Aga Khan Foundation Masters and PhD Scholarships Program: (Deadline: 31 March, 2024)

The application for the 2024-25 Aga Khan Foundation International Scholarship Program is now open. The Aga Khan Foundation offers a number of scholarship programs on a yearly basis for postgraduate studies. Students with outstanding educational backgrounds from developing countries who do not have any other sources of financial help to continue their studies can participate in this scholarship program. The scholarship’s aim is to develop effective scholars and leaders and to prepare them for employment, basically within AKDN.

The scholarship is granted on a 50 percent grant and 50 percent loan basis with a competitive application process on a yearly basis in June or July. For this scholarship grant, Aga Khan Foundation prioritizes applications for Master’s degree courses, though the application is willing to consider requests for Ph.D. courses only for outstanding applicants who are highly recommended by their professors and who require a Ph.D. to fulfill their career objectives.

Note: requests for short-term courses and applications by applicants who have already started their course of study will not be considered.

Brief Details:

Support by: Aga Khan Foundation

Levels: Master and Ph.D. degrees

Deadline: 31 March, 2024

Eligible Countries: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Syria, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Madagascar, and Mozambique. In France, Portugal, UK, USA, and Canada.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Only nationals of the following countries who are originally from these countries who are passionate about development-related studies and who have no other source of financing their further education can apply.
  • Eligible countries: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Syria, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Madagascar, and Mozambique. In France, Portugal, UK, USA, and Canada.
• The applications from the applicants of eligible countries who are living in one of the countries where there are Aga Khan Education Services (AKES), Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), or Aga Khan Education Board (AKEB) offices can make a request.
• Applicants under 30 years of age will be preferred.

Selection Criteria:

The main criteria for choosing the winners are:

• Excellent academic background
• Financial need
• Admission to a highly reputable university or course of study.
• Relevance of the selected field of study to AKDN’s area of focus.

In addition to the above four criteria, the participants are also assessed according to the thoughtful and coherent demonstration of their educational and career plans, their achievements and extra-curricular interests, their potential to reach their goals, and their likelihood to succeed in a foreign academic atmosphere.

Applicants are also expected to have some years of experience related to their field of interest.

Benefits:

• The foundation helps only with students’ tuition fees and living expenses.
• The scholarship grant will not cover the cost of travel
• Only two years of funding will be provided for Ph.D. programs’ applicants
• Assistance will be considered according to the needs of participants.
• Applicants are asked to do their best to find funding from other sources, too, so to reduce the amount requested from the foundation to a minimum.
• Applicants who obtained some of the funding from other sources will be prioritized.

Loan Conditions:

Half of the amount by scholarship is given as a loan that should be paid back with an annual 5 percent service charge. A guarantor is needed to co-sign the loan agreement. The period for payback is five years which begins six months after the study period funded by the foundation.

Application Procedure:

The process of applications for this scholarship program is decentralized. Students can get the application forms each year from Aga Khan offices or Aga Khan Education Services or Boards in the countries they reside within the timeframe for application. After completing the application, you must return it to the agency from which you took the form.

Application Deadline:

The submission deadline of entire applications is March 31, 2024. Though, in order to check and review the applications, internal deadlines might be earlier in some countries. Interested applicants are requested to contact the local offices for the internal deadline and the requirements as they vary from region to region. Applications submitted later than the deadline and incomplete ones will not be accepted.

Read the scholarship opportunity on the OFFICIAL LINK & APPLY.