Scholarships, grants and fellowships for Senegalese applicants 2027

Twenty-five open calls accept applicants from Senegal and close between 5 and 21 October 2026. Three name Senegal on their eligibility list, and four carry AfriWay's fully funded label. Every closing hour below is converted to Dakar time.

What Senegalese applicants can apply for now

The list holds 14 fellowships, six scholarships, four grants and one training programme from 23 different funders. Postdoctoral researchers have the widest choice, with ten calls. Master's applicants, PhD candidates and working professionals have seven each, and one call accepts undergraduates.

Eligibility decides who you compete against. Three calls name Senegal in their country list: Chevening Scholarships 2027/28: One-Year UK Master's (closed), Chevening OCIS Fellowship 2027 at Oxford for Professionals (closed) and Mandela Washington Fellowship 2027 for Young African Leaders (closed). Two more accept every African country, three are limited to sub-Saharan Africa and three to developing countries. The other 14 accept every nationality, so there you compete with the whole world.

Most options for master's and PhD applicants appear in the next two sections. For doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in African studies, Bayreuth Academy Fellowships in African Studies, Germany (closed) adds 15 fellowships and pays EUR 2,500 a month to fellows whose home institution pays them nothing.

Postdocs. The best-paid offer is Cornell Atkinson Postdoctoral Fellowship in Sustainability 2027, with USD 65,000 a year for three years, full Cornell employee benefits and USD 12,000 a year for research and travel. Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program 2027 in the United States (closed) pays postdoctoral and senior fellows USD 60,000 a year, or USD 65,000 in Earth and planetary sciences. IAIFI Postdoctoral Fellowship 2027-2030 at MIT (closed) pays a salary currently about 15% above the minimum postdoc salary at MIT. In the humanities and social sciences, look at Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship 2027 at CRASSH, Cambridge (closed), which starts on 1 September 2027, CEES Fellowship Program Spring 2027: Research Stay in Switzerland (closed), which covers living costs and travel for up to four months, and Mohamed Ali Foundation Fellowship 2027 at Durham University. AIAS Visiting Fellowships 2027: Unsalaried Research Visits in Denmark (closed) is the exception, because you keep drawing your salary from your home institution.

Professionals and project holders. Mandela Washington Fellowship 2027 for Young African Leaders (closed) takes professionals in business and public policy to the United States, with 550 places and an age limit of 35. Software Sustainability Institute Fellowship Programme 2027 (closed) offers computing professionals 15 months in the United Kingdom. OpenAI AI and Teen Development Research Grant Program 2026 (closed) awards individual grants of up to USD 1,000,000 to postdocs and professionals. Digital Science Catalyst Grant 2026 for AI tools that act on research (closed) offers up to GBP 25,000, a sum that can be split between recipients. The Image Centre Research Fellowships 2027 in Toronto for photography research (closed) takes applicants from undergraduate to postdoc level and pays up to CAD 10,000.

Fully funded options in deadline order

AfriWay labels a scholarship fully funded only when it pays both tuition and a living stipend. A grant gets the label when it covers living costs. Four of the 25 calls meet that test, and all four close by 16 October.

Chevening Scholarships 2027/28: One-Year UK Master's (closed) closes first, on 6 October 2026 at 11:00 UTC, which is also 11:00 in Dakar. It pays tuition and a living stipend, in any subject, and asks for at least two years of work experience.

Knight-Hennessy Scholars 2027: Fully Funded Graduate Study at Stanford (closed) closes the same day at 1:00 pm Pacific Time, or 20:00 in Dakar. For up to three years of any graduate degree, it pays tuition and fees, a stipend for living and academic costs, and one economy-class return trip a year.

ARC-GSSP Postgraduate Scholarships for African Students (closed) follows on 7 October 2026 at 23:59 GMT, the same as Dakar time. It covers full tuition for up to two years of postgraduate study in mathematics, engineering or environment and climate, plus a living stipend, travel support and other eligible expenses. Its host countries are South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal itself, so it can be held at home.

AGNES Intra-Africa Mobility Grants 2026 for PhD Researchers (closed) is the fourth. This grant sends PhD researchers from sub-Saharan Africa on a stay of one or two months outside their own country, with up to EUR 2,300 for one month or EUR 3,000 for two to cover travel and subsistence. It closes on 16 October 2026 at 23:59 GMT.

Other calls pay nearly every cost of taking part, even without the label. Chevening OCIS Fellowship 2027 at Oxford for Professionals (closed) adds living expenses, a return economy airfare and a research allowance to its five months of research. Mohamed Ali Foundation Fellowship 2027 at Durham University provides accommodation, all meals, a research travel grant and an honorarium at the end. FOR-GHP Fellowship 2027: outbreak readiness for sub-Saharan Africa charges no tuition fees and pays economy flights, visa fees and accommodation for its three workshops, but no per diems. Leading for Humanity 2027: Tutu Foundation Leadership Programme (closed) covers programme costs, accommodation and meals, while you or a sponsor pay the flights to South Africa.

Calls limited to Africa, sub-Saharan Africa or developing countries

No call on this list is reserved for West Africa or for French-speaking applicants. Eight are regional, and Senegal qualifies for all of them.

ARC-GSSP Postgraduate Scholarships for African Students (closed) and African Climate Collaborative PhD Fellowships 2027 at UCT (closed) accept every African country. The second offers 12 fellowships of 48 months in environment and climate or the social sciences. It closes on 15 October 2026 at 23:00 South African time, which is 21:00 in Dakar.

Three calls are limited to sub-Saharan Africa. Two come from AGNES. AGNES-BAYER Science Foundation Research Grant 2026 for PhD Students (closed) gives each successful applicant in environment or agriculture up to EUR 7,000, and AGNES Intra-Africa Mobility Grants 2026 for PhD Researchers (closed) funds the short stays described above. Both must be submitted online and in English. The third, FOR-GHP Fellowship 2027: outbreak readiness for sub-Saharan Africa, is an 18-month programme for health professionals with at least two years of experience, running from 1 December 2026 to 7 July 2028. Its host countries are Germany, Ghana and Uganda.

Three calls target developing countries, and all three are DAAD EPOS scholarships for master's courses in Germany: 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). Each asks for at least two years of work experience, and all three close on 15 October 2026. The Charité intake is in September 2027.

Of the ten countries eligible for Chevening OCIS Fellowship 2027 at Oxford for Professionals (closed), Senegal and Nigeria are the only West African ones.

Deadlines closest first, in Dakar time

Senegal stays on GMT (UTC+0) all year, so a deadline in GMT or UTC is already Dakar time. European hours fall one or two hours earlier in Dakar, American ones four to seven hours later.

• 5 October: Digital Science Catalyst Grant 2026 for AI tools that act on research (closed) at 17:00 BST (16:00 in Dakar), Bayreuth Academy Fellowships in African Studies, Germany (closed) at 23:59 CEST (21:59 in Dakar) and Software Sustainability Institute Fellowship Programme 2027 (closed) with no hour given.
• 6 October: AIAS Visiting Fellowships 2027: Unsalaried Research Visits in Denmark (closed) at noon Copenhagen time (10:00 in Dakar), Chevening Scholarships 2027/28: One-Year UK Master's (closed) at 11:00 UTC, Knight-Hennessy Scholars 2027: Fully Funded Graduate Study at Stanford (closed) at 1:00 pm Pacific Time (20:00 in Dakar) and Chevening OCIS Fellowship 2027 at Oxford for Professionals (closed) with no hour given.
• 6 October: OpenAI AI and Teen Development Research Grant Program 2026 (closed) at 23:59 Pacific Time, which is 06:59 on 7 October in Dakar.
• 7 October: ARC-GSSP Postgraduate Scholarships for African Students (closed) at 23:59 GMT, and IAIFI Postdoctoral Fellowship 2027-2030 at MIT (closed), reference letters included.
• 12 to 14 October: CEES Fellowship Program Spring 2027: Research Stay in Switzerland (closed) on 12 October, Mandela Washington Fellowship 2027 for Young African Leaders (closed) on 13 October and Leading for Humanity 2027: Tutu Foundation Leadership Programme (closed) on 14 October, with no hour given.
• 15 October: 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) with no hour given, African Climate Collaborative PhD Fellowships 2027 at UCT (closed) at 23:00 South African time (21:00 in Dakar), and Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program 2027 in the United States (closed) at 23:59 Eastern Time, which is 03:59 on 16 October in Dakar.
• 16 October: Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship 2027 at CRASSH, Cambridge (closed) at noon, then AGNES-BAYER Science Foundation Research Grant 2026 for PhD Students (closed) and AGNES Intra-Africa Mobility Grants 2026 for PhD Researchers (closed) at 23:59 GMT. The Cambridge page names no time zone. Noon in the United Kingdom would be 11:00 in Dakar.
• 18 October: The Image Centre Research Fellowships 2027 in Toronto for photography research (closed) at 23:59 EST, which falls in the early hours of 19 October in Dakar. Send the email on 18 October.
• 20 October: Cornell Atkinson Postdoctoral Fellowship in Sustainability 2027 at 17:00 Eastern Time (21:00 in Dakar), and Mohamed Ali Foundation Fellowship 2027 at Durham University, to be received that day.
• 21 October: FOR-GHP Fellowship 2027: outbreak readiness for sub-Saharan Africa at midnight CET. Midnight can be read as the start of the day, so finish on 20 October.

Where a page gives no hour, finish a day early. Several closing hours fall at night in Dakar, and a dropped connection at that hour leaves no time for a second attempt.

How to prepare from Senegal

Start with the rules you cannot change before a deadline. Chevening Scholarships 2027/28: One-Year UK Master's (closed), FOR-GHP Fellowship 2027: outbreak readiness for sub-Saharan Africa and the three German master's courses each ask for at least two years of experience. AIAS Visiting Fellowships 2027: Unsalaried Research Visits in Denmark (closed) asks for four years, Chevening OCIS Fellowship 2027 at Oxford for Professionals (closed) for five, and Mandela Washington Fellowship 2027 for Young African Leaders (closed) takes applicants up to the age of 35.

Then check the language. Where these listings name a language of application or study, it is English. French appears only once: Mohamed Ali Foundation Fellowship 2027 at Durham University expects good reading knowledge of Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, French and English to use its collection. If your last degree was taught in French, plan to prove your English. ISATEC (MSc Marine Biology), University of Bremen: DAAD EPOS 2027 (closed) asks for C1 proof unless English is your native language or your last studies were taught entirely in English. Sustainable Renewable Energy Technologies MSc, Oldenburg: EPOS 2027 (closed) accepts TOEFL iBT, IELTS, Cambridge, PTE Academic, TOEIC, telc or UNIcert at level B2. FOR-GHP Fellowship 2027: outbreak readiness for sub-Saharan Africa accepts IELTS 6.0, TOEFL iBT 79–80 or a degree completed in English, with written proof. CEES Fellowship Program Spring 2027: Research Stay in Switzerland (closed) wants every document in English, sent as a single PDF.

Letters take longest, so ask for them this week. IAIFI Postdoctoral Fellowship 2027-2030 at MIT (closed) applies its deadline to every item, reference letters included, and The Image Centre Research Fellowships 2027 in Toronto for photography research (closed) wants the letters inside the emailed application. At Bayreuth Academy Fellowships in African Studies, Germany (closed), the EUR 2,500 rate needs a confirmation from your home institution or your last funding organisation. AIAS Visiting Fellowships 2027: Unsalaried Research Visits in Denmark (closed) only works if your employer keeps paying you during the stay, so get that agreement in writing.

Budget for what a call leaves to you. The Image Centre Research Fellowships 2027 in Toronto for photography research (closed), for example, gives one stipend for travel and research, with no separate travel or housing money.

Frequently asked questions

Which calls in this guide name Senegal?

Chevening Scholarships 2027/28: One-Year UK Master's (closed), Chevening OCIS Fellowship 2027 at Oxford for Professionals (closed) and Mandela Washington Fellowship 2027 for Young African Leaders (closed) list Senegal by name. ARC-GSSP Postgraduate Scholarships for African Students (closed) names Senegal as one of its four host countries.

Is there a fully funded master's for Senegalese students?

Yes. Chevening Scholarships 2027/28: One-Year UK Master's (closed) pays tuition and a living stipend for the year, Knight-Hennessy Scholars 2027: Fully Funded Graduate Study at Stanford (closed) covers up to three years of graduate study, and ARC-GSSP Postgraduate Scholarships for African Students (closed) up to two years of postgraduate study in Africa.

Do I need IELTS?

FOR-GHP Fellowship 2027: outbreak readiness for sub-Saharan Africa is the only listing that states IELTS is not required, because it also accepts TOEFL, native English or a degree completed in English. Sustainable Renewable Energy Technologies MSc, Oldenburg: EPOS 2027 (closed) lists IELTS as one of seven accepted tests.

What can undergraduates apply for?

The Image Centre Research Fellowships 2027 in Toronto for photography research (closed) accepts undergraduates as well as graduate students and postdocs. Digital Science Catalyst Grant 2026 for AI tools that act on research (closed) and Leading for Humanity 2027: Tutu Foundation Leadership Programme (closed) set no level requirement.