Yes, recent graduates are eligible to apply for internships with the option to pay minimum wage (12,41 € / h before tax).

The RISE Professional internship program is open to Master students and Ph.D. candidates at universities in the United States, Canada, Great Britain or Ireland. Undergraduate students can only apply if they are RISE Germany Alumni. Depending on the internship recent graduates are also eligible. Requirement for recent graduates is that the date of graduation is no more than 7 months ago at the time of application.

Students do not need to have citizenship or permanent residence status in one of these countries, but must be in the country for at least 12 months by the time of the application deadline in order to apply. Students have to prove their enrollment in a study program at a North American, British or Irish university at the time of the internship.

Provided that you study at a United States, Canadian, British or Irish university/college and have been in the country for at least 12 months, you are very welcome to apply. The application process is the same for US, Canadian, British and Irish citizens as for international students, so you do not need to submit any additional documents. However, you may need to obtain a visa for Germany. Please make sure that your current student status allows you to apply for a visa and that you are able to re-enter the US, Canada, UK or Ireland after the internship.

For visa-related information, visit the website of the German Federal Foreign Office.

Attention German Citizenship holders: You are only eligible to apply if you can prove that you have been living outside of Germany for six years or more.

No. Although you are eligible to apply for both programs, you must choose one.  A parallel application for RISE Germany and RISE Professional is not possible.

All applications will be sent together to the companies. There is no first come first served filling of the internship offers.

Please feel free to check the internship offers carefully because there might be some offers which include aspects of your studies.

German language ability is not required unless otherwise noted in the individual project descriptions. Basic knowledge of German will prove helpful in everyday life.
For those who plan to attend a language course in Germany, DAAD will cover 70 % of course-fees (max. 250,- Euros).

You have to submit your application online at the RISE Professional internship database before the Deadline.

Do not restrict your search to a single field of study. Many projects treat aspects of, for instance, biology as well as chemistry. Because the supervisor has to choose a field of study when they submit their offers, you may miss some of them if you restrict your search to one particular field.

You should carefully choose the projects you apply for and make sure that they are in line with your academic field of interest. Withdrawals cause considerable inconvenience for DAAD and the companies.

Yes. RISE offers also the possibility to do a virtual internship but  only for internships that mention explicitly this option. Please, read carefuly the internship description. Virtual internships got different scholarship rates.

You are required to write a cover letter for each of the offers you apply to. You should describe your motivation for applying for a research internship, and you should supplement your resume by explaining how your past experience has prepared you for the position. You may also add a few words about your plans for the future. As salutary address you can use: “To whom it may concern”; or  “Dear Sir/Madam” or better the Name of the Supervisor.

You should include  information about your education and work or volunteer experience, and some details about your interest or previous experience in the field. You might also mention involvement in political, cultural and social commitment. In addition, in order to ensure equal opportunities, you might also mention special life circumstances.

To learn more about how to write a CV, please ask your student advisor. Further information you can find also at http://jobsearch.about.com/cs/curriculumvitae/a/curriculumvitae.htm.

Your letter of reference has to be submitted by your professor online. After you have logged in to the database and have saved your application for the first time you will find a field named “Letter of Reference – Please create a link for every professor.” Please insert you professor’s name and email address here. An email will be send to your professor.  In the email your professor will be guided to an online portal where he/she has to register first. After the registration your professor will receive a confirmation email that the registration has been successful. Now, he/she can submit the letter of recommendation for you.

Ask a senior academic from your university who can judge how well you would perform in an international research internship setting. For this purpose, someone who has taught a small class that you attended or supervised you in the laboratory is the best choice. Please ask your referee (has to hold a PhD degree at least) to upload the letter of recommendation in the online database and not to write it in the database’s “Remarks” text field. The letter of reference has to be submitted with the official letter head of the respective university and the referee’s original signature. We, therefore, propose to scan and convert the letter of reference into a pdf document before submitting it online. Please find below a guideline for your professor of what the letter of reference should contain:
– Since when and in what capacity have you known the applicant?
– The applicant is among the best students (in %): 5 %; 10 %;  20%; 30%; or no assessment possible
– How does the applicant stand out in academic and personal terms and how would you assess his/her potential?
– Of what significance is the aspired scholarship to the applicant’s academic and professional career?
– Additional information that could be of importance to the scholarship award decision?
– Degree of approval: Emphatic approval; Approval; Conditional Approval

Since the transcript often only lists abbreviations of the courses and the German employers may not know these abbreviations the list of subjects is only meant to give an additional surview of your studies. This is also your chance to explain the relevant classes (content of the courses) if you like. Besides some of the transcripts do not show the courses that you are taking right now. Therefore this is a good chance to list and explain the courses that are relevant for the internship.

The university transcript (Transcript of Records) lists the courses you have passed, with grades and credits obtained. You can submit

a) a digitally transcript or

b) a copy of a certified hard copy of your transcript (It does not matter if the transcript bears an “issued to student” stamp)

There are two options how you can proceed:
– You can upload your current official transcript without the grades. In addition you have to upload the official transcript from your bachelor degree (Master degree if available). The Bachelor (Master) certificate will not be sufficient
– You can upload a placeholder and send us the official transcript after the deadline (first week of january at the latest). Please note that your application will only be approved and forwarded to the companies after we received the official transcript

The form “certificate of enrolment” is provided by the German Federal Employment Agency that needs certain information to be able to decide on the approval of an internship. The certificate has to show stamp of the university/college and signature of an authorized person. The expected date of graduation is required in order to prove your ongoing student status to the German Employment Agency- so that they are assured that you will be continuing your academic studies in fall / winter upon completion of your internship in Germany. Some universities do not complete third-party verification forms. In this case we also accept the university’s own official enrolment form as long as it shows a prospective/anticipated/expected graduation date. This document is available to download on the RISE Professional database.

Once we receive your complete application, we will send you a confirmation via email. By the end of January, all companies submit a list of preference. They have the option to exclude students who they feel are unsuited. We will then begin with the placement process and notify you of the outcome at the end of February or later. Note that we encourage the companies to contact applicants by phone or email in order to discuss the application.

We do our best to notify you by email if your application is incomplete. However, if we have not received everything online by November 30, 2024, your application cannot be considered. There is one exception: Deadline for submitting the letter of recommendation is December 15, 2024.
It is the applicant’s responsibility to properly submit all requested application documents: working PDF documents, official transcript, official certificate of enrollment (shows expected date of graduation) and a reference letter including an official letterhead and the referee’s signature.

You begin your internship between May 15 and October 1 (the meeting of all RISE interns in Heidelberg takes place around the beginning of July) and you stay for a maximum period of six months (10 weeks minimum).
Unfortunately it is not possible to begin the internship before May 15. Due to the work permit waiver provided by DAAD for the entire group of RISE Professional participants, all internships must begin on or after May 15.
You can agree with the supervisor on the exact duration of the internship once you are accepted. The dates which the companies have indicated on the internship offer description are to be understood as timeframes, which are to be readjusted on an individual basis.

There are two options of payment:

1) Applies to enrolled students with an internship duration up to 3 months AND students of mandatory internships up to 6 months:
Proof of enrollment (and optional proof of a mandatory internship) must be submitted.
DAAD provides you with a monthly scholarship of 492€ for Bachelor and Master students and 800 € for Ph.D. students, with an insurance package including health-, accident- and private liability insurance plus international travel allowance. The hosting Company has to pay you additionally 500 € net per month.

2) Applies to enrolled students with internships longer than 3 months (up to 6 months) AND to recent graduates:
DAAD provides you with an insurance package including health, accident and liability plus international travel allowance. The company has to pay you the minimum wage (12,82 € / h before tax) for the entire duration (Minimum wage)

The scholarship is meant to cover living expenses such as housing and food.

(All interns are invited to a RISE meeting in Heidelberg around the beginning of July. All participants of the RISE Professional meeting will receive an allowance of 160,- Euros to buy a German Rail Pass.)

Please be advised that, for visa related questions, DAAD is not your representative. We will provide you with information as available on public government websites to help navigate through the visa application. DAAD will provide the required documents regarding your scholarship but cannot guarantee nor make any representation regarding positive visa application outcomes. We recommend for all non-EU citizens to apply early for a visa.
Please note that we cannot provide support for spouses and / or children potentially accompanying you during the time of the scholarship or regarding visa related questions.

DAAD arranges for you to receive a work permit waiver. This is a document which needs to be approved from the German employment agency and is necessary for all internships.

Please feel free to look for a language course that fits your schedule yourself. The lessons must be held by recognized language teachers and you must receive an invoice.
If it is not possible for you to attend a language course in person you can also register for an online German course.

Yes, you will need a German bank account to receive your monthly stipend and also the travel stipend from DAAD. We recommend to open an account as soon as you arrive in Germany.
DAAD can only transfer the scholarship amount to bank accounts with an IBAN number.

Depending on where you’re planning on moving to, it’s not always easy to find a place to live. Especially, in big cities like Munich or Berlin the rental market becomes more and more competitive. Beware of fake advertisers: If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is! Rental scammers are looking for your money and data. Please check these offers carefully.