Kekule Scholarship 2027

The Kekulé Scholarship supports doctoral candidates in chemistry and related fields. The scholarship aims to foster highly gifted young researchers.
Every two years, doctoral scholarship recipients are invited to regional meetings organized by the fund in cooperation with local university professors. These meetings provide the scholarship holders with an opportunity to network and broaden their academic horizons.

Table of Content

• Summary
• Benefits
• Requirements
• Application Documents
• Application Deadline
• How To Apply

Summary

• Application DeadlineNovember 1, 2026
• Study LevelPhD
• SponsorFonds der Chemischen Industrie

Benefits

• The monthly instalments of the fellowship amount to EUR 1,850.
• To support the compatibility of family and career in science, an additional monthly lump sum of EUR 100 per child is granted. This lump sum is paid to supported parents upon presentation of the child's birth certificate.
• Reimbursement of expenses up to EUR 1,000 per year against presentation of receipts for scientific literature, computers including accessories and participation in scientific conferences that are directly related to the work on the PhD thesis.
• Relocation costs: If the beneficiary relocates to another university in a different city at the start of his/her work on the PhD thesis, a one-off relocation allowance of EUR 1,750 is paid.
• To support international mobility, a foreign allowance of EUR 500 per month can be applied for temporary research stays at foreign research institutions.
• The Fellowship runs for 3 years.

Requirements

• Eligibility requires that studies have been completed efficiently and that outstanding academic performance has been achieved.

• As a rule, German nationality or EU national working in Germany

• Master/Diploma within the standard period of study3 (incl. Master thesis or diploma thesis) in chemistry or chemistry-related subjects with a degree that allows admission to a PhD degree. Semesters studied abroad are included in this calculation. Specialised knowledge in chemistry acquired prior to the university degree (e.g. University of Applied Sciences) must be appropriately counted towards the duration of studies. If the standard period of study is exceeded, an application is possible in exceptional cases (e.g. exceeding due to a stay abroad, voluntary industrial internship, etc.). This must be agreed in advance with the office (contact: [email protected])

• Excellent academic achievement throughout.

• Willingness to write a dissertation in an outstanding research group with a chemical orientation at a university or a non-university research institution (not in an industrial enterprise, e.g. start-up company).

• Application max. 4 months after beginning of the PhD project. Otherwise, the term of the Fellowship is shortened accordingly. If the start of the dissertation was more than 6 months ago on the deadline of application, no application can be submitted.

Application Documents

The following documents (PDF) are required for the application:

• CV, list of publications (if applicable, incl. DOI)
• tatement explaining the choice of research group and topic (½ page)
• PhD thesis proposal, to be prepared by the PhD candidate: summary and objectives (1 page), introduction with references, current state of research and planned experiments (5-7 pages), timeline (spreadsheet, 1 page), bibliography
• Offical confirmation from the university indicating the applicant´s ranking within their cohort for both the Bachelor´s and Master´s degree (form available on the funding portal)
• Degree certificates with individual grades (bachelor and master or equivalent). For degrees obtained outside Germany, a Diploma Supplement is required.
• Electronic version of the Master/Diploma thesis
• Birth certificate(s) of the applicant´s child/children, if applicable
• Letter of recommendation from the PhD supervisor confirming that the applicant is among the top 10 percent of their cohort. If the supervisor changed between the Master thesis and the PhD thesis, an additional letter of recommendation from the supervisor of the Master thesis is required. Recommendation letters must be uploaded separately by the supervisors after the application has been submitted.

Please note that applications can only be considered if all required documents have been received in full.

Application Deadline

How To Apply

For more information, kindly visit the Kekulé Scholarship webpage.