Top 15 PhD Scholarships for International Students

If you are an international student, it may seem difficult to find a PhD scholarship but you’d be surprised that there are a significant number of PhD Scholarships for international students out there. Most PhD funding from Universities comes in the form of teaching assignments or involves carrying out a research. Some foreign governments and institutions also fund PhD degrees too.

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Fulbright Foreign Student Progam
The Fulbright Foreign Student Program are prestigious scholarships for international students who wants to pursue a Master’s or PhD degree in the United States.  The Fulbright program provides funding for the duration of the study. The grant also funds tuition, textbooks, airfare, a living stipend, and health insurance.  See the official website for the exact scholarship inclusions.

Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships
The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) was created to attract and retain world-class doctoral students and to establish Canada as a global centre of excellence in research and higher learning.  The scholarships are towards a doctoral degree (or combined MA/PhD or MD/PhD).  The scholarships is worth $50,000 per year for three years.

See also University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowships which are merit-based awards that are open to full-time graduate students at the University of Manitoba regardless of nationality or discipline.

Endeavour Postgraduate Scholarship Awards
The Endeavour Postgraduate Awards provide full financial support for international students for 2 to 3.5 years to undertake a postgraduate qualification at a Masters or PhD level either by coursework or research in any field of study in Australia.   For PhD, the Total Award Value is up to $AUD 228,500 which includes travel allowance, establishment allowance, monthly stipend, tuition fees , and health insurance.

See also International Postgraduate Research Scholarships which are comprehensive scholarships for international students who wish to pursue PhD degrees at top Australian Universities.

Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships
The Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships provide graduates from all fields with the opportunity to pursue doctoral or postdoctoral research  at one of the public funded university or recognized institution in Switzerland.  The scholarship covers a monthly allowance, tuition fees, health insurance, lodging allowance, etc.

Eiffel Excellence Scholarship Programme
The French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs launched the Eiffel Excellence Scholarship Programme to attract elite overseas students on PhD courses offered by French Universities.  The Eiffel programme does not cover tuition fees, though the higher education centres concerned are invited to apply the best possible financial conditions to Eiffel scholarship-holders.  Eiffel scholarship-holders on PhD courses receive a monthly allowance of €1,400. In addition, the programme meets various expenses including return travel (single return trip for law and political science students on multiple stays), health insurance and cultural activities. Scholarship-holders might also be eligible for additional accommodation allowance.

Gates Cambridge Scholarships
Gates Cambridge Scholarships are full-cost awards for graduate study and research in any subject available at the University of Cambridge. The scholarships are open to all international students from all over the world. A Gates Cambridge Scholarship covers the full cost of studying at Cambridge namely: university fees, maintenance allowances, airfare, and some dependant’s allowance.

See also Cambridge International Scholarship Scheme which are created for international students who embark on a research programme leading to a PhD at Cambridge University.

Clarendon Scholarships at University of Oxford
The Clarendon Fund, the University of Oxford’s flagship scholarship scheme, is open to all nationalities pursuing full-time and part-time graduate degrees at the University.  All Clarendon Scholarships cover tuition and college fees in full and a generous grant for living expenses. Scholars on a full-time course receive a tax-free annual grant that is normally sufficient to cover the living expenses of a single student living in Oxford. The grant for living expenses in 2013-14 is GBP£13,726.

Warwick Chancellor’s International Scholarships
For 2014-15 entry, the Warwick Graduate School expects to award around 25 Chancellor’s International Scholarships to the most outstanding international PhD applicants.  The Chancellor’s International Scholarships are allocated annually via a combined postgraduate research scholarship competition and are open to students of any nationality and to any discipline offered at Warwick. Awards made for entry in Autumn 2014 will cover the the full payment of overseas tuition fees (worth up to £17,130 at 13/14 rates) and a maintenance stipend in line with RCUK rates (provisional £13,863* for full time award holders in 2014-15).

University of Sydney International Scholarships
The University of Sydney invites candidates who are eligible to undertake a Postgraduate Research Degree or Master’s by Research program at this University to apply for the University of Sydney International Research Scholarship (USydIS).   The USydIS will cover tuition fees and living allowance for up to three years with a possibility of one semester’s extension for PhD students.

Erasmus Mundus Scholarships
The European Union (EU) offers full-time scholarships for a wide range of Doctorate programmes to students coming from developing/emerging countries outside the EU.  The programme offers full scholarships and/or fellowships that cover the living costs, tuition fees, travelling and insurance costs of the students.

Commonwealth Scholarships for Developing Commonwealth Countries
The Commonwealth Scholarships are for students from developing Commonwealth countries who wants to pursue a PhD or a split-site PhD study in the UK.  Each scholarship provides return airfare, tuition fees, personal maintenance allowance, thesis grant, initial arrival allowance, fieldwork costs etc.

Netherlands PhD Fellowship Program
The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) are demand-driven fellowship programmes designed to promote capacity building within organizations in 61 developing countries by providing training and education to their mid-career staff members. The scholarships allow candidates to pursue PhD studies at Dutch Universities or academic institutions.  The PhD fellowships awards an amount as a contribution towards the costs of living, visa, travel and insurance costs, etc.

Quota Scholarship Scheme
The Quota Scheme awards scholarships for international students from certain developing countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Palestinian Authorities.The scheme normally includes courses at the PhD level.  Each student receives the same amount of money as a Norwegian student would do in an equivalent educational programme. About 30 per cent of the amount is given as a grant and 70 per cent as a loan. However, the loan portion is waived when the student returns to his/her home country after completing the course of study.

Erik Bleumink Scholarships at University of Groningen
The Erik Bleumink Fund Scholarships are usually awarded for a maximum of 4 years for a PhD. For PhD, part of the research should be conducted in the home country and part in Groningen. The grant covers the tuition fees plus the costs of international travel, subsistence, books, and health insurance. It covers expenses incurred in travelling to and from the Netherlands for PhD candidates for a maximum of 4 times.

IRO Doctoral Scholarship Programme at K.U. Leuven
As one of its contributions to development co-operation, K.U.Leuven offers IRO (Interfaculty Council for Development Co-operation) scholarships to deserving students from developing countries to do their PhD in the largest university in Flanders, Belgium.  Each academic year, IRO scholarships are granted for doctoral or pre-doctoral programmes.  The scholarships awarded to doctoral students amounts to about €1,383 per month for living and housing allowance plus tuition fee, health insurance, accident insurance, and return tickets.