Germany DLGS PhD Scholarships 2027 Offering €1,515 Stipend Monthly – Are You Interested?

Germany’s Dresden Leibniz Graduate School has opened its 2027 fully funded doctoral scholarship call for researchers interested in one of the most urgent urban questions of the decade: how cities can transform mobility systems without sacrificing accessibility, equity or economic viability.

The DLGS Scholarship 2027 provides a three-year full-time PhD scholarship worth €1,515 per month, together with additional support for research and travel. Selected fellows are expected to begin the programme on March 1, 2027.

Applicant Answer Box

What Can You Research Under the 2027 Call?

The 2027 theme is “Levers for Sustainable Urban Mobility Transformations.”

DLGS is not looking only for conventional transport-engineering proposals. Applicants can approach the problem through four broad research directions:

• Public policy: governance, institutions, planning tools and mobility policy;
• Business models: sustainable mobility services involving private, public or civil-society actors;
• Integrative tools: data-driven models, interfaces, spatial analysis and decision-support methods;
• Integrated perspectives: research connecting government, business, civil society and other urban actors.

This opens the call to candidates from transport studies, urban planning, geography, data science, urban informatics, economics, business, sociology, political science and innovation or transition studies.

Who Is Actually Eligible?

The most restrictive rule is easy to miss. Your first Master’s degree must have been awarded within three years of the September 1, 2026 application deadline.

Applicants must also demonstrate:

• above-average academic performance equivalent to German “gut” or better;
• a research proposal clearly aligned with the 2027 topic and IOER research;
• suitable academic preparation for doctoral research;
• and complete submission through the online application system.

DLGS accepts applicants irrespective of nationality.

Do You Need to Secure a Professor First?

No—and applicants should pay attention to the distinction.

You are required to identify up to three potential supervisors at TU Dresden or IOER whose expertise could support your proposed research.

However, DLGS explicitly advises applicants not to contact those professors themselves before applying. The graduate school handles potential supervisor contact after reviewing the application.

This is very different from PhD programmes where applicants are expected to obtain supervisor approval before submission.

What Should Your Research Proposal Contain?

The research proposal is likely to be one of the most important parts of the application and it must fit the annual DLGS topic and currently has a maximum length of 13,000 characters including spaces.

Applicants are expected to explain:

• The research problem and motivation;
• current scientific knowledge and research gap;
• research questions and theoretical approach;
• Proposed methodology;
• Work plan;
• Connection with the DLGS call;
• alignment with IOER research;
• and appropriate potential supervisors.

Interdisciplinary research is expected. Applicants proposing transdisciplinary research involving non-academic stakeholders in Dresden or Saxony must demonstrate German at C1 level.

Is IELTS Required?

The DLGS doctoral programme is taught in English. Applicants whose first language is not English and whose Master’s programme was not conducted entirely in English normally need evidence of proficiency.

DLGS currently indicates benchmark scores such as:

• IELTS 7.0+
• TOEFL iBT approximately 95–100+

If a valid language certificate is unavailable when applying, DLGS may accept a letter from a Master’s supervisor or appropriate university official confirming the applicant’s English proficiency.

What Does the DLGS Scholarship Pay?

Successful candidates receive a full-time scholarship for three years with a fixed €1,515 monthly stipend. The funding package also includes support for conference travel and research-related travel, including provisions for fieldwork and an international round trip.

Applicants should note that there is no additional family allowance for a spouse or children.

Should You Apply for DLGS Programme?

This is a particularly strong opportunity if your Master’s is recent and your research sits at the intersection of mobility, cities, sustainability, policy, data, technology or social transformation.

But the proposal cannot merely mention “sustainable transport” and expect to fit.

The strongest application will show a specific urban mobility problem, a genuine research gap, a defensible methodology and a clear connection to IOER expertise.

With the September 1, 2026 deadline for German DLGS scholarship approaching, applicants who already have a viable research idea should focus less on emailing professors and more on developing a proposal that clearly answers one question:

What lever could realistically change the way urban mobility systems work—and how will your PhD demonstrate it?