You can submit your language certificate within five working days of the application deadline if you have submitted all other application documents by the application deadline. A later submission of the language certificate must be agreed with the PROMOS team before the application deadline. Please let us know via email why the language certificate needs to be submitted later.

Please note that your application must be submitted before the application deadline.

Information on language tests in English, French, Spanish and other languages and how to register can be found on the website of the language centre.

If you are planning a research trip in a laboratory, we advise that you consider applying for funding through Erasmus+ Internship. A research trip in a laboratory might fulfill the application requirements for an Erasmus+ Intership. The funding rates for each country through Erasmus+ Internship are usually higher than that of PROMOS. It is possible to apply for both, Erasmus+ funding and for PROMOS funding.  

Further information regarding the funding requirments and contact details for the Erasmus+ Internship team are available on the website of Erasmus+ Internship.

Regardless of whether your studies abroad will exceed the maximum scholarship duration for the applicable category, please enter the time period in your application form when you will actually be studying abroad. Should your application for a scholarship be successful, funding is only possible up to the maximum funding period.

The difference between the two programmes is important because participants in the central direct exchange programme have to submit different application documents for the PROMOS application than applicants in the other categories.

The central direct exchange programme

The direct exchange programme is administered by the central international student mobility team (this is the same institution where the PROMOS team is based). Applications for the direct exchange programmes are submitted to the direct exchange team. The application procedure and the nominations at the partner universities are carried out by the drect exchange team.

• Students participating in the centralised direct exchange apply in the PROMOS category direct exchange.

Departmental exchange (Fachbereichsaustausch)

Departmental exchanges are exchange programmes between departments and international partner universities. The exchange places are advertised by the department or institute. The application procedure and nominations to the partner university are carried out by the department or institute. Some departments refer to their departmental exchange as a 'direct exchange', as the places are exchanged 'directly' with the partner universities on a reciprocal basis. This is not the same as the central direct exchange programme.

• Students taking part in a departmental exchange apply for PROMOS funding in the studies abroad category.

If you are unsure whether in your case a central direct exchange or a departmental exchange is correct, please contact the PROMOS team and send them the letter of acceptance you received for the exchange programme.

It is not possible to give general advice on the likelihood of an applicant being granted a scholarship.

The selection criteria give you an indication of the chances of your application.

All applicants aside from those applying in the category direct exchange (Direktaustausch) must submit a language certificate in the language that their will either learn, or be working in, while abroad. In the case of language courses, this is the language to be learnt and, if applicable, the language in which the course is taught (if it differs from the language to be learnt).

The following documents are recognised as a langage certificate, as long as the date of the test is within two years of the PROMOS application:

• TOEFL and IELTS in English and equivalent standardised tests for academic use for other languages.

• The DAAD language certificate. This must be completed be either the language centre at Freie Universität Berlin or another state-recognised university. 
• Native speakers must submit their passport from a country in which the language in question is an official language and proof of their school leaving certificate or university degree in a country in which this language is an official language. The school leaving certificate or university degree must have been completed in the relevant language. 
• Departmental exchange (Fachbereichsaustausch): Anyone taking part in a departmental exchange can apply in the studies abroad category (Studienaufenthalt) and submit the form for participants in decentralised departmental exchanges (completed and signed by the coordinator of the decentralised FU exchange programme) as a language certificate.

The following documents are not sufficient for a PROMOS application:

• (German) Abitur certificate. For native speakers see above.
• Explanation that you are studying in the relevant language or had to take a language test for the degree programme application or had to prove certain language skills.
• Certificate from a language module. 
• OnSet Test.

If you are unsure if your language certificate is sufficient for a PROMOS application, please email promos@campus.fu-berlin.de