Top 50 Funded PhD Programs Worldwide — 2026
Fully funded doctoral programs, fellowships, and research grants for international students, each linked to its official program page.
How to use this table: Click any source link to verify funding amounts, eligibility, and deadlines on the official program website. Doctoral funding programs change annually — always confirm before applying. Last reviewed May 2026.
| # | Program | Country | Funding | Eligibility | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Networks | EU (Horizon Europe) | €~38k/year + mobility allowance | Any nationality | European Commission |
| 2 | DAAD Research Grants — Doctoral Programmes | Germany | €1,300/month + travel | Foreign PhD students | DAAD |
| 3 | Max Planck Society PhD | Germany | Full funding + stipend | International | Max Planck |
| 4 | Helmholtz International Research Schools | Germany | Full PhD funding | International | Helmholtz |
| 5 | Chevening — not PhD; Commonwealth Scholarships PhD | UK | Full tuition + stipend | Developing Commonwealth nationals | CSC UK |
| 6 | Gates Cambridge Scholarships | UK (Cambridge) | Full cost of PhD | Outside UK | Gates Cambridge |
| 7 | Rhodes Scholarships | UK (Oxford) | Full tuition + stipend | Eligible nationalities | Rhodes Trust |
| 8 | Clarendon Fund | UK (Oxford) | Full tuition + grant | International | University of Oxford |
| 9 | UKRI Studentships | UK | £~19k/year + fees | UK & International | UKRI |
| 10 | Wellcome Trust PhD Programmes | UK | Full funding 4 years | International | Wellcome |
| 11 | Fulbright Foreign Student Program | USA | Full PhD funding | Non-US citizens | Fulbright |
| 12 | Knight-Hennessy Scholars | USA (Stanford) | Full PhD funding | Any nationality | Stanford |
| 13 | MIT Presidential Fellowships | USA | First-year support + tuition | International admitted PhDs | MIT |
| 14 | Yale University Doctoral Fellowships | USA | Full tuition + stipend | International | Yale GSAS |
| 15 | Princeton PhD Funding | USA | Full tuition + 12-month stipend | International | Princeton |
| 16 | Harvard GSAS Funding | USA | 5+ years guaranteed | International | Harvard GSAS |
| 17 | UC Berkeley Fellowships | USA | Multi-year support | International | UC Berkeley |
| 18 | NSF Graduate Research Fellowship | USA | $37k/year + tuition | US citizens/PR | NSF |
| 19 | Trudeau Foundation Scholarships | Canada | CA$40k/year | Canadian & international | Trudeau Foundation |
| 20 | Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships | Canada | CA$50k/year × 3 | Canadian & international | Government of Canada |
| 21 | Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships | Canada | CA$70k/year | International postdoc | Government of Canada |
| 22 | Australian Government RTP | Australia | Full stipend + tuition | International | Australian Govt |
| 23 | University of Melbourne Graduate Research Scholarships | Australia | Tuition + stipend | International | Melbourne |
| 24 | ANU PhD Scholarships | Australia | Stipend + tuition | International | ANU |
| 25 | New Zealand Doctoral Scholarships | NZ | Full tuition + stipend | International | Education NZ |
| 26 | Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships | Switzerland | CHF 1,920/month | Foreign students | SERI |
| 27 | ETH Zurich Doctoral Fellowships | Switzerland | Stipend + research budget | International | ETH Zurich |
| 28 | Holland Scholarship | Netherlands | €5,000 (1st year) | Non-EEA | Nuffic |
| 29 | NL Eric Bleumink Fund | Netherlands (Groningen) | Full PhD funding | Developing countries | RUG |
| 30 | Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorates | EU | €~38k/year | Worldwide | Erasmus Mundus |
| 31 | DOC.MOBILITY (Swiss NSF) | Switzerland | 12-month grant | Swiss PhDs abroad | SNSF |
| 32 | FWO Belgium PhD | Belgium | €~28k/year | International | FWO |
| 33 | FNRS PhD Grants | Belgium | Multi-year stipend | International | FNRS |
| 34 | Eiffel Excellence Scholarship | France | €1,700/month | Foreign students | Campus France |
| 35 | CIFRE Industrial PhD | France | €~30k/year | In partnership | ANRT |
| 36 | Italian Government Scholarships | Italy | €900/month + tuition waiver | Foreign | MAECI |
| 37 | INPhINIT — La Caixa | Spain | €34,800/year | International | La Caixa |
| 38 | FCT Doctoral Grants | Portugal | €1,199.64/month | International | FCT Portugal |
| 39 | Research Council of Norway | Norway | Full PhD funded position | International | RCN |
| 40 | Swedish Institute Scholarships | Sweden | Full living + tuition | Developing countries | SI |
| 41 | DTU PhD | Denmark | €~55k/year salary | International | DTU |
| 42 | Academy of Finland Funding | Finland | 3–4 year postdoc/PhD | International | Research Council Finland |
| 43 | MEXT Scholarship Japan | Japan | ¥143,000/month + tuition | International | MEXT |
| 44 | Korean Government Scholarship | South Korea | Tuition + ₩1.2M/month | International | NIIED |
| 45 | Chinese Government Scholarship | China | Tuition + ¥3,500/month | International | CSC |
| 46 | Singapore International Graduate Award | Singapore | S$24k/year | International | A*STAR |
| 47 | Hong Kong PhD Fellowship | HK | HK$331,200/year | International | RGC |
| 48 | Aga Khan Foundation | International | Full PhD funding | Developing country nationals | AKDN |
| 49 | Schwarzman Scholars (Masters — relevant) | China (Tsinghua) | Full tuition + stipend | Worldwide | Schwarzman |
| 50 | OFID Scholarship | International | US$50k/year | Developing country students | OPEC Fund |
Sources: All figures verified against the linked official program websites as of May 2026. Funding programs change yearly — confirm before applying.
License: Dataset compiled by Studies Multiverse, released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution required when reusing data.