University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (Vienna/Austria) - Short academic stays abroad

What you get

You will receive an amount of monthly grant of about 622 EUR (which, depending on the destination, ranges from approximately 450 to 715 euros) as well as a one-off travel allowance for research stays abroad as part of your Master’s thesis, doctoral thesis or habilitation (the qualification required for a professorship). For example, Germany pays 450 EUR per month plus 188 EUR in travel expenses, the USA 534 EUR plus 575 EUR, Japan 715 EUR plus 691 EUR, the United Kingdom 470 EUR plus 201 EUR and Australia 450 EUR plus 1,286 EUR. You may also claim up to 300 EUR for vaccinations recommended by the WHO, but only if you request this in your application. The scholarship is paid per day of your stay. Stays for Master’s programmes are funded for up to 4 months, whilst stays for doctoral and post-doctoral research are funded for up to 7 months. The minimum duration of stay is 2 weeks and cannot be extended. BOKU (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna) awards the scholarship directly.

Who can apply

• Your university: BOKU in Vienna is your home university.
• Study level: You are writing a Master’s thesis, a doctoral thesis or a postdoctoral thesis. Bachelor’s students are not eligible to apply. For a Master’s thesis, you must have completed a Bachelor’s degree, have earned at least 30 ECTS credits in your Master’s programme, and have an officially approved topic. For a doctoral thesis, you must have completed a Master’s degree and have earned at least 10 ECTS credits in your doctoral programme.
• Field of study: Open to all subjects.
• What you do abroad: Practical research work relating to your final dissertation, carried out in laboratories, libraries, scientific collections, archives or as part of fieldwork. Participation in conferences is not funded.
• Where you go: Only abroad. You cannot receive funding for research stays in your home country if it is a member of the OECD. You must not have started your journey at the time of application.
• Nationality: All nationalities welcome.
• Age: Between 19 and 35 years of age. The upper limit does not apply to habilitation procedures, and exceptions may be granted in justified cases.
• Grades: A weighted average mark of 2.3 or higher in your current degree programme.
• Language: Proof of English language proficiency C1. You will need an IELTS, TOEFL or Cambridge certificate that is no more than 2 years old, or at least 15 ECTS credits from subject-specific English courses at BOKU.
• No double funding: You cannot receive an ERASMUS grant at the same time, and you cannot apply for both the KUWI grant and a research grant at the same time.

How to apply

Before applying, please attend the KUWI co-ordinator’s online consultation at least once. You should then submit your application via the ‘Mobility Online’ portal by one of the four annual deadlines: 8 January, 30 March, 22 May and 6 October 2026. There will be no interview. The selection committee will make its decision based on your written application and will inform you of the outcome in writing.

How realistic are your chances?

This scholarship is open exclusively to students and staff at BOKU who are working on a final thesis or a habilitation thesis, meaning that the pool of applicants is small. Places are awarded on a competitive basis, with PhD theses taking precedence over Master’s theses, and a clear, well-structured research plan carrying significant weight. If you meet the academic and language requirements and submit a convincing proposal with a confirmed host institution, your chances are good.