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seconded. Also, Erik Thunø is a western medievalist, not a Byzantinist...

Erik Thunø is a medievalist, not a Byzantinist. The fact that you don't know the major players in your field suggests to me that you are not ready for a PhD program.

Привет Andrey! I would recommend signing and resubmitting your acceptance form...Germans love original signatures as much as they love documents in general.

this is nuts, I'm so sorry! It's gotta be this week....

like EarlyModernGermany said, you also receive a stipend for travel--maybe €500 or so from east coast? More if you're coming from the west coast. Whatever it is, it won't be enough to cover the whole ticket. I did this a few years ago in a different city and found my own accommodation, saving quite a bit of money, as the language center's lodging rates were in my case pretty extortionate. (They just give you a huge wad of cash when you arrive, it's pretty funny, very Scarface.) But otherwise, you're correct--the grant does not make any allowance for meals and other incidentals. I think most people who receive this grant are still on their regular graduate student stipend from the US, allowing them to cover their costs. You should be able to find a place to live in Berlin for two months that will help bring your budget under control!

There is no interview component for American applicants.

I'm so sorry, Horb.

As a result of this back-up, alternates apparently won't hear until the end of May at the earliest! It's torture. @eigthyThis is unrelated, but when might be the best time to visit Riga? I'm dying to go!!

I know, there are definitely strange things afoot. You'd think they could just do a simple mail merge...

I'm not sure there's any point in calling the regional offices, since Bonn seems to have taken over the task of drafting and sending out all the notifications this year, probably explaining the delays. It's so frustrating.

While it's wonderful to hear of everyone's acceptances, and I send my sincerest congratulations to you all, the portal screenshots are a bit much. Telling folks to look out for "funding" in their application status is a bit like telling hungry people to eat the prime rib on the plate in front of them. We get it; there is no ambiguity or secret language to decipher.

In any event, they don't make that distinction (priority/non-priority) for the language grant.

while I think "priority candidates" from partner universities have maybe a better shot than those in the general competition, that 70% figure sounds like total BS to me, particularly if you're sourcing it from a few anecdotes

for US applicants to the grad research grant it seems that rejections/alternate notifications go out first, unsure about the language grant. Actually, have any US Research applicants received an acceptance yet?

That stinks! I'm sorry you haven't heard yet. But I agree with Horb, at this point it's better not to e-mail. Calling might work, or if you're applying through your home university, perhaps a dean/fellowship administrator can contact someone?