📅 Last Updated: 24 October 2026 · Updated every month
Scholarship Deadlines Nov 2026–Mar 2027 — Pakistani Students
Most students don’t miss scholarships because they aren’t good enough. They miss them because they find out too late. The November-to-March season is the busiest of the year: Gates Cambridge, OIST, MEXT, DAAD, ADB-Japan, DIW Berlin, Copenhagen and dozens of other programmes all close in these five months. To make planning easier, we’ve put 51 opportunities that Pakistani students can apply for into one month-by-month calendar. Every entry links to our full guide covering eligibility, documents and step-by-step instructions. Bookmark this page. We update it every month and move closed deadlines off the list.
| 📅 Period Covered | 1 November 2026 – 31 March 2027 |
| 🎓 Opportunities Listed | 51 (master’s, PhD, postdoc, internships, fellowships, undergraduate) |
| 🌍 Countries | Japan, Germany, UK, USA, China, Canada, Australia, NZ, Italy, Denmark, Thailand, Taiwan, Turkey, Norway, Hungary, Qatar and more |
| 🇵🇰 Pakistani Students Eligible | Yes, for every entry, as far as each programme’s own rules allow (some have age, work or field limits, so check each guide) |
| 🔗 How to Use | Find your month, then open the guide, check eligibility and prepare your documents early |
| ⚠️ Important | Dates come from our published guides. Always confirm on the official website before applying |
🗓️ November 2026 (19 deadlines)
🗓️ December 2026 (17 deadlines)
| Deadline | Opportunity | Level / Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Dec | Knight-Hennessy Scholars | Graduate · USA |
| 1 Dec | NTHU Scholarship 2027 | All levels · Taiwan |
| 1 Dec | Vanderbilt Full-Tuition Scholarships | Undergraduate · USA |
| 2 Dec | Imperial Business School PhD | PhD · UK |
| 4 Dec | University of Alabama Scholarships | Undergraduate · USA |
| 8 Dec | Gates Cambridge (Round 1) | Master’s/PhD · UK |
| Dec–Jan | Clarendon Scholarship, Oxford (by course deadline) | Master’s/DPhil · UK |
| 10 Dec | ADB-JSP at Ritsumeikan (documents must arrive by post) | Master’s · Japan |
| 14 Dec | Funded Law PhDs in the UK (first deadlines) | PhD · UK |
| 15 Dec | SDSU Maths & Statistics Assistantships | MS/PhD · USA |
| 15 Dec | Zhengzhou President Scholarship (March intake) | PhD · China |
| 15 Dec | University of Bergamo €8,000 Grant | Master’s · Italy |
| 15 Dec | PolyU Postgraduate (some departments) | MPhil/PhD · Hong Kong |
| 18 Dec | University of Sydney RTP | PhD · Australia |
| 28 Dec | UWA Global Excellence Scholarship | Undergraduate/Master’s · Australia |
| 31 Dec | RIT PhD in Computing | PhD · USA |
| 31 Dec | RESDOC PhD Fellowship, Helsinki | PhD · Finland |
🗓️ January 2027 (8 deadlines)
| Deadline | Opportunity | Level / Country |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Jan | Oxford Pershing Square Scholarship | Master’s + MBA · UK |
| 15 Jan | DIW Berlin Economics PhD | PhD · Germany |
| 15 Jan | University of Copenhagen Scholarships | Master’s · Denmark |
| 15 Jan | CEU Doctoral Scholarship | PhD · Austria |
| 15 Jan | Doha Institute Scholarship | Master’s/PhD · Qatar |
| 15 Jan | KUT SSP PhD Scholarship | PhD · Japan |
| 15 Jan | Georgetown GHD Merit Scholarships | Master’s · USA |
| 22 Jan | EMBO Postdoctoral Fellowship | Postdoc · Europe |
🗓️ February 2027 (3 deadlines)
| Deadline | Opportunity | Level / Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Feb | CEU Scholarships (Round 2) | Master’s · Austria |
| 15 Feb | VISTEC Scholarship 2027 | MSc/PhD · Thailand |
| 28 Feb | UnicalAdmission Scholarship | Master’s · Italy |
🗓️ March 2027 (4 deadlines)
| Deadline | Opportunity | Level / Country |
|---|---|---|
| About 1 Mar | CUP Beijing CSC Scholarship (expected) | Master’s/PhD · China |
| 1 Mar | BI Presidential Scholarship | Master’s · Norway |
| 1 Mar | University of Guelph Scholarships | Undergraduate · Canada |
| 15 Mar | TaiwanICDF Scholarship | All levels · Taiwan |
Coming next: University of Twente Scholarship (1 April 2027) and Australia Awards Pakistan 2028 (30 April 2027).
📋 Document Timeline: When to Prepare What
- ✅ 8–10 weeks before: book IELTS, TOEFL or GRE (test centres in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad fill up in November and December). Request HEC attestation for your degrees and transcripts.
- ✅ 6–8 weeks before: email professors for recommendation letters, and ask your university for sealed transcripts and an English-medium instruction letter.
- ✅ 4–6 weeks before: write your SOP, motivation letter or research proposal. For PhDs, contact potential supervisors.
- ✅ 2–3 weeks before: get a police character certificate or medical certificate if required (China, Thailand, Japan).
- ✅ 10 days before: post any paper applications by EMS or DHL (for example ADB-JSP). International courier from Pakistan can take 5–7 working days.
- ✅ 3–5 days before: submit online. Don’t wait for the last night, because portals slow down and time zones catch people out.
🎯 Which Deadlines Suit You?
- Fresh BS graduates (4-year degree): OIST (15 Nov), MEXT APU and Hokkaido, VISTEC (15 Feb), Trento M3 (27 Nov), Copenhagen (15 Jan), DAAD (check eligibility), NYCU and NTHU, TaiwanICDF.
- MS or MPhil holders (PhD-bound): Gates Cambridge, Imperial, DIW Berlin, CEU Doctoral, Erfurt, Vechta, Auckland, Sydney RTP, RIT, Zhengzhou, CUP Beijing, KUT Japan, RESDOC Helsinki.
- Working professionals: ADB-JSP (2+ years’ work, 35 or under), JISPA (government officials), Knight-Hennessy, Doha Institute, Georgetown GHD.
- PhD holders: Koç Postdoc (15 Nov), Hoover Fellows (17 Nov), EMBO (22 Jan).
- Intermediate and A-level students: Duke Karsh, Lester B. Pearson, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Guelph, UWA.
🇵🇰 Pakistani students: all 51 opportunities are open to Pakistani nationals, as far as each programme’s own conditions allow (age, work experience, language and field). Open each guide to check the details. Our guides flag anything to confirm with “(verify on official website)”.
✅ Smart strategy
- Pick 5–8 targets across different months and countries
- Prepare one master CV and adapt it for each application
- Reuse your English test score (check how long it stays valid)
- Apply to one “dream” option, three “good fit” options and two “safe” options
- Track everything in a spreadsheet: deadline, documents, status
❌ Common mistakes
- Starting HEC attestation two weeks before the deadline
- Asking professors for letters at the last minute
- Copying one SOP for every university
- Ignoring time zones (a 15 January deadline in CET is about 4 am PKT on 16 January)
- Applying without reading the eligibility rules (age, work, language)
⭐ Why This Calendar Matters
Funding rounds have a rhythm. Japan, the UK and the US close mostly from November to January, Germany and Denmark peak in mid-January, and China and Taiwan run from January to March. If you plan around that rhythm, you can apply to several strong options instead of rushing one. Every guide linked above includes eligibility, documents, Pakistan-specific notes (HEC, IELTS alternatives) and a step-by-step process.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Which fully funded scholarships close in November 2026?
Major November deadlines include OIST PhD and the Koç Postdoc (15 November), MEXT at APU (5 November) and Hokkaido (10 November), Erfurt PhD (24 November), Trento M3 (27 November), Auckland and Wellington Doctoral (1 November), and the Hoover Fellows (17 November). See the November table above for all 19.
Are these scholarships open to Pakistani students?
Yes. We only included opportunities that Pakistani nationals can apply for. Each one still has its own conditions (age, work experience, language, field), so open the linked guide to check before applying.
Which scholarships can I apply for without IELTS?
Several accept alternatives. For example, ADB-JSP accepts a university English letter, CUP Beijing accepts an English-medium letter, and DIW Berlin waives the test after a year of English-taught study. See our IELTS alternatives guide too.
How early should I start preparing?
Ideally 8–10 weeks before the deadline. HEC attestation, English tests, recommendation letters and sealed transcripts are what usually hold applications up.
Are the deadlines in Pakistan time?
Usually not. Most use the university’s local time (CET, JST, GMT and so on). Convert carefully: a deadline at 23:59 CET is the next morning in Pakistan, and a Japanese deadline (JST) arrives 4 hours earlier than Pakistan time.
How often is this calendar updated?
Every month. We add newly announced calls (for example Stipendium Hungaricum and CSC 2027) and remove closed deadlines. Dates come from our published guides, so always confirm on the official website.
🔗 Sources
- Each deadline is taken from the linked Gradualin guide, which cites the official programme page or call document.
- Dates can change. Always confirm on the official website linked inside each guide before you apply.
📊 Summary Table
| Month | Deadlines | Headline Opportunities |
|---|---|---|
| November 2026 | 19 | OIST, Koç Postdoc, MEXT, Erfurt, Trento M3, Auckland |
| December 2026 | 17 | Gates Cambridge, ADB-JSP, Imperial PhD, Sydney RTP, Zhengzhou |
| January 2027 | 8 | DIW Berlin, Copenhagen, CEU, Doha Institute, EMBO |
| February 2027 | 3 | VISTEC, CEU Round 2, Unical |
| March 2027 | 4 | CUP Beijing CSC, BI Norway, TaiwanICDF |
| Total | 51 | All open to Pakistani students |
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