15 Scholarship and Fellowship Deadlines in December 2026 for Africans

December 2026 holds 15 verified deadlines, and eleven of them fall on the same day. On 1 December, fully funded master's places in Europe, a funded doctorate in the United States and several postdoctoral fellowships all close together. The other four follow by 15 December.

December 2026 at a glance

The 15 listings are 7 fellowships, 6 scholarships and 2 competitions, each from a different funder. Five of them cover both tuition and a stipend, which is how this site defines fully funded.

Master's students have the most choice. Seven listings accept them, against four for doctoral candidates, three for postdoctoral researchers, three at any level and two for professionals. Just one names undergraduates.

Environment and climate is the most common field, with five listings. Health and medicine follows with four, and four more accept any field.

Deadlines on 1 December

Eleven deadlines share this date. Group them by what they fund, because you will not apply to all of them.

Master's scholarships

Wageningen University Africa Scholarship 2027/28 for Masters is the only master's scholarship here reserved for African students. It covers tuition, a living allowance, travel to and from the Netherlands, visa costs and health insurance for 24 months. You must submit a complete application for one of the university's MSc programmes, and meet its English requirements, before 1 December 2026.

TU Delft Justus & Louise van Effen Excellence Scholarships, open to all nationalities, cover full tuition fees plus a contribution to living expenses for a 24-month master's. The cut-off is 23:59 CET.

Erasmus Mundus Master's in Public Policy (Mundus MAPP) 2027-2029 closes on 1 December 2026 for anyone who wants financial aid. It pays EUR 1,400 a month, up to 33,600 euros over 24 months, with a full tuition-fee waiver, and it asks for IELTS Academic 7 or TOEFL iBT 95 taken within two years of the deadline.

Landscape Ecology and Nature Conservation MSc, Greifswald: EPOS 2027 is for applicants from developing countries, for a master's starting in October 2027 in Germany. Our listing does not detail the funding. It does state one hard rule: English at B2 level, with no exceptions.

Doctoral and postdoctoral funding

Notre Dame PhD in Sustainable Development 2027 with full funding covers tuition, a 12-month stipend and a health insurance subsidy over 60 months in the United States, plus up to USD 4,000 for conferences and professional development. It starts in fall 2027 and accepts TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo from non-native speakers of English.

Harvard Environmental Fellows Program 2027 with a USD 92,000 salary is the best-paid post this month. Five fellows receive a salary of USD 92,000 a year for two years, health insurance eligibility, up to USD 2,500 for relocation and USD 2,500 a year for travel and professional costs.

McDonald Fellowship for MS Researchers from Developing Countries pays EUR 55,000 a year for two years through the host institution and covers one return flight. Master's and doctoral candidates can apply, and so can professionals. The deadline includes reference letters and a supporting statement from your host, so secure the host first.

ECTRIMS Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Programme 2027 funds one or two years of research in a European laboratory or clinic. It closes at 23:59 CET.

Arts, photography and entrepreneurship

Under Vital Impacts Environmental Photography Fellowships 2027, one established photographer receives USD 20,000, six emerging photographers receive USD 5,000 each, and ten more get mentorships. The festival in Italy covers the exhibition and the selected photographer's travel and accommodation to attend. The official page puts the cut-off at 4:59 AM on 1 December 2026.

workspacebrussels Studio Residency Open Call for Artists offers 15 residencies between August and December 2027, with a flat EUR 750 per project for travel and lunch, and a guesthouse room for artists based abroad when one is free. You can apply in Dutch, French or English.

Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship 2027 is built for African students from undergraduate to doctoral level. It runs remotely for eight months in English, and up to 60 fellows chosen in the final phase receive a stipend of CAD 500.

Deadlines from 2 to 15 December

Four more deadlines follow. Nothing on this list closes after 15 December.

F. M. Kirby Prize for Scaling Impact: 2026 Call, USD 150,000 Award closes on 2 December 2026 at 11:59 PM New York time, or earlier if 250 applications arrive first. One winner receives USD 150,000 in unrestricted funding to advance its strategy for impact at scale. Applications only open on 23 October 2026.

Gates Cambridge Scholarship 2027/28: Fully Funded PhD and Master's closes on 8 December 2026 at 23:59 London time for some courses and on 6 January 2027 for others, so check the course directory. It covers the university composition fee, a maintenance allowance of GBP 23,152 for 12 months, one economy airfare at each end of the course, visa costs and the Immigration Health Surcharge. There are 70 awards, and doctoral scholars are funded for up to four years.

International Machine Learning Competition (IMLC) 2026 closes on 13 December 2026 at 23:59 UTC. It runs online, is open at any level, and has awards worth 1,500 USD in total, including a senior first prize of 250 USD. Every participant receives a certificate.

MOPGA 2027: French Government Fellowship for Early-Career Researchers closes on 15 December 2026. It pays EUR 2,500 a month for 12 months in France, includes insurance but not travel, and accepts applications in English or French.

Fully funded picks

Five listings cover both tuition and a stipend. Three are master's awards, one is a doctorate in the United States and one covers master's or doctoral study in the United Kingdom.

Wageningen University Africa Scholarship 2027/28 for Masters and Gates Cambridge Scholarship 2027/28: Fully Funded PhD and Master's are the most complete. Both add travel and visa costs to tuition and living money. Wageningen also covers health insurance, and Gates Cambridge pays the Immigration Health Surcharge.

Notre Dame PhD in Sustainable Development 2027 with full funding and the doctoral places at Gates Cambridge are the two fully funded routes to a PhD this month. The Notre Dame stipend runs for all 12 months of the year.

Erasmus Mundus Master's in Public Policy (Mundus MAPP) 2027-2029 and TU Delft Justus & Louise van Effen Excellence Scholarships differ on the extras. The Mundus MAPP allowance has to cover travel, visa, installation and living costs from the same EUR 1,400. The TU Delft award contributes to living expenses, and our listing says nothing about flights or insurance, so budget for both.

Harvard Environmental Fellows Program 2027 with a USD 92,000 salary is not counted as fully funded because it pays a salary rather than tuition. For a postdoctoral researcher, a USD 92,000 salary with health insurance eligibility and a relocation allowance leaves little to find.

How to plan ahead from now

From late September, 1 December is about nine weeks away. That sounds comfortable until you count the documents. Eleven applications due on one day will not all be good, so choose two or three and prepare them properly.

Order the work by lead time:

• Book the language test first. Mundus MAPP wants IELTS Academic 7 or TOEFL iBT 95, Greifswald wants B2 evidence, and Wageningen wants its English requirement met before the deadline.
• Ask referees now. The McDonald deadline covers reference letters and a statement from your host, and you cannot write either yourself.
• Apply for admission where the scholarship depends on it. Wageningen wants a complete MSc application by the same date.
• Write essays and proposals last, because they are the part you control.

Two traps are about the clock. The Kirby Prize can close before 2 December if 250 applications arrive, so submit soon after it opens. Vital Impacts closes at 4:59 AM, so do not plan to finish on 1 December itself.

Frequently asked questions

How many deadlines fall in December 2026?

Fifteen, all between 1 and 15 December 2026. There are 7 fellowships, 6 scholarships and 2 competitions, and eleven close on the first day.

Which ones are fully funded?

Wageningen University Africa Scholarship 2027/28 for Masters, Gates Cambridge Scholarship 2027/28: Fully Funded PhD and Master's, Notre Dame PhD in Sustainable Development 2027 with full funding, Erasmus Mundus Master's in Public Policy (Mundus MAPP) 2027-2029 and TU Delft Justus & Louise van Effen Excellence Scholarships cover both tuition and a stipend.

Are any only for African applicants?

Yes. Wageningen University Africa Scholarship 2027/28 for Masters and Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship 2027 accept applicants from African countries only. Landscape Ecology and Nature Conservation MSc, Greifswald: EPOS 2027 and McDonald Fellowship for MS Researchers from Developing Countries are for applicants from developing countries, and the other eleven are open to all nationalities.

Can I apply without a degree?

Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship 2027 accepts undergraduates. Vital Impacts Environmental Photography Fellowships 2027, workspacebrussels Studio Residency Open Call for Artists and International Machine Learning Competition (IMLC) 2026 are listed for any level, so none of the three asks for a degree in our listing.

What if December comes too soon?

Gates Cambridge Scholarship 2027/28: Fully Funded PhD and Master's has a second deadline of 6 January 2027 for some courses. For the rest, note the programmes that fit you and watch their official pages for the next call.

Confirm every deadline on the funder's official page before you rely on it. Funders do change dates, and only their version counts.