholarship is!! But still, on a brief note, the DAAD WISE scholarship is a fully funded scholarship given to Indian students in the field of science and engineering who wish to do a research internship in public universities or research institutes in Germany.

In this article, you will learn the A to Z of the DAAD WISE scholarship, including who can apply, what documents are needed, what the benefits are, and much more. Apparently, this information is given on the DAAD website as well.

Who can apply?

Let's look at the eligibility criteria; students who wish to apply must meet the following criteria:

1. They need to belong to one of the selected Indian higher education institutions (list of institutions). The list of selected institutions is influenced by, but not limited to, the following factors: AICTE approval, NAAC accreditation, MHRD evaluation, INI (Institute of National Importance), and Institutions of Eminence status with the availability of 4- and 5-year undergraduate and integrated Master’s degrees respectively.

2. They should be enrolled in programs that can be classified under the broad fields of engineering, mathematics, and natural sciences.

3. They should be in the 5th or 6th academic semester of a 4-year Bachelor’s program or in their 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th academic semester of a 5-year integrated or dual degree (Bachelor-Master) program.

4. They should not be former recipients of the WISE scholarship.

Duration of the funding

A 2-to-3-month research stay spanning between the months of May and August. Internships of less than 60 days and more than 90 days cannot be supported under the scheme of this program.

Value

• A monthly scholarship of 750 euros for undergraduate students (the monthly installment will be calculated daily, i.e. 25 euros per day)
• A lump sum travel subsidy of currently 1,050 euros
• Payments towards health, accident, and personal liability insurance are covered by DAAD

The process is pretty tiresome compared to other scholarships like MITACS, SRFP etc. So importantly, this article will help you understand the process on how to apply for DAADWISE.

1. CONTACT A GERMAN PROFESSOR.

This is one of the most difficult parts of the entire application process. You need to find a contact of a German professor who is ready to take you as a research intern in your field area. One of the most efficient and easy ways is to use MS EXCEL to keep a track of the professors you contact. It is best to start the process around July or the first week of August. First of all, try searching for the best public universities in Germany for your field of interest; this will give you a database for around the best 7 to 8 universities (Have Technical University as preference).

Secondly, go to the university website and collect the contact details of the professor with whom you want to work with (search under the specific domain that you are interested in). Also, collect the details of the research assistants and secretariat because mostly they will reply to your emails, unlike the professor who will be extremely busy during the times. Importantly, collect all the information and update it in the EXCEL sheet.

During the first week of August, start cold mailing to the professors. Have proper content with no grammatical errors.

Few important things to keep in mind while writing a mail

1. Always mail to 1 professor at a time, don’t add more than 1 person in the “to” section.

2. Attach your transcript and Resume in link format rather than sending the entire pdf.

3. Personalize the sentences in regards to the context for different professors.

4. Add your area of interest and previous experiences in the field of research.

5. Don’t bluff anything, be truthful to yourselves.

A sample of how to write a mail is given below

Directed to: Dr. XYZ

Respected Sir/Madam,

This is PQR, pursuing B.Tech in _____Engineering from The National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India ; currently in the 5th semester with a CGPA of __ till my 4th Semester, placing me in rank __ of my department.

Upcoming (May-July) 2022, I am extremely eager to undertake a project under you, preferably on an ongoing research project or to work as an assistant under a scholar or any other if need be. The relevant department courses that I have covered till now are _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The department courses I will be completing this semester are _________________________________________________________________________

In my 2nd year summer, I had the opportunity to do a Research Internship Under _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was the field of ___________________ that particularly captured my interest. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

I would consider myself extremely fortunate sir, if I could work under you through the DAAD-WISE Internship Programme. This Internship will expand my horizons, which I would use for the betterment of society.

I have attached my detailed Curriculum Vitae for your perusal. I hope you consider my request and reply in the affirmative.

Hoping to hear from you soon.

Regards,

PQR,

3rd Year B-Tech, ___Engineering,

National Institute of Technology-Tiruchirappalli,

Mobile: +91 9999999999

Alternate E-mail:

LinkedIn:

CV: (GOOGLE DRIVE LINK)

TRANSCRIPT: (GOOGLE DRIVE LINK)

Generally, it is preferred to mail 4 to 5 professors per week (but depends) from different universities, but by the mid of September or early October, you are bound to get a positive reply. Once the professor agrees to work with you, ask for 2 documents that will be required while applying. i.e., approval form and Invitation letter. More about this will be discussed later in this article.

2. DOCUMENTS NEEDED FOR APPLICATION.

Before you start the application, have the following documents.

1. Approval form — This is a form that has to be filled out by the German host. The template generally differs annually and can be found on the DAAD website. The template for DAADWISE 2022 is shared.

2. Invitation letter- An invitation letter has to be prepared by the German Host attested with a seal, stamp, and date by the university. (Start and the end date have to be mentioned properly)

3. Application form — The online application form is generated in the portal, and the students have to fill it out.

4. CV

5. Letter or Motivation

6. Research Proposal

7. University degree certificate — Transcript

8. NOC- No objection certificate has to be filled by the Dean Academic or the HOD. The template is shared on the DAAD website. The template for DAADWISE 2022 is shared below.

Once you have all these documents, you can start the application process and upload all the necessary documents to the portal.

Once you are done with the application procedure, an application summary will be generated, which is nothing but all the documents that you have submitted through the portal.

This application summary has to be sent to the Delhi office via post before the deadline.

3. LOR

The recommendation letter is one such crucial thing that is required. In the DAAD portal, there is a separate tab for LOR. You need to generate a recommendation form and have to send the copy to the professor through the mail, who will be writing the LOR for you, via mail.

Also, once they are done, you can either ask them to send it through the post to the Delhi office, or you can collect it from them and submit it along with the application summary.

ADDRESS:

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
Regional Office New Delhi
c/o DLTA Complex, R.K. Khanna Stadium, 1 Africa Avenue,
New Delhi 110029
India

Once you are done with this, the application procedure is complete. Now all you have to do is wait for the results, which will be mostly out by Jan or Feb.

For any doubts or assistance, contact me,

Abhishek Vijayan

abhishek27vijayan@gmail.com

Good Luck!!!