CAIRO - The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) officially presented its latest German-Egyptian Long term Scholarship Programme (GERLS) scholarships to Egyptian students earlier this week, at a ceremony held on its premises. The ceremony was attended by Moustafa Mosaad, Minister of Higher Education, Nadia Zakhari, Minister of Scientific Research, and Kai Boeckmann, Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy in Cairo. Mosaad, Zakhari, Boeckmann and Dr Michael Harms, Director of the DAAD Cairo office, presented scholarship certificates to the 44 students, chosen from the 199 candidates who had applied for the programme. Some of the scholarships are for full PhDs. Candidates applying for the GERLS programme have to submit a scientific proposal together with an acceptance letter from a German professor for their proposed projects. An independent bi-national selection committee evaluates the submitted applications during the pre- and final selection phase. The final acceptance in the programme is based on passing personal interviews.