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Indian Express
a day ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Want to study in Germany? Cost of living, scholarships available for Indian students
– Ian McRae For international students planning to study in Germany, understanding the cost of living is just as crucial as selecting the right university or programme. Having a clear idea of your monthly expenses, like rent, groceries, transportation, and your phone bill, not only helps you manage your budget but also gives you peace of mind so you can focus on your studies. While Germany is known for its world-class education and low or even no tuition fees, the cost of living can vary significantly depending on the city you choose and your lifestyle. On average, international students should budget around €1,120 per month to cover essential living expenses. This includes rent and utilities, groceries, public transportation, health insurance, phone and internet, as well as study materials and other miscellaneous costs. Housing is often the biggest monthly expense. Students living in on-campus residences or halls can expect to pay between €250 to €500 per month, while those in shared flats off-campus typically pay €300 to €600, depending on the city and neighbourhood. For students opting for a private one-bedroom apartment, rent can range from €700 to €1,200 monthly. Transportation is relatively affordable, with public transit passes costing between €30 and €58 per month. Groceries and food usually add up to €150 to €250, especially if students shop at discount supermarkets or cook at home. Health insurance is mandatory and ranges between €140 to €150 per month, depending on the type of coverage. Other common monthly costs include around €25 for a mobile phone plan, €150 for utilities (if shared between two people), €32 for internet, and approximately €75 for study materials and miscellaneous needs. Although tuition may not be a major financial burden, these living costs can quickly accumulate. It's also important to remember that cities like Munich and Frankfurt tend to have a much higher cost of living compared to smaller or mid-sized cities such as Leipzig or Dresden. Careful budgeting and smart planning can go a long way in helping international students enjoy their academic journey in Germany without financial stress. Several scholarships available in 2025 can significantly reduce or even cover living costs for Indian students: – DAAD Scholarships: Fully funded for Master's and PhD students, offering around €934/month for Master's and €1,300/month for PhDs, covering tuition, travel, insurance, and accommodation. – Heinrich Böll Foundation: Grants between €850–€1,200/month, including health insurance and travel allowances. – Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS): Supports Master's and PhD students with stipends of about €934–€1,200/month, plus health and family benefits. – Friedrich Ebert Foundation: Offers up to €1,350/month, including living and health costs. – Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung: Provides around €1,350/month, with additional research or travel support. – Deutschlandstipendium: A merit-based scholarship offering €300/month for high-achieving students. Additionally, Bayer Foundation, Heidelberg University, RWTH Aachen, TUM, Hamburg University, and others offer university-based scholarships and fellowships ranging from €300/month up to €10,000/year, especially in STEM and research fields Where and how you live will have a major impact on your budget. Students typically choose one of the following housing options: – Student Residences (Wohnheim): €250–€400/month Managed by the Studentenwerk, these are often the most affordable and conveniently located. – Shared Flats (Wohngemeinschaft or WG): €300–€600/month A popular choice, WG living allows you to share costs and space with other students. – Private Rentals: €925–€1,300/month Renting a one-bedroom flat in major cities is the most expensive option. – Transportation: Affordable and Accessible Many universities offer a semester ticket, a public transit pass included in your tuition or student fees that allows for unlimited local travel. If your school doesn't include this, or you want to explore beyond your city, the Deutschland-Ticket offers nationwide local train and public transport access for a monthly fee. Some institutions even offer this ticket at a discounted student rate. All international students must have valid health insurance in Germany. The type depends on your age and program: – Public Health Insurance: €140–€150/month Available for students under 30 enrolled in degree programs. – Private Health Insurance: Varies Required for students over 30 or those in non-degree programs like language courses. Some students may also need travel insurance, which can often be bundled with their visa application for free. Students typically spend €150 to €250 per month on groceries. Discount supermarkets like Aldi, Lidl, Netto, and Penny offer quality food at lower prices. On-campus dining is budget-friendly too. Meals at Mensa (university cafeterias) usually cost between €2.50 and €5. However, keep in mind that some Mensas only operate during breakfast and lunch hours. To apply for a German student visa, most non-EU international students must show proof of funds. This is done through a Sperrkonto (blocked account): Required Deposit: €11,904 (as of 2025) – Monthly Disbursement: €992 This ensures students have enough money to support themselves and serves as a financial safety net during their studies. – Smart Budgeting Tips To make the most of your budget while studying in Germany, it's important to adopt a few smart financial habits. Sharing your living space, such as renting a room in a shared flat or student residence can significantly reduce your monthly rent. Cooking meals at home instead of dining out frequently not only saves money but also allows you to eat healthier. Take advantage of student discounts wherever possible, whether it's for public transportation, groceries, or entertainment. Keeping track of your expenses through budgeting apps or simple spreadsheets can help you stay on top of your spending and avoid surprises. And if your visa conditions allow, working part-time is a great way to supplement your income and cover some of your day-to-day costs. Together, these small adjustments can make a big difference in managing your living expenses effectively. By planning ahead and budgeting wisely, you'll not only meet visa requirements but also enjoy a more balanced and enriching study abroad experience. (The author is the head of emerging markets, ApplyBoard)
News18
24-07-2025
- Business
- News18
Planning To Study In Germany? Know Top 5 Scholarships For International Students
Last Updated: From DAAD scholarship to Bayer fellowship, discover the top 5 scholarships for international students planning to study at German universities. Germany offers some of the most generous scholarships through government and organisation-funded programmes, greatly increasing the accessibility of higher education for international students. These are the most popular scholarships: Expatrio Scholarship This scholarship is open to international students from any country who plan to start their studies in Germany in the Winter Semester 2025. The first prize is €15,000, the second prize is €12,000, and the third prize is €9,000. Awards for fourth to tenth place include rent payments for six months (up to €3,000), a new laptop, German language lessons, and semester contribution fees. DAAD Scholarships DAAD scholarships are primarily targeted at graduates, doctoral students, and postdocs for study and research visits at universities and non-university research institutions in Germany. These fully-funded scholarships include monthly stipends (€992 for graduates and €1,300 for doctoral/Ph.D. students), travel allowances, health insurance payments, and annual study/research allowances. Heinrich Böll Foundation Scholarships The Heinrich Böll Foundation awards scholarships to approximately 1500 undergraduates, graduates, and doctoral students of all subjects and nationalities annually. Recipients pursue their degrees at universities, universities of applied sciences, or universities of the arts. Non-EU nationals/refugees educated outside Germany receive €992 per month plus health insurance and other allowances. Doctoral students receive €1,400 per month plus additional allowances. Friedrich Ebert Foundation Scholarships FES supports students from public or state-approved universities and polytechnical colleges across all academic subjects and postgraduate programmes. Non-German students can also apply for this scholarship programme, provided they are studying in Germany at the time of application. Monthly stipends include €992 for students and €1,400 for doctoral students, for up to three years. Bayer Foundation Fellowships Open to medical students and those pursuing master's or PhD degrees in scientific disciplines such as Agricultural Science, Medical Sciences, Drug Discovery Sciences, and Climate and Health. Coverage includes up to €10,000 per applicant for international research projects, internships, and other activities up to six months. Additional funding is available for travel, visa, living, and exceptional project costs. view comments Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
The Guardian
03-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Germany is now deporting pro-Palestine EU citizens. This is a chilling new step
A crackdown on political dissent is well under way in Germany. Over the past two years, institutions and authorities have cancelled events, exhibitions and awards over statements about Palestine or Israel. There are many examples: the Frankfurt book fair indefinitely postponing an award ceremony for Adania Shibli; the Heinrich Böll Foundation withdrawing the Hannah Arendt prize from Masha Gessen; the University of Cologne rescinding a professorship for Nancy Fraser; the No Other Land directors Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham being defamed by German ministers. And, most recently, the philosopher Omri Boehm being disinvited from speaking at this month's anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald. In nearly all of these cases, accusations of antisemitism loom large – even though Jews are often among those being targeted. More often than not, it is liberals driving or tacitly accepting these cancellations, while conservatives and the far right lean back and cheer them on. While vigilance against rising antisemitism is no doubt warranted – especially in Germany – that concern is increasingly weaponised as a political tool to silence the left. Germany has recently taken a chilling new step, signalling its willingness to use political views as grounds to curb migration. Authorities are now moving to deport foreign nationals for participating in pro-Palestine actions. As I reported this week in the Intercept, four people in Berlin – three EU citizens and one US citizen – are set to be deported over their involvement in demonstrations against Israel's war on Gaza. None of the four have been convicted of a crime, and yet the authorities are seeking to simply throw them out of the country. The accusations against them include aggravated breach of the peace and obstruction of a police arrest. Reports from last year suggest that one of the actions they were alleged to have been involved in included breaking into a university building and threatening people with objects that could have been used as potential weapons. But the deportation orders go further. They cite a broader list of alleged behaviours: chanting slogans such as 'Free Gaza' and 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free', joining road blockades (a tactic frequently used by climate activists), and calling a police officer a 'fascist'. Read closely, the real charge appears to be something more basic: protest itself. All four are also accused – without evidence – of supporting Hamas and of chanting antisemitic or anti-Israel slogans. Three of the deportation orders explicitly cite Germany's national commitment to defend Israel, its so-called Staatsräson, or reason of state, as justification. Legal experts told me that invoking Staatsräson in deportation proceedings is legally dubious. A recent parliamentary review reached a similar conclusion, noting that Staatsräson – often cited to justify Germany's foreign policy toward Israel, including the plan of the incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, to invite Benjamin Netanyahu despite an active international criminal court arrest warrant – carries no legally enforceable weight. This kind of repression isn't new in Germany. The lawyer Alexander Gorski told me he has handled similar cases where migration law was used against people of Arab or Palestinian descent – often triggered by a social media post, comment or even just a 'like'. Today, politicians across Germany's political spectrum routinely invoke the country's history to silence criticism of Israeli policy – backing a state accused of enforcing apartheid in the West Bank and, as a growing consensus among human rights experts argues, committing genocide in Gaza. Using immigration law to police political protest sends a clear message to non-citizens in Germany: speak out and you may risk losing your status – or being deported. The extent to which this plays into the hands of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) seems lost on much of Germany's so-called political centre. For the AfD, Staatsräson has become a convenient shield: a way to stoke resentment against migrants allegedly 'importing' antisemitism and push back against a broader, more inclusive culture of remembrance, often reductively dismissed as 'postcolonialism'. All of it is cloaked in the language of unwavering support for Israel. The AfD recently secured about 20% of the vote in Germany's federal elections. Just weeks before the election, Elon Musk expressed his support for the party during a live discussion with its leader, Alice Weidel. At one point, Weidel absurdly called Adolf Hitler 'a communist' and claimed that 'leftish Palestinians' in Germany are antisemitic. As outrageous as these remarks were, they reflect a broader trend that the liberal centre unwillingly helped to normalise – a drift that exploits anti-Palestinian sentiment to fuel far-right revisionism. While Germany's established parties still formally reject cooperation with the AfD, their growing accommodation of AfD-style rhetoric – especially on migration – tells a different story. In the runup to the election, parties across the spectrum, from the Greens to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), spoke about migration as a security threat, and promised deportations and tighter controls. In this climate, Palestine has turned into somewhat of a litmus test for asylum policy. Last year, Merz declared that Germany would not accept refugees from Gaza, stating: 'We already have enough antisemitic young men in the country.' After the newly elected Die Linke MP Cansın Köktürk recently appeared in parliament wearing a scarf resembling a keffiyeh, members of the conservative CDU pushed to ban such symbols in parliament. No such objection was raised when the AfD MP Torben Braga wore a blue cornflower – a symbol used by Austrian Nazis in the 1930s – in the same chamber. Braga said it was not a cornflower and called the accusation 'absurd'. With a new conservative government in power, the crackdown on Palestinians and migrants – already well under way with the so-called traffic-light coalition – is set to escalate even further. Germany is at a crossroads: it can choose to uphold the principles it claims to stand for, or continue down a path of authoritarianism. For now, the direction seems unmistakably clear. Hanno Hauenstein is a Berlin-based journalist and author. He worked as a senior editor in Berliner Zeitung's culture department, specialising in contemporary art and politics
African Manager
05-03-2025
- Business
- African Manager
What strategy for waste reduction and valorization?
Tunisia ranks as the third most environmentally polluted country in Africa, after Egypt and Algeria, with a pollution rate estimated at 75.12%, according to the Heinrich Böll Foundation. A recent report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) indicates that 20% of all plastic waste produced in Tunisia ends up in the Mediterranean, costing the national economy 58 million dinars (20 million dollars). While the lack of awareness campaigns and a clear, coherent national strategy to combat plastic use contributes significantly to the ecological crisis, the government is not solely to blame in this environmental battle. Waste reduction under Madouri's scrutiny The National Strategy for Waste Reduction and Valorization was the focus of a small Cabinet meeting held on Monday at the Government Palace in Kasbah, chaired by Prime Minister Kamel Madouri. Several strategic decisions were made during this meeting, including the launch of major projects outlined in the 2026-2030 development plan, in partnership with the Ministry of Interior, regional and local authorities, and the private sector, according to a statement from the Prime Ministry. In this regard, it was decided to establish household waste treatment and valorization centers in Sfax, Djerba, Siliana, Mahdia, and Gafsa, as well as green centers for waste sorting and collection in municipalities. Creation of organic waste composting units In the same context, the cabinet meeting decreed the creation of organic waste composting units, biogas production units, and five projects for valorizing biogas from controlled landfills to inject biogas into the national distribution network. The cabinet's decisions also include the establishment of five units for the treatment and valorization of construction waste and the implementation of regulations requiring the use of a percentage of recycled materials in road and construction projects, the statement added. Furthermore, the small Cabinet meeting advocated for strengthening international partnerships to leverage mechanisms and programs related to the environment and climate change, including UN funds for clean production and green cities. It ordered the development of a guide for investors in waste management, in partnership with the General Authority for Public-Private Partnerships and the Ministry of Interior, and the updating of legislation to encourage the circular economy through tax incentives for companies engaged in recycling and the use of sustainable materials. Pillars and objectives of the National Waste Valorization Strategy At the legislative level, the cabinet called for expediting the adoption of a decree amending Government Decree No. 2020-32 of January 16, 2020, which specifies the types of plastic bags whose production, import, distribution, and possession are prohibited in the domestic market. It was decided to enhance equipment to enable hospitals and healthcare facilities to sterilize medical waste before treatment and valorization, and to support the Tunis International Center for Environmental Technology to develop scientific and technological knowledge in waste management and valorization. On this occasion, the Prime Minister emphasized the need to adopt an innovative and pragmatic approach to a national strategy for waste reduction and valorization, involving all relevant stakeholders and securing the necessary funding for its implementation. For his part, the Minister of Environment provided an overview of the environmental challenges facing Tunisia, as well as the management of household, industrial, and medical waste. He also outlined the pillars and objectives of the National Strategy for Waste Reduction and Valorization.
