Field Reports
Times of Palestine maps the world's scholarships for Palestinian students
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More than a hundred universities in at least twenty-five countries currently fund Palestinian students — bachelor's, master's and doctoral, in every field from medicine to music. No single Palestinian front page has kept that map in one place, updated, in both languages. This guide is that page.
The community database Academic Solidarity with Palestine alone lists around one hundred and fifty scholarship schemes. The British Council's HESPAL program has sent two hundred and fifty-six Palestinian scholars to British universities — one hundred ninety-six master's degrees and sixty PhDs — and places them across thirteen UK institutions at once.
Times of Palestine keeps this guide alive as a standing service: deadlines refreshed as they move, new programs added as they open, dead ones retired. Verify every deadline on the program's own page before planning around it, because windows shift year to year.
Open right now — checked 4 September 2026#
One window rules the autumn for most applicants.
The Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education is taking applications for 2026/27 bachelor's places in Tunisia, Morocco and Poland, plus study seats in Pakistan. The call, published on 25 July, lets each student compete for one country only; Tunisia's allocation includes places reserved for Jerusalem residents in media, nursing, medical imaging and medicine.
Applications go through the ministry's portal, with a paper file delivered to Ramallah, Nablus or Hebron; the ministry has not published a single closing date on the notice, so verify the deadline at source before you file.
Chevening closes on 6 October 2026 at 11:00 UTC. The 2027/28 round opened on 4 August, and the UK government's own timeline puts eligibility checks in October, shortlists in mid-February 2027 and interviews in March and April. It needs two years of work experience after the first degree, so the people it fits are already in jobs and already short of evenings.
DAAD's 2026 in-country postgraduate window closed on 31 August. Files already submitted move to review on the program's own calendar; the next round's dates belong on the DAAD page the moment they publish, and the EPOS development-studies track keeps its separate calendar in the meantime.
Türkiye Bursları opens each winter and has not published its 2027 dates; the YTB–Baykar Palestine programme of 200 places sits under the same roof and has not published a window either. Both are worth a bookmark rather than a wait.
The flagship channels#
These are the established government and institutional programs that fund Palestinians year after year. Most run one application window annually.
| Program | Where | Level | The essentials |
|---|---|---|---|
| HESPAL — British Council | UK | Master's + PhD | 256 scholars to date across UK universities; the 2026/27 round ran for Gaza MA applicants; annual cycle |
| Chevening | UK | Master's | The UK government's flagship. The 2027/28 round opened on 4 August 2026 and closes on 6 October 2026 at 11:00 UTC; a STEM partnership adds 5 awards a year for Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria |
| Ireland–Palestine Scholarship Programme | Ireland | Master's | 30 full scholarships a year from Irish Aid; next cycle opens toward winter |
| DAAD | Germany | Master's + PhD | In-country postgraduate scholarships for the West Bank. The 2026 window closed on 31 August 2026; the next round's dates publish on the DAAD page. The EPOS development-studies track runs on its own calendar |
| Türkiye Bursları | Türkiye | Bachelor's + Master's + PhD | Among the world's most comprehensive packages: placement, tuition, stipend, housing, language year, flights; opens each winter |
| Palestine Joint Scholarship Programme — YTB & Baykar | Türkiye | Bachelor's + Master's + PhD | New for 2026: 200 places (160 BA, 30 MA, 10 PhD) with tuition, housing, return flights and project costs covered; runs under Türkiye Bursları; application window not yet published |
| BAZNAS Palestine scholarships | Indonesia | Not yet specified | New for 2026: Rp22bn first phase from Indonesia's Rp200bn Palestine fund, run with the Ulema Council and the education ministry; places and host universities still to be announced |
| MEXT — Government of Japan | Japan | Master's + PhD (research) | The 2027 round is open now via Japan's office to Palestine, for residents of the West Bank and Gaza and Gazans in Egypt |
| Fulbright (via AMIDEAST) | US | Master's | The US flagship for West Bank and Gaza graduates; annual cycle |
| Al Fakhoora / Education Above All | Qatar & region | Bachelor's + Master's | Qatar's Gaza-focused pipeline rebuilding a generation's access to university |
| DAFI — UNHCR | Multiple countries | Bachelor's | The UN refugee scholarship program, open to registered Palestinian refugees |
| Taawon | Palestine & Lebanon | Bachelor's | The Welfare Association's long-running student funds |
| Islamic Development Bank | Multiple countries | Bachelor's + Master's + PhD | STEM-weighted scholarships open to Palestinians |
| UNRWA scholarships | Region | Bachelor's | Donor-funded university places for refugee students, including Türkiye's standing offer |
| Tomorrow's Leaders (MEPI) | Egypt & Lebanon | Bachelor's | Full undergraduate rides at partner universities, open to Palestinians |
| Phoenix Space — LEAP HIGHER | Egypt | Bachelor's | 27 Gaza students already placed in Egyptian universities on full scholarships |
| G-HOPE — Alkhidmat Foundation | Pakistan | Medicine & dentistry (degree completion) | Fully funded places for Gaza medical students whose studies the war interrupted; 288 currently enrolled in Lahore and Islamabad, 51 dentistry graduates in July 2026, target of 1,000; run with Global Relief Trust and Doctors of Rahman |
Universities with named Palestine scholarships#
Beyond the big channels, individual universities — many moved by their own students since 2023 — now fund Palestinians directly. A selection with active or annual schemes:
| University | Country | Level | The essentials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheffield | UK | Master's | Gaza scholarship: full tuition, university housing and a £5,000 award |
| Sussex | UK | Master's | Full overseas-fee waiver plus £17,460 living costs, aimed at students displaced from Gaza |
| Glasgow | UK | Bachelor's + Master's + PhD | Up to 3 taught + 2 research awards for 2026/27, plus the Dima Alhaj Scholarship honoring a killed alumna |
| Edinburgh | UK | Master's | STEM MSc awards for students from Palestine and the region |
| Leicester | UK | Multiple | Sanctuary Seekers' Unit runs dedicated Gaza support |
| Bath & Southampton | UK | Master's | Standing HESPAL partner universities |
Where to hunt beyond this page#
Three community-run databases go deeper than any single article can: Academic Solidarity with Palestine (the largest scheme-by-scheme list), the Friends of Palestinian Universities student hub, and Dutch Scholars for Palestine. The Bseisu Foundation maintains its own fund and pointers to others.
A practical word from this desk to every applicant: the most common reason qualified Palestinians lose these awards is the calendar, not the competition. The flagship cycles cluster between August and February, reference letters take weeks to secure under the best conditions, and Gaza's connectivity makes everything slower.
Start the file months early, apply to several programs in parallel, and treat every deadline on this page as a date to verify at the source. This guide will be here, current, in both languages, every time you check back.
