NRF-DAAD In-Country Scholarship: Master’s and PhD Funding in South Africa

NRF-DAAD In-Country Scholarship provides postgraduate funding for eligible students pursuing Master’s and doctoral degrees at public universities in South Africa. The programme is jointly supported by South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

For students searching for Master’s scholarships in South Africa, PhD funding, NRF scholarships or DAAD scholarships, this programme is an important postgraduate funding opportunity to monitor.

Important: the NRF information supplied here is for the 2025 scholarship cycle, with an application deadline of 5 July 2024. It should therefore be treated as programme information rather than a currently open 2026/2027 call. Applicants should check the official NRF and DAAD pages for the latest application cycle before applying.

About the NRF-DAAD In-Country Scholarship

The National Research Foundation (NRF) and German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) collaborate to provide scholarships for postgraduate study within South Africa.

Unlike programmes that require scholarship recipients to complete their entire degree abroad, the NRF-DAAD In-Country Scholarship supports postgraduate studies undertaken at public South African universities.

The information published by the NRF states that scholarships are awarded at two major postgraduate levels:

Master’s degree
Doctoral/PhD degree

The programme therefore provides an avenue for eligible postgraduate students seeking financial support to continue advanced academic study and research in South Africa.

Who Can Apply for the NRF-DAAD Scholarship?

According to the NRF programme information provided, the scholarships are available to South African citizens, including permanent residents, pursuing postgraduate studies at public universities in South Africa.

Applicants should carefully review the eligibility rules for the specific funding cycle before submitting an application because requirements can change between annual calls.

Prospective candidates should particularly confirm their citizenship or residency eligibility, intended qualification, university status, academic requirements and any additional conditions contained in the official scholarship framework.

Eligible Study Levels

The NRF-DAAD In-Country Scholarship focuses on postgraduate education and research.

Master’s Funding

Eligible candidates pursuing a Master’s qualification at a South African public university may be considered under the programme, subject to the conditions of the applicable call.

This makes the scholarship particularly relevant to graduates looking to progress from undergraduate or Honours-level education into advanced postgraduate research.

PhD Funding

The programme also provides opportunities for students pursuing doctoral studies in South Africa.

Doctoral candidates should consult the current scholarship framework to determine the applicable academic, registration and research requirements.

Where Can Scholarship Recipients Study?

The programme is described as an In-Country Scholarship because recipients undertake their postgraduate studies in South Africa.

The NRF announcement specifies postgraduate studies at public South African universities.

Candidates should therefore confirm that their intended university and programme meet the requirements of the particular NRF-DAAD funding call before completing an application.

Scholarship Funding and Benefits

The supplied NRF announcement confirms that the programme awards Master’s and Doctoral scholarships, but the page does not provide a detailed breakdown of the scholarship value, allowances or individual funding components.

Applicants should therefore avoid relying on funding amounts quoted for previous years.

For the latest information on financial support, candidates should consult the official scholarship call and funding framework for the relevant academic year.

The DAAD maintains a dedicated information page for the programme:

NRF-DAAD In-Country Scholarship information

Why the NRF-DAAD Partnership Matters

The programme combines the work of two major research and academic funding organisations.

The National Research Foundation supports research, postgraduate development and research capacity in South Africa, while DAAD promotes international academic exchange and educational cooperation.

For postgraduate researchers, the partnership creates a funding route specifically focused on advanced university study in South Africa.

It may be particularly relevant to students searching for opportunities such as NRF Master’s funding, NRF PhD scholarships, DAAD postgraduate scholarships and research funding in South Africa.

Application Process

Applicants should begin by checking whether a new NRF-DAAD In-Country Scholarship call is currently accepting applications.

The official NRF website should be used to check current funding announcements:

NRF Funding Opportunities

Candidates can also consult the DAAD South Africa programme information linked above.

Once a new call is released, applicants should read the official framework carefully, confirm that they meet all eligibility requirements, prepare the required supporting documents and submit their application through the application procedure specified for that cycle.

Applicants should not use the 5 July 2024 deadline as the deadline for a new application cycle.

Application Deadline

The NRF page supplied for this article concerns NRF-DAAD In-Country Scholarships 2025.

For that call:

Application deadline: 5 July 2024

That deadline has passed.

A deadline for a 2027 NRF-DAAD In-Country Scholarship is not provided in the supplied source. Students interested in future funding should check the NRF and DAAD official websites for a new announcement rather than assuming that the previous deadline will apply again.

Key Scholarship Details

Category	Details
Scholarship	NRF-DAAD In-Country Scholarship
Funding Organisations	NRF and DAAD
Country of Study	South Africa
Study Levels	Master’s and Doctoral
Institution Type	Public South African universities
Programme Type	Postgraduate scholarship
Eligible Group stated in supplied NRF call	South African citizens, including permanent residents
Published Call Provided	2025 Scholarships
Deadline for supplied call	5 July 2024
Current/Future Deadline	Check the latest official call

Final Information for Applicants

The NRF-DAAD In-Country Scholarship is worth monitoring for students looking for Master’s and PhD funding in South Africa.

However, applicants should distinguish between information about the scholarship programme itself and an active funding call. The NRF page supplied relates to the 2025 scholarship cycle and does not establish a 2026 or 2027 application deadline.

Students planning postgraduate study should therefore use the official NRF and DAAD channels to verify when the next call opens, the scholarship value, eligibility criteria and application deadline before preparing their applications.

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