Hertie School Scholarship in Digital Governance

It is an independent and private postgraduate college located in Berlin, which has received state recognition as a higher education college by the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture (Senatsverwaltung für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kultur), and has the right to award master’s and doctoral degrees.
Hertie School students often have backgrounds in law, economics, political science, and international relations. The college prepares its students for leadership positions in government, business and civil society, and half of the students at the college are international students, so it offers all of its programs in English.

About the scholarship

Currently, public policies in the digital field have become very important, as a result of automation, innovation, technological developments, and easy access to digitally available information and data on a large scale. Therefore, this scholarship aims to address students who wish to take on the various challenges posed by digitalization.

Targeted group

Students, of all disciplines and nationalities, who have a demonstrated interest in analyzing and responding to the challenges posed by digitalization in all industries and sectors.

Specializations available under the scholarship

The scholarship’s value

The scholarship includes the full tuition fee of €34,500.

How to apply for the scholarship

First: Fill out the form through the online application portal for one of the programs available under the MPP, MIA or MDS scholarship.
Second: Answer one of the following questions in a brief essay:

The essay should be sent to grad-admissions@hertie-school.org and should be approximately two pages long.

What documents are required to apply for the scholarship programs?

Bachelor’s Degree: The Digital Governance Scholarship programs are available to all academic backgrounds, and the applicant must have completed a Bachelor’s degree at an accredited university of higher education with a minimum of six semesters or the equivalent of 180 credits (180 ECTS). Candidates with postgraduate studies are also encouraged to apply.
Curriculum Vitae: showing your academic studies and professional and volunteer experiences, without including a personal photo.
Motivation letter: explaining your interest in the program of study, how it relates to your career aspirations, and why you have chosen Hertie College to study. The letter should be 500-900 words.
Transcripts of the university programs you obtained with a description of the grading system.

Note: If you have not received your undergraduate degree at the time of application, please specify when to receive it when completing the online application form.

English Proficiency Certificate

The only language of instruction in the college is English, so applicants must attach a language test certificate, provided that the test should not be more than two years old. Due to the exceptional circumstances caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, the College accepts the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition and Duolingo Test, where the minimum acceptable scores are as follows:

Notes

Please note that English language test results can be submitted after submitting your online application on the university’s website. You must send the certificate to the admissions team by email, grad-admissions@hertie-school.org. The deadline for submitting English language test results is June 1, 2021.
The English language test may be not required if you have obtained a bachelor’s degree at an academic institution, where the official language of instruction is English. The test cannot be waived for applicants with only a master’s degree from an English-speaking graduate school.

What about recommendation letters?

Applicants who received their academic degrees in 2019 and beyond must submit two letters of academic reference.
Applicants who received their last degree in 2018 or 2017 may submit one professional letter of reference instead of one academic reference.
Applicants who obtained their academic degrees before 2017, may submit two professional reference letters if no academic references are available.
It is best to provide academic recommendation letters where possible.
Your letters of recommendation, signed by the references, should be sent via the official email of their institution to the College Admissions Department:
grad-admissions@hertie-school.org
The scholarship prefers to use the hertie form to send the letter of recommendation, but this is not a mandatory requirement and the letter can be sent in the appropriate format.
All files must be translated and certified by the issuer and uploaded as PDF.

What are the admission and evaluation criteria for scholarship programmes?

The college set the criteria for admission and evaluation in the Master of Public Policy and Master of International Affairs programs as follows:

Personal suitability (40%): CV, work experience, volunteer and civic engagements.
Academic Excellence (40%): The strength of academic background, academic performance – grades/grades, language qualification.
Motivation (20%): Compelling motivation to study your chosen program, motivation to study at Hertie College, overall coherence.
As for the master program in Data Science for Public Policy, the college adopted the same criteria, and added a new item to it:
Technical Qualifications: Understanding of statistics, mathematics and programming, demonstrated by a relevant degree, coursework or activities (e.g. programming competitions, hackathons, related projects and research).

Application deadline:
Applicants must send their electronic applications and answer the essay question before the first of May, 1/5/2021.
Resources:
Digital Governance Scholarship
FAQs for MPP | MIA | MDS