DAAD In-Region Scholarship Programme
The Mathematics Division has a number of full-cost DAAD In-Region Scholarships available for MSc (2 years of support) or PhD (3 years of support) study. Applications are now open for the January 2023 intake.
Applicants need to be nationals or permanent residents of a Sub-Saharan African country, excluding South Africa. Female applicants and candidates from less privileged regions or groups are especially encouraged to apply. If you are already enrolled for an MSc or a PhD at Stellenbosch, it is still possible to apply for a DAAD In-Region Scholarship for the remaining years of your degree.
Please see the the official DAAD call document as well as the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) below for further information and eligibility criteria.
Applicants must first apply directly to the mathematics division at Stellenbosch in a pre-selection shortlisting process. The following pdf documents need to be included in your shortlisting application:
- A letter supporting your application from your proposed (or current) supervisor at Stellenbosch. (Note: this is compulsory). In this letter the supervisor must confirm that they will take you on as a postgraduate student if your DAAD scholarship application is successful.
- Certified copies of all university degree certificates, including transcripts. Combined into a single pdf document.
- A short cv.
- A short cover letter (about 1 page), explaining a bit about yourself and your research interests
- Reference letter(s) by current or previous university teachers or supervisors (1 letter for MSc applicants, 2 letters for PhD applicants).
These documents (in pdf form) need to be zipped by the applicant into a single .zip file and this single .zip file must be emailed to Lisa Muller (lisam@sun.ac.za), the secretary of the Mathematics Division at Stellenbosch. Unfortunately, incomplete applications cannot be accepted. The deadline is 3 May 2022.
The shortlisted applicants will be notified by 14 May. They will then need to submit their final applications directly to DAAD. For further enquiries, please contact Ms Hellen Sahlmann at DAAD (sahlmann@daad.de) or Dr Bruce Bartlett at the Stellenbosch Mathematics Division at bbartlett@sun.ac.za.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why do I need to find a supervisor at Stellenbosch before I apply?
Our MSc and PhD degrees are research degrees, which means that you are paired with a supervisor right from the beginning, and there are no formal coursework requirements for these degrees.
It also means that, before we will accept you as a student at Stellenbosch, you need to have found a supervisor in the Mathematics Division who is willing to take you on as as student. The reality is that each staff member has their own research specialities, and if your research interests do not fall into one of these areas, then it is not going to work. We need to sort this out right at the beginning, to ensure that if your DAAD scholarship application is successful, then you will indeed be able to to come and study with us.
2. How do I find an appropriate supervisor for my MSc or PhD in Mathematics at Stellenbosch?
The best way is to go to our webpage:
Look at our Research Groups, and then look at the websites of individual staff members. If you identify someone who would be a good fit, then email them.
When you email a prospective supervisor, be sure to write an individual email addressed specifically to them. It should be clear from your email to your prospective supervisor that you have read up a bit about them and their research area. It is not advisable to write a general “Dear all” email that you send to everyone.
You may or may not get a response, and you may or may not get a fair response. But, at the end of the day, in order for this to work practically, we have to ensure that a supervisor is willing to take you on as a student. The good news is that most staff members are keen to take on new students, as long as they can be reasonably sure that it will work out.
3. Are these scholarships only for MSc and PhD study in the Mathematics Division?
Yes. You need to have at least one supervisor from the Mathematics Division.
4. Why must I apply to Stellenbosch in order to go through the pre-selection process?
This is because we need to ensure that, if you make our shortlist, and DAAD selects you as a candidate, that you will indeed be eligible to study at Stellenbosch.
Note that the online admission application at Stellenbosch for an MSc or a PhD degree is fairly straightforward and just asks you for some basic details, and a payment of a small admission fee. You will be given a student number as part of the process.
Later, if you actually come to Stellenbosch, you will formally register as a MSc or a PhD student. At that point, there will be another form to fill in.
5. What are the admission requirements for an MSc in Mathematics at Stellenbosch?
If you are applying to do a Masters in Mathematics at Stellenbosch, you will need to have successfully completed a four year (not three year) mathematics degree by the time you start.
5. What are the admission requirements for a PhD in Mathematics at Stellenbosch?
If you are applying to do a PhD, you will need to have successfully completed a suitable Masters (or equivalent) degree by the time you start.