The ABCD Future Environmental Leaders Scholarships are offered by the Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre (ABCD-Centre), a consortium of RWTH Aachen University, AIT Bangkok, IIT Madras, UNU Resource Nexus and TU Dresden.
Two doctoral students from developing countries spend March to November 2027 in Germany at RWTH Aachen, TU Dresden or UNU Resource Nexus in Dresden, researching water security and climate adaptation.
Benefits & funding
- €1,200 a month for accommodation and living costs, for nine months.
- Up to €105 a month for insurance and a one-off travel stipend of up to €1,000.
- Up to €1,000 for research materials and equipment, through the host institution.
- Duties: an experience report three months before the end and a draft scientific paper before the stay ends.
Eligibility
- Doctoral students from developing countries, registered full-time at a university in a developing country (read here as the OECD DAC list of ODA recipients).
- PhD started within the last three years.
- A research topic in the centre’s three water and climate clusters, agreed with the supervisor and home university.
- Proficiency in English.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Eligible nationalities
Afghanistan · Angola · Bangladesh · Benin · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cambodia · Central African Republic · Chad · Comoros · DR Congo · Djibouti
+ 129 more
Eritrea · Ethiopia · Gambia · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Haiti · Kiribati · Laos · Lesotho · Liberia · Madagascar · Malawi · Mali · Mauritania · Mozambique · Myanmar · Nepal · Niger · Rwanda · Senegal · Sierra Leone · Solomon Islands · Somalia · South Sudan · Sudan · Tanzania · Timor-Leste · Togo · Tuvalu · Uganda · Yemen · Zambia · North Korea · Syria · Algeria · Bhutan · Bolivia · Cabo Verde · Cameroon · Republic of the Congo · Côte d'Ivoire · Egypt · Eswatini · Ghana · Honduras · India · Iran · Jordan · Kenya · Kyrgyzstan · Lebanon · Micronesia · Mongolia · Morocco · Nicaragua · Nigeria · Pakistan · Papua New Guinea · Philippines · Samoa · São Tomé and Príncipe · Sri Lanka · Tajikistan · Tokelau · Tunisia · Ukraine · Uzbekistan · Vanuatu · Vietnam · Zimbabwe · Albania · Argentina · Armenia · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belize · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Botswana · Brazil · China · Colombia · Costa Rica · Cuba · Dominica · Dominican Republic · Ecuador · El Salvador · Equatorial Guinea · Fiji · Gabon · Georgia · Grenada · Guatemala · Guyana · Indonesia · Iraq · Jamaica · Kazakhstan · Kosovo · Libya · Malaysia · Maldives · Marshall Islands · Mauritius · Mexico · Moldova · Montenegro · Montserrat · Namibia · Nauru · Niue · North Macedonia · Palau · Panama · Paraguay · Peru · Saint Helena · Saint Lucia · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · Serbia · South Africa · Suriname · Thailand · Tonga · Türkiye · Turkmenistan · Venezuela · Wallis and Futuna · Palestine
Education required
PhD Enrolled
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Application process
- 1Choose a preferred host: RWTH Aachen, TU Dresden or UNU Resource Nexus; an invitation letter from a host scientist is preferred.
- 2Obtain a support letter from the home institution.
- 3Email all documents as one PDF to abcd-centre@rwth-aachen.de by 31 October 2026.
- 4The ABCD-Centre Steering Committee selects; recipients sign a contract with the host institution.
Program timeline
Application deadline
Oct 31, 2026
Research stay starts
Mar 1, 2027
Research stay ends
Nov 30, 2027