Writing Center Program ESSENTIALS:

DAAD Motivation Letters [Addendum]

In addition to the information provided on DAAD Motivation Letters, applicants should also take
note of the following:

Research Exposé • How will you evaluate your results?

• What is your schedule?
Graduate Program Applications may require a
• What preparatory work have you already
Research Exposé, which is essentially an
completed, and what preparatory work
introduction to your planned research project.
will you have completed by the time the
The following guidelines are taken directly
scholarship begins?
from the DAAD website:
4. Ethical issues/anticipated difficulties in
https://www.daad.de/deutschland/stipendiu
collecting data
m/hinweise/en/27351-guidelines/
5. Preliminary time schedule (in tabular
form)
A research exposé should contain the
• How much time do you need for the
following elements:
individual research phases (before, during
The objective
and, if applicable, after the scholarship
• What is the content of your research
period)?
project?
6. Research bibliography
• Which steps are planned?
• List of the books and essays upon which
• How do you plan your work schedule?
your work is based
The structure
The explanation (approx. 3–10 pages) should
provide information about the following: Recommendation Letters
1. The research field in general and the Letters of recommendation in scientific
current state of research literature: subjects should be written by postdoc
• What is the current level of research? university teachers who can provide
• Which theories/work of other academics information about the following:
do you refer to? • What are your academic
• What theoretical framework and what achievements?
academic model are you using? • What are your subject-specific and
• Discuss why you are drawing on this theory personal qualities?
or model. Are there competing • Is your project well planned, feasible
theories/models and why are you not and relevant?
using them for your work? • What significance does the scholarship
• What is your research question? have for your academic and
2. Key research questions (hypotheses), professional career?
research objectives and the academic Retrieved from:
relevance of the project: https://www.daad.de/bundles/daadadmin
• What do you intend to find out? lbh/uploads/live/3416.pdf
• What objectives are you pursuing with
your project? NOTE: Some of these sections can be
3. Research strategy/methods: written yourself and offered to a qualified
• How do you intend to answer the research professor for approval.
questions?
• How do you want to collect data
(document analyses, quantitative or
qualitative survey, experiment, etc.)?
• What academic literature will you use?

NU SSH Writing Center Program Resources: DAAD Motivation Letters Addendum Page 1 of 1