Scholarships, grants and fellowships for Congolese (DRC) applicants 2027

Right now AfriWay has 25 open calls for which applicants from DR Congo are eligible, all expiring in October 2026 over a span of 19 days that opens on Monday the 5th. Just two mention DR Congo by name, and four meet AfriWay's standard for full funding. Every closing hour below is given for both Congolese time zones, Kinshasa's and Lubumbashi's.

The 25 calls open to DR Congo applicants

The mix is 14 fellowships and six scholarships, plus four grants and a leadership course classed as training, from 24 funders. Postdocs are best served, with 11 calls. Master's and PhD candidates get seven apiece, and people already in work get six.

Chevening Scholarships 2027/28: One-Year UK Master's (closed) and Mandela Washington Fellowship 2027 for Young African Leaders (closed) are the only two whose country lists include DR Congo. Both lists show Congo and DR Congo as separate lines, so tick the Democratic Republic of the Congo whenever a form asks. A further two welcome the whole continent. Sub-Saharan Africa is the limit for three others, and developing countries for another three. The remaining 15 apply no nationality filter at all.

Postdocs. At Cornell Atkinson Postdoctoral Fellowship in Sustainability 2027, the salary is USD 65,000 in each of three years, on top of which come Cornell's full employee benefits and a research and travel allowance worth USD 12,000 annually. For senior and postdoctoral researchers, Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program 2027 in the United States (closed) sets the stipend at USD 60,000 a year, and EUI Jean Monnet Fellowships 2027-2028 for Postdocs in Italy funds 20 fellows, each on EUR 2,850 a month as the basic grant.

Professionals. Mandela Washington Fellowship 2027 for Young African Leaders (closed) picks 550 people aged 35 or younger who work in public policy, business or management. Software Sustainability Institute Fellowship Programme 2027 (closed) is aimed at computing professionals and lasts 15 months, with Britain as host. One research grant under OpenAI AI and Teen Development Research Grant Program 2026 (closed) may reach USD 1 million, and Digital Science Catalyst Grant 2026 for AI tools that act on research (closed) has a pot worth at most GBP 25,000, which several recipients may share.

Undergraduates. The Image Centre Research Fellowships 2027 in Toronto for photography research (closed) is alone in naming them. It welcomes arts and humanities researchers from undergraduate to postdoc level, has six places and attaches a CAD 10,000 stipend.

Four calls that cover fees and living costs

AfriWay's label requires a scholarship or fellowship to cover tuition and add a living allowance, while for a grant, living costs suffice. Four calls pass.

First comes Chevening Scholarships 2027/28: One-Year UK Master's (closed): its 11:00 UTC deadline on 6 October 2026 means noon for a Kinshasa applicant and 13:00 in Lubumbashi. DR Congo appears among its eligible countries, every discipline is accepted, and it pays both the fees and a living allowance for a one-year British master's.

Nine hours later it is the turn of Knight-Hennessy Scholars 2027: Fully Funded Graduate Study at Stanford (closed), whose 13:00 Pacific Time cut-off is 21:00 in Kinshasa. Any graduate degree at Stanford qualifies, for three years at most, with tuition and related fees settled, a stipend for room, board, books and other costs, and a yearly economy-class round trip to campus.

The third, ARC-GSSP Postgraduate Scholarships for African Students (closed), has a 23:59 GMT cut-off on 7 October that already falls on the next day in the DRC. Open to any African country, it pays the entire fees of a postgraduate programme of no more than two years in mathematics, the environment and climate, or engineering, with a stipend for living costs and a travel contribution. Hosting is spread across Senegal, South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.

Last, AGNES Intra-Africa Mobility Grants 2026 for PhD Researchers (closed) is the only grant here with the label. Doctoral candidates from sub-Saharan Africa can spend one month outside their own country on EUR 2,300, or two months on EUR 3,000.

Close behind come FOR-GHP Fellowship 2027: outbreak readiness for sub-Saharan Africa, which charges nothing for tuition and pays the flights, visa costs and lodging tied to its three workshops, though never a daily allowance, and Mohamed Ali Foundation Fellowship 2027 at Durham University, which provides a room and full board, research travel money and an end-of-fellowship honorarium. Salaried postdocs such as Cornell Atkinson Postdoctoral Fellowship in Sustainability 2027 miss the label only because it also looks for tuition.

Regional and developing-country calls, and the French question

The 25 include nothing reserved for DR Congo, Central Africa or francophone candidates. Eight narrow the field to a region or to developing countries, and every one of those limits includes the DRC.

Africa-wide. Besides ARC-GSSP Postgraduate Scholarships for African Students (closed), the one call open to all African countries is African Climate Collaborative PhD Fellowships 2027 at UCT (closed). Its 12 doctoral places run for 48 months each and cover social science topics as well as environment and climate.

Sub-Saharan. Two of the three calls here come from the AGNES network. AGNES-BAYER Science Foundation Research Grant 2026 for PhD Students (closed) gives each selected PhD student a sum capped at EUR 7,000, for agricultural research or for work on environment and climate, while AGNES Intra-Africa Mobility Grants 2026 for PhD Researchers (closed) is the short-stay grant above, and English is the required language for both. The third, FOR-GHP Fellowship 2027: outbreak readiness for sub-Saharan Africa, lasts 18 months, is meant for health professionals, and its host countries are Uganda, Ghana and Germany.

Developing countries. In Germany, three master's programmes come with DAAD EPOS funding: ISATEC (MSc Marine Biology), University of Bremen: DAAD EPOS 2027 (closed), Sustainable Renewable Energy Technologies MSc, Oldenburg: EPOS 2027 (closed) and International Health MSc, Charité Berlin: DAAD EPOS Scholarship 2027 (closed). Admission to the Charité course is for September 2027, and Oldenburg sets its closing date a whole year ahead of the intake.

African studies. Bayreuth Academy Fellowships in African Studies, Germany (closed) is tied to Africa by topic rather than by who may apply, with 15 places at the University of Bayreuth for doctoral and postdoctoral scholars of any nationality.

French. Ten listings name a required language, and English is on all ten. Only Mohamed Ali Foundation Fellowship 2027 at Durham University also asks for French, read well alongside Ottoman Turkish, Arabic and English, to use its collection. EUI Jean Monnet Fellowships 2027-2028 for Postdocs in Italy wants good English plus any other language your research needs, possibly French.

Closing times for Kinshasa and Lubumbashi

Kinshasa and the west keep UTC+1, Lubumbashi and the east UTC+2, and neither shifts for summer. Until late October, British summer time equals Kinshasa time, and both central European summer time and South African time equal Lubumbashi time. Days below follow the DRC calendar.

• Monday 5 October, three closings: Digital Science Catalyst Grant 2026 for AI tools that act on research (closed) (Kinshasa 17:00, Lubumbashi 18:00), Bayreuth Academy Fellowships in African Studies, Germany (closed) (Kinshasa 22:59, Lubumbashi 23:59) and Software Sustainability Institute Fellowship Programme 2027 (closed), which sets no hour.
• Tuesday 6 October, three closings: AIAS Visiting Fellowships 2027: Unsalaried Research Visits in Denmark (closed) (Kinshasa 11:00, Lubumbashi noon), Chevening Scholarships 2027/28: One-Year UK Master's (closed) (Kinshasa noon, Lubumbashi 13:00) and Knight-Hennessy Scholars 2027: Fully Funded Graduate Study at Stanford (closed) (Kinshasa 21:00, Lubumbashi 22:00).
• Wednesday 7 October, two closings: OpenAI AI and Teen Development Research Grant Program 2026 (closed) (Kinshasa 07:59, Lubumbashi 08:59), the tail end of 6 October in US Pacific time, and IAIFI Postdoctoral Fellowship 2027-2030 at MIT (closed), whose complete file with reference letters is due that day, hour unstated.
• Thursday 8 October, just after midnight: ARC-GSSP Postgraduate Scholarships for African Students (closed) (Kinshasa 00:59, Lubumbashi 01:59), the last minute of 7 October on GMT.
• From Monday 12 October, one a day: CEES Fellowship Program Spring 2027: Research Stay in Switzerland (closed) closes that Monday, Mandela Washington Fellowship 2027 for Young African Leaders (closed) a day later and Leading for Humanity 2027: Tutu Foundation Leadership Programme (closed) on the Wednesday, none at a stated hour.
• Thursday 15 October: the three German master's calls at unstated hours, and African Climate Collaborative PhD Fellowships 2027 at UCT (closed) (Kinshasa 22:00, Lubumbashi 23:00).
• Friday 16 October, in the small hours: Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program 2027 in the United States (closed) (Kinshasa 04:59, Lubumbashi 05:59), from 23:59 Eastern on the 15th. At noon comes Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship 2027 at CRASSH, Cambridge (closed), zone unstated, so Kinshasa noon and Lubumbashi 13:00 on a UK reading.
• Saturday 17 October, just after midnight: AGNES-BAYER Science Foundation Research Grant 2026 for PhD Students (closed) and AGNES Intra-Africa Mobility Grants 2026 for PhD Researchers (closed) (Kinshasa 00:59, Lubumbashi 01:59), from a 23:59 GMT cut-off the day before.
• Monday 19 October, before dawn: The Image Centre Research Fellowships 2027 in Toronto for photography research (closed) (Kinshasa 04:59, Lubumbashi 05:59). Its own deadline reads 23:59 EST on the 18th, but Toronto keeps summer time until November, so email the application on Sunday.
• Tuesday 20 October: Mohamed Ali Foundation Fellowship 2027 at Durham University must receive applications that day, and Cornell Atkinson Postdoctoral Fellowship in Sustainability 2027 (Kinshasa 22:00, Lubumbashi 23:00) closes that evening.
• Wednesday 21 October: for FOR-GHP Fellowship 2027: outbreak readiness for sub-Saharan Africa, midnight CET, which is Kinshasa's own clock. Midnight there could equally mean the moment the 21st begins, so treat Tuesday as the real deadline.
• Friday 23 October, last of all: EUI Jean Monnet Fellowships 2027-2028 for Postdocs in Italy (Kinshasa 13:00, Lubumbashi 14:00).

Without a stated hour, submit a day early. Several deadlines expire during the Congolese night, when a power cut or a stalled upload could sink the whole application.

Getting a Congolese application ready

The German master's trio, Chevening Scholarships 2027/28: One-Year UK Master's (closed) and FOR-GHP Fellowship 2027: outbreak readiness for sub-Saharan Africa each set a two-year experience minimum, AIAS Visiting Fellowships 2027: Unsalaried Research Visits in Denmark (closed) sets four years, and nobody over 35 can join Mandela Washington Fellowship 2027 for Young African Leaders (closed).

Applicants whose studies were in French should tackle the English requirement first. ISATEC (MSc Marine Biology), University of Bremen: DAAD EPOS 2027 (closed) demands C1 from anyone whose mother tongue is not English or whose most recent studies were not fully taught in English. FOR-GHP Fellowship 2027: outbreak readiness for sub-Saharan Africa accepts IELTS at 6.0, a TOEFL iBT result between 79 and 80, native English or an English-taught higher-education degree. A test booked now may come too late, so check first which proofs each call takes.

Documents in French raise a second issue. CEES Fellowship Program Spring 2027: Research Stay in Switzerland (closed) asks for everything in English, combined in a single PDF file. If your transcripts and certificates exist only in French, the official page will tell you whether a translation is needed and who may certify it.

Referees need the longest lead time. The letters for IAIFI Postdoctoral Fellowship 2027-2030 at MIT (closed) count as part of the package due on 7 October, and for The Image Centre Research Fellowships 2027 in Toronto for photography research (closed) they travel with the application in the same email. Contact your referees this week, with the deadline converted to their clock.

Money is the last check. At Bayreuth Academy Fellowships in African Studies, Germany (closed), fellows who draw no salary at home are paid EUR 2,500 monthly, and that status must be confirmed by the home institution or by the last funding body. For AIAS Visiting Fellowships 2027: Unsalaried Research Visits in Denmark (closed), you need your employer to keep your salary running while you are away, so obtain that agreement in writing. Flights to South Africa for Leading for Humanity 2027: Tutu Foundation Leadership Programme (closed) are yours or a sponsor's to pay, and the single CAD 10,000 stipend at The Image Centre Research Fellowships 2027 in Toronto for photography research (closed) must cover both the trip and the research.

Questions Congolese applicants ask

Will any call accept an application written in French?

Not one of the ten listings that specify a language says so. For the other 15, read the official page before drafting in French.

Is IELTS compulsory?

Not for every call. Only FOR-GHP Fellowship 2027: outbreak readiness for sub-Saharan Africa states that you can do without IELTS, and Sustainable Renewable Energy Technologies MSc, Oldenburg: EPOS 2027 (closed) lists it among seven accepted tests at level B2.

Which time should I use in Lubumbashi?

Add an hour to any Kinshasa time. Chevening Scholarships 2027/28: One-Year UK Master's (closed) therefore closes at 13:00 in Lubumbashi on 6 October.