Fully Funded Life Science PhD, Fellowship and Scholarship Deadlines: August 2026 Onwards
Ninety life science funding opportunities are open right now across seven regions, covering PhD positions, fellowships, scholarships and postdoc awards. The earliest binding deadline is 5 August 2026 and eleven more close by 15 August. Every date below was read on the funding organisation’s own website on 4 August 2026, not on an aggregator.
This is our weekly funding roundup for life scientists. Every entry was checked against the funding organisation’s own website on 4 August 2026. Nothing here comes from a scholarship aggregator, and the section on how the list is verified explains why that distinction is worth more than it sounds.
The index grew from 52 to 90 opportunities this week, and two regions appear for the first time. There are now seven verified calls in Africa and seven in Latin America, alongside Australia and New Zealand, Japan, Korea and Singapore. Several of them place no citizenship condition on the applicant at all, which is unusual for national funders.
The list covers biology, biotechnology, biochemistry, biomedical science, bioinformatics, structural biology, immunology and neuroscience, at bachelor’s, master’s, PhD and postdoctoral level. Where a programme is restricted by nationality, by ethnicity, or by a membership you have to have held for a year before you apply, we say so in the eligibility line rather than letting you find out three hours into an application.
| Programme | Host / country | Level | Funding | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship (2027 award year) | American Heart Association, United States | Postdoc | USD 63,480 to USD 77,076 per year plus USD 12,200 health insurance and USD 3,000 project… | 5 August 2026 |
| Project-JRF, platelet factor 4 and CXCR3 in dengue infection (Advt. 23/Project/2026/HR) | Regional Centre for Biotechnology (RCB), Faridabad, funded by DBT, India | Master’s | INR Rs. 37,000/month + 27% HRA. | 5 August 2026 |
| Project Associate-II, Dr Tina Mukherjee Lab (Advt. No. inStem/Temp/29/2026) | BRIC-inStem (Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine), Bengaluru, India | Master’s | INR Rs. 42,000/month + HRA (NET) or Rs. 33,000/month + HRA. | 7 August 2026 |
| Apprenticeship in Biological Science (Advt. No. RCB/APPRENTICE/04/2026-27/SD) | Regional Centre for Biotechnology (RCB), Faridabad, funded by DBT, India | Undergraduate | INR Rs. 13,500/month. | 7 August 2026, walk-in interview |
| Travelling Fellowships (Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology) | The Company of Biologists, Worldwide (the host laboratory must be in a different laboratory from your own) | Multiple levels | GBP 3000. | 7 August 2026 |
| Alzheimer’s Association Research Fellowship for All (AARFA) | Alzheimer’s Association, United States (open worldwide) | Postdoc | Up to USD 200,000 over 2 to 3 years. | 14 August 2026 (letter of intent) |
| Project Associate-I, Dr Srinivasarao Repudi lab (Advt. No. inStem/Temp/32/2026) | BRIC-inStem (Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine), Bengaluru, India | Multiple levels | INR Rs. 37,000/month + HRA (NET qualified) or Rs. 31,000/month + HRA (non-NET). | 14 August 2026 |
| Career Awards at the Scientific Interface (CASI) | Burroughs Wellcome Fund, United States and Canada | Postdoc | USD 560,000 over 5 years. | 14 August 2026 (letter of intent) |
| Becas Internas de Finalizacion de Doctorado (Doctorate Completion Fellowships) | CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas), Argentina | PhD | A non-extendable 24-month fellowship for doctoral candidates who need to finish a… | 14 August 2026 (window opened 27 July 2026) |
| Damon Runyon Fellowship Award | Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, United States | Postdoc | USD 70,000 to 76,000 per year for four years. | 14 August 2026 |
| Arturo Falaschi Short-term Postdoctoral Fellowships | ICGEB (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology), Italy (Trieste), India (New Delhi) or South Africa (Cape Town) | Postdoc | EUR 2,300/month (Trieste), USD 1,749/month (New Delhi), ZAR 27,500/month (Cape Town). | 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest) |
| Arturo Falaschi Postdoctoral Fellowships | ICGEB (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology), Italy, India or South Africa | Postdoc | EUR 2,300/month (Trieste), USD 1,749/month (New Delhi), ZAR 27,500/month (Cape Town). | 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest) |
| Arturo Falaschi Short-term PhD Fellowships | ICGEB (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology), Italy, India or South Africa | PhD | EUR 1,500/month (Trieste), USD 1,122/month (New Delhi), ZAR 16,500/month (Cape Town). | 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest) |
| Arturo Falaschi SMART Fellowships | ICGEB (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology), Any ICGEB Member State other than your own | Multiple levels | USD 1,500/month (PhD) or USD 2,000/month (postdoc). | 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest) |
| Biotechnet Short-term PhD Fellowships | ICGEB (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology), Italy, India or South Africa | PhD | EUR 1,500/month (Trieste), USD 1,122/month (New Delhi), ZAR 16,500/month (Cape Town). | 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest) |
| Biotechnet Short-term Advanced Fellowships | ICGEB (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology), Italy, India or South Africa | Postdoc | EUR 2,300/month (Trieste), USD 1,749/month (New Delhi), ZAR 27,500/month (Cape Town). | 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest) |
| ICGEB-AICAD Short-Term Postdoctoral Fellowships | ICGEB (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology), Italy, India or South Africa | Postdoc | EUR 2,300/month (Trieste), USD 1,749/month (New Delhi), ZAR 27,500/month (Cape Town). | 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest) |
| ICGEB Fellowships for Scientists in Biosecurity | ICGEB (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology), Italy, India or China | PhD | EUR 1,500/month (Trieste), USD 1,122/month (New Delhi), USD 1,500/month (Taizhou). | 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest) |
| ICGEB Fellowships in Pathogen Detection and Biosecurity (Africa) | ICGEB (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology), Italy, India or South Africa | Multiple levels | EUR 1,500/month (Trieste), USD 1,122/month (New Delhi), ZAR 16,500/month (Cape Town). | 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest) |
| JCS-FocalPlane Training Grants | The Company of Biologists, Worldwide | Multiple levels | GBP 1000. | 14 August 2026 |
| Project Associate-II, Dr Bhavana Muralidharan lab (Advt. No. inStem/Temp/31/2026) | BRIC-inStem (Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine), Bengaluru, India | Master’s | INR Rs 42,000/month + HRA. | 15 August 2026 |
| Rhodes Scholarship, East Africa | The Rhodes Trust, United Kingdom (University of Oxford) | Multiple levels | GBP 20,400 per year (2025-26 rate) plus full fees. | 27 August 2026 |
| Rhodes Scholarship, West Africa | The Rhodes Trust, United Kingdom (University of Oxford) | Multiple levels | GBP 20,400 per year (2025-26 rate) plus full fees. | 27 August 2026 |
| JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research in Japan (Standard Program, Open Call) | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Japan | Postdoc | JPY 362,000/month plus airfare and a JPY 200,000 settling-in allowance. | 28 August 2026 |
| DMM Conference Travel Grants | The Company of Biologists, Worldwide | Multiple levels | GBP 500. | 28 August 2026 |
| Project Associate-I, Dr Diya Binoy Joseph Lab (Advt. inStem/Temp/28/2026) | BRIC-inStem (Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine), Bengaluru, India | Master’s | INR Rs. 31,000/month + HRA (NET-qualified) or Rs. 25,000/month + HRA. | 31 August 2026 |
| CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship | Cancer Research Institute, United States or abroad | Postdoc | USD 243,000 over three years. | 1 September 2026 |
| General Travel Grants | The Biochemical Society, United Kingdom (applications accepted worldwide) | Multiple levels | GBP 1000. | 1 September 2026 |
| Lab Visit Grants | The Biochemical Society, United Kingdom (applications accepted worldwide) | Multiple levels | GBP 2000. | 1 September 2026 |
| MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026 | European Commission, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, EU Member States and Horizon Europe associated countries | Postdoc | Call budget of EUR 399.05 million. Support comprises a living allowance and a mobility… | 9 September 2026 |
| Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) | CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC (Canada Research Training Awards Suite), Canada | Postdoc | CAD 70,000 per year for 24 months. | 16 September 2026 for CIHR (health and life sciences); 19 October 2026 for NSERC (biology) |
| JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research in Japan (Short-term Program PE, Open Call) | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Japan | Multiple levels | JPY 362,000/month for PhD holders, JPY 200,000/month for doctoral students. | 25 September 2026 |
| EMBL-EBI and Sanger Postdoctoral Fellowship (ESPOD) | EMBL-EBI and Wellcome Sanger Institute, United Kingdom (Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton) | Postdoc | A three-year project-based contract. Benefits listed include monthly family and child… | 27 September 2026 |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB) | US National Science Foundation, Directorate for Biological Sciences, United States | Postdoc | USD 220,000 over two years. | 29 September 2026 submitting organisation’s local time |
| ARISE2 Postdoctoral Fellowship | EMBL, co-funded by Horizon Europe MSCA COFUND, Germany, UK, France, Italy or Spain (EMBL sites) | Postdoc | EUR 3,228.38 to EUR 4,118.45 per month, varying by site. | 30 September 2026 |
| Life Sciences Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship | Life Sciences Research Foundation, United States or abroad | Postdoc | USD 255,000 over three years. | 1 October 2026 (portal opens 15 August 2026) |
| EDI and Outreach Grants | The Biochemical Society, United Kingdom (applications accepted worldwide) | Multiple levels | GBP 1000. | 5 October 2026 |
| EMBL International PhD Programme | EMBL (European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Germany, UK, France, Italy or Spain (EMBL sites) | PhD | A fully funded, salaried EMBL predoctoral fellowship across the six EMBL sites. No figure… | 12 October 2026 |
| Canada Graduate Research Scholarship, Doctoral (CGRS D) | CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC (Canada Research Training Awards Suite), Canada | PhD | CAD 40,000 per year for 36 months. | 19 October 2026 when applying direct to the agency |
| Faculty for the Future Fellowships | Schlumberger Foundation, Any host university or research institute abroad | Multiple levels | Fellowships are awarded on academic ability, leadership potential and engagement in STEM… | 6 November 2026 (portal opens 1 September 2026) |
| BiO Global South Conference Travel Grants | The Company of Biologists, Applicants based in the Global South, travelling to an international meeting outside their own country | Multiple levels | GBP 3000. | 20 November 2026 |
| Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program | Howard Hughes Medical Institute, United States | Postdoc | Up to two years of salary or stipend support, additional support for certain… | 15 December 2026 (applications open 3 November 2026) |
| EMBO Postdoctoral Fellowships | EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization), EMBC Member States, plus global partners Chile, India, Singapore and Taiwan | Postdoc | Fellowships run up to two years and include a salary or stipend, a relocation allowance… | 22 January 2027 (next cutoff) |
| Jane Coffin Childs Fellowship | Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research, United States | Postdoc | A three-year fellowship with a USD 2,000 research allowance and a separate USD 1,800… | 1 February 2027 (portal opens 1 October 2026) |
| International Travel Support (ITS) | Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), formerly SERB, India | Multiple levels | INR Economy airfare, airport tax and visa fees; registration up to Rs. 50,000. | Rolling |
| Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds MD Fellowship | Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds, Europe and overseas | PhD | EUR 1,560/month in Germany, up to EUR 2,470/month in the USA. | See official page |
| Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds PhD Fellowship | Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds, Europe, or overseas for European citizens | PhD | EUR 2,400/month in Germany, up to EUR 3,800/month in the USA. | See official page |
| Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds Travel Grants | Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds, Europe and worldwide destinations | Multiple levels | Grants of up to three months, paid as a lump sum contributing to travel, lodging and… | Rolling |
| Commonwealth Master’s Scholarships | Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, United Kingdom | Master’s | GBP 1,712/month (GBP 2,000 in London) plus full tuition and airfare. | See official page |
| Commonwealth PhD Scholarships for least developed countries and vulnerable states | Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, United Kingdom | PhD | GBP 1,712/month (GBP 2,000 in London) plus full tuition and airfare. | See official page |
| EMBL Corporate Partnership Programme (CPP) Visitor Fellowships | EMBL (European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Germany, UK, France, Italy or Spain (the six EMBL sites: Barcelona, Hinxton, Grenoble, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Rome) | Multiple levels | Reimbursement of travel and accommodation costs for a stay of one to six months with an… | Rolling |
| EMBO Scientific Exchange Grants | EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization), EMBC Member States and global partners | Multiple levels | Exchanges of up to three months between laboratories in eligible countries. The grants… | Rolling |
| Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Scholarships | European Commission (Erasmus+, EACEA), At least three countries per programme, the consortium’s partner universities | Master’s | Full scholarships to the best-ranked students worldwide, covering participation costs… | Varies by programme |
| FEBS Short-Term Fellowships | FEBS (Federation of European Biochemical Societies), A laboratory in a FEBS country other than the one you work in | Multiple levels | EUR 100. | Rolling |
| Gates Cambridge Scholarship | Gates Cambridge Trust, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (University of Cambridge) | Multiple levels | Award values are not stated on the timeline page and are published separately by the… | Varies by programme |
| IUBMB Travel Fellowships | IUBMB (International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), Any IUBMB member country | Multiple levels | Up to USD 2,500. | See official page |
| IUBMB Wood-Whelan Research Fellowships | IUBMB (International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), Any IUBMB member country, travelling to another | Multiple levels | Up to USD 7,000. | See official page |
| International Max Planck Research Schools (IMPRS) | Max Planck Society, Germany and partner institutions abroad | PhD | No stipend figure is published centrally. Funding is arranged by each individual school. | Varies by programme |
| Young Investigator Programme (TIFR Advt. 2026/16) | NCBS-TIFR (National Centre for Biological Sciences), Bengaluru, India | Postdoc | NCBS states that salary and benefits are attractive and that accommodation is provided at… | Rolling |
| Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships 2027-2028 | Swiss Confederation, Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students (FCS/ESKAS), administered by SERI, Switzerland (cantonal universities, universities of applied sciences, ETH Zurich, EPFL, and PSI, WSL, Empa or Eawag) | Multiple levels | CHF 2450. | Varies by programme |
| Genetics Society Junior Scientist Conference Grants | The Genetics Society, United Kingdom | Multiple levels | Up to GBP 200 (scheme A), GBP 500 (scheme B), or GBP 750 (Adelphi co-sponsored). | See official page |
| Genetics Society Training Grant | The Genetics Society, United Kingdom | Multiple levels | Up to GBP 1,200. | See official page |
| Outreach Grant | The Society for Experimental Biology (SEB), United Kingdom | Multiple levels | GBP 1,000 (members) or GBP 200 (non-members). | See official page |
| Fulbright Foreign Student Program | US Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States | Multiple levels | Grant values are set by each binational Fulbright Commission or US Embassy, not… | Varies by programme |
North America: open this week
American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship (2027 award year)
USD 63,480 to USD 77,076 per year plus USD 12,200 health insurance and USD 3,000 project…
Deadline: 5 August 2026
Alzheimer’s Association Research Fellowship for All (AARFA)
Up to USD 200,000 over 2 to 3 years.
Deadline: 14 August 2026 (letter of intent)
Career Awards at the Scientific Interface (CASI)
USD 560,000 over 5 years.
Deadline: 14 August 2026 (letter of intent)
Damon Runyon Fellowship Award
USD 70,000 to 76,000 per year for four years.
Deadline: 14 August 2026
CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship
USD 243,000 over three years.
Deadline: 1 September 2026
Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA)
CAD 70,000 per year for 24 months.
Deadline: 16 September 2026 for CIHR (health and life sciences); 19 October 2026 for NSERC (biology)
Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB)
USD 220,000 over two years.
Deadline: 29 September 2026 submitting organisation’s local time · not open to international applicants
Life Sciences Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
USD 255,000 over three years.
Deadline: 1 October 2026 (portal opens 15 August 2026)
Canada Graduate Research Scholarship, Doctoral (CGRS D)
CAD 40,000 per year for 36 months.
Deadline: 19 October 2026 when applying direct to the agency
Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program
Up to two years of salary or stipend support, additional support for certain…
Deadline: 15 December 2026 (applications open 3 November 2026)
Jane Coffin Childs Fellowship
A three-year fellowship with a USD 2,000 research allowance and a separate USD 1,800…
Deadline: 1 February 2027 (portal opens 1 October 2026)
Fulbright Foreign Student Program
Grant values are set by each binational Fulbright Commission or US Embassy, not…
Deadline: Varies by programme
India: open this week
Project-JRF, platelet factor 4 and CXCR3 in dengue infection (Advt. 23/Project/2026/HR)
INR Rs. 37,000/month + 27% HRA.
Deadline: 5 August 2026
Project Associate-II, Dr Tina Mukherjee Lab (Advt. No. inStem/Temp/29/2026)
INR Rs. 42,000/month + HRA (NET) or Rs. 33,000/month + HRA.
Deadline: 7 August 2026 · not open to international applicants
Apprenticeship in Biological Science (Advt. No. RCB/APPRENTICE/04/2026-27/SD)
INR Rs. 13,500/month.
Deadline: 7 August 2026, walk-in interview · not open to international applicants
Project Associate-I, Dr Srinivasarao Repudi lab (Advt. No. inStem/Temp/32/2026)
INR Rs. 37,000/month + HRA (NET qualified) or Rs. 31,000/month + HRA (non-NET).
Deadline: 14 August 2026
Project Associate-II, Dr Bhavana Muralidharan lab (Advt. No. inStem/Temp/31/2026)
INR Rs 42,000/month + HRA.
Deadline: 15 August 2026
Project Associate-I, Dr Diya Binoy Joseph Lab (Advt. inStem/Temp/28/2026)
INR Rs. 31,000/month + HRA (NET-qualified) or Rs. 25,000/month + HRA.
Deadline: 31 August 2026
International Travel Support (ITS)
INR Economy airfare, airport tax and visa fees; registration up to Rs. 50,000.
Deadline: Rolling · not open to international applicants
Young Investigator Programme (TIFR Advt. 2026/16)
NCBS states that salary and benefits are attractive and that accommodation is provided at…
Deadline: Rolling
Global: open this week
Travelling Fellowships (Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology)
GBP 3000.
Deadline: 7 August 2026
Arturo Falaschi Short-term Postdoctoral Fellowships
EUR 2,300/month (Trieste), USD 1,749/month (New Delhi), ZAR 27,500/month (Cape Town).
Deadline: 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest)
Arturo Falaschi Postdoctoral Fellowships
EUR 2,300/month (Trieste), USD 1,749/month (New Delhi), ZAR 27,500/month (Cape Town).
Deadline: 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest)
Arturo Falaschi Short-term PhD Fellowships
EUR 1,500/month (Trieste), USD 1,122/month (New Delhi), ZAR 16,500/month (Cape Town).
Deadline: 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest)
Arturo Falaschi SMART Fellowships
USD 1,500/month (PhD) or USD 2,000/month (postdoc).
Deadline: 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest)
Biotechnet Short-term PhD Fellowships
EUR 1,500/month (Trieste), USD 1,122/month (New Delhi), ZAR 16,500/month (Cape Town).
Deadline: 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest)
Biotechnet Short-term Advanced Fellowships
EUR 2,300/month (Trieste), USD 1,749/month (New Delhi), ZAR 27,500/month (Cape Town).
Deadline: 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest)
ICGEB-AICAD Short-Term Postdoctoral Fellowships
EUR 2,300/month (Trieste), USD 1,749/month (New Delhi), ZAR 27,500/month (Cape Town).
Deadline: 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest)
ICGEB Fellowships for Scientists in Biosecurity
EUR 1,500/month (Trieste), USD 1,122/month (New Delhi), USD 1,500/month (Taizhou).
Deadline: 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest)
ICGEB Fellowships in Pathogen Detection and Biosecurity (Africa)
EUR 1,500/month (Trieste), USD 1,122/month (New Delhi), ZAR 16,500/month (Cape Town).
Deadline: 14 August 2026 (Expression of Interest)
JCS-FocalPlane Training Grants
GBP 1000.
Deadline: 14 August 2026
Rhodes Scholarship, East Africa
GBP 20,400 per year (2025-26 rate) plus full fees.
Deadline: 27 August 2026
Rhodes Scholarship, West Africa
GBP 20,400 per year (2025-26 rate) plus full fees.
Deadline: 27 August 2026
DMM Conference Travel Grants
GBP 500.
Deadline: 28 August 2026
Faculty for the Future Fellowships
Fellowships are awarded on academic ability, leadership potential and engagement in STEM…
Deadline: 6 November 2026 (portal opens 1 September 2026)
BiO Global South Conference Travel Grants
GBP 3000.
Deadline: 20 November 2026
Commonwealth Master’s Scholarships
GBP 1,712/month (GBP 2,000 in London) plus full tuition and airfare.
Deadline: See official page
Commonwealth PhD Scholarships for least developed countries and vulnerable states
GBP 1,712/month (GBP 2,000 in London) plus full tuition and airfare.
Deadline: See official page
Gates Cambridge Scholarship
Award values are not stated on the timeline page and are published separately by the…
Deadline: Varies by programme
IUBMB Travel Fellowships
Up to USD 2,500.
Deadline: See official page
IUBMB Wood-Whelan Research Fellowships
Up to USD 7,000.
Deadline: See official page
Latin America: open this week
Becas Internas de Finalizacion de Doctorado (Doctorate Completion Fellowships)
A non-extendable 24-month fellowship for doctoral candidates who need to finish a…
Deadline: 14 August 2026 (window opened 27 July 2026)
Asia-Pacific: open this week
JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research in Japan (Standard Program, Open Call)
JPY 362,000/month plus airfare and a JPY 200,000 settling-in allowance.
Deadline: 28 August 2026
JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research in Japan (Short-term Program PE, Open Call)
JPY 362,000/month for PhD holders, JPY 200,000/month for doctoral students.
Deadline: 25 September 2026
Europe: open this week
General Travel Grants
GBP 1000.
Deadline: 1 September 2026
Lab Visit Grants
GBP 2000.
Deadline: 1 September 2026
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026
Call budget of EUR 399.05 million. Support comprises a living allowance and a mobility…
Deadline: 9 September 2026
EMBL-EBI and Sanger Postdoctoral Fellowship (ESPOD)
A three-year project-based contract. Benefits listed include monthly family and child…
Deadline: 27 September 2026
ARISE2 Postdoctoral Fellowship
EUR 3,228.38 to EUR 4,118.45 per month, varying by site.
Deadline: 30 September 2026
EDI and Outreach Grants
GBP 1000.
Deadline: 5 October 2026
EMBL International PhD Programme
A fully funded, salaried EMBL predoctoral fellowship across the six EMBL sites. No figure…
Deadline: 12 October 2026
EMBO Postdoctoral Fellowships
Fellowships run up to two years and include a salary or stipend, a relocation allowance…
Deadline: 22 January 2027 (next cutoff)
Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds MD Fellowship
EUR 1,560/month in Germany, up to EUR 2,470/month in the USA.
Deadline: See official page
Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds PhD Fellowship
EUR 2,400/month in Germany, up to EUR 3,800/month in the USA.
Deadline: See official page
Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds Travel Grants
Grants of up to three months, paid as a lump sum contributing to travel, lodging and…
Deadline: Rolling
EMBL Corporate Partnership Programme (CPP) Visitor Fellowships
Reimbursement of travel and accommodation costs for a stay of one to six months with an…
Deadline: Rolling
EMBO Scientific Exchange Grants
Exchanges of up to three months between laboratories in eligible countries. The grants…
Deadline: Rolling
Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Scholarships
Full scholarships to the best-ranked students worldwide, covering participation costs…
Deadline: Varies by programme
FEBS Short-Term Fellowships
EUR 100.
Deadline: Rolling · not open to international applicants
International Max Planck Research Schools (IMPRS)
No stipend figure is published centrally. Funding is arranged by each individual school.
Deadline: Varies by programme
Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships 2027-2028
CHF 2450.
Deadline: Varies by programme
Genetics Society Junior Scientist Conference Grants
Up to GBP 200 (scheme A), GBP 500 (scheme B), or GBP 750 (Adelphi co-sponsored).
Deadline: See official page · not open to international applicants
Genetics Society Training Grant
Up to GBP 1,200.
Deadline: See official page · not open to international applicants
Outreach Grant
GBP 1,000 (members) or GBP 200 (non-members).
Deadline: See official page
These are this week’s openings. The full list of every verified opportunity, with filters, is at stemskillslab.com/opportunities.
What closes first?
Twelve deadlines fall inside the next eleven days.
- 5 August 2026: the RCB Faridabad Project-JRF on dengue immunology closes at 5:00 pm.
- 7 August 2026: the BRIC-inStem Project Associate-II post in the Tina Mukherjee lab, the RCB Faridabad apprenticeship walk-in at 10:30 am, and the Company of Biologists Travelling Fellowships.
- 14 August 2026: seven at once. All four ICGEB Arturo Falaschi fellowships close their Expression of Interest stage at 23:59 CET, the Damon Runyon Fellowship Award closes at 4:00 pm Eastern Time, the Alzheimer’s Association Research Fellowship for All closes its Letter of Intent at 5:00 pm Eastern Time, and the Company of Biologists JCS-FocalPlane Training Grants close.
- 15 August 2026: the HPI at UCT Research School fellowships in digital health and AI, which pay ZAR 262,200 a year for a PhD and are open to students from anywhere on the African continent.
Two of those dates need a warning attached. ICGEB advertises an Expression of Interest on 14 August and a full application on 30 September. The September date looks like the real deadline and it is not: you cannot submit a full application until ICGEB tells you that you may, and that only follows a cleared Expression of Interest. The Alzheimer’s Association works the same way, with a Letter of Intent on 14 August gating a full application two months later. In both cases the earlier date is the one that locks you out, which is why this list prints every stage rather than only the final one.
What is new in Africa and Latin America?
Africa and Latin America were both blank in this index a week ago. They are not blank because nothing exists there; they were blank because nobody had read the funders’ own pages. Fourteen verified calls came out of one pass, and several are open to applicants of any nationality.
South Africa carries the most. The two South African Medical Research Council schemes, both closing 22 September 2026, pay ZAR 250,000 a year for a PhD and name bioinformatics, genomics, structural biology and data science in their own priority list. Both are restricted to South African citizens and permanent residents. The DSTI-CSIR Inter-Programme Bursary Scheme, closing 15 September 2026, is the one that is not: the CSIR states that any student accepted or registered for full-time study at any South African public university may apply, and it pays up to ZAR 180,000 a year plus a ZAR 10,000 laptop allowance. The Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, closing 31 August 2026, splits the difference in an unusual way. Its master’s and doctoral awards are for South African citizens and permanent residents, while its postdoctoral award explicitly admits foreign nationals.
Latin America is more open than its reputation. CONICET’s Argentine doctoral fellowships close 21 August 2026 and the rules address graduates of Argentine or foreign universities, so nationality is not the barrier. Language is: only work plans written in Spanish are accepted. Mexico’s Secihti runs two calls that state in terms that people of Mexican or foreign nationality may apply, one for postdoctoral stays closing 28 August 2026 and one for postgraduate study closing 28 November 2026, the latter paying MXN 21,397.32 a month for a doctorate. FAPESP in Sao Paulo takes master’s and doctoral applications on continuous flow, at any time of year, with no deadline to miss. Chile’s Fondecyt postdoctoral competition closing 27 August 2026 is the exception: it is open only to Chilean nationals and permanent residents.
Which of these can a bachelor’s or master’s student apply to?
Learned societies fund the career stage most readers of this site are actually at. The Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution runs an award specifically for undergraduates, the Biophysical Society runs a separate undergraduate application track, and the Nutrition Society names undergraduates on a first degree in its own eligibility text. None of that is true of the big national fellowships, which almost all start at PhD or postdoc level.
There is a catch, and it is not the membership fee. Society dues are small. What catches people is the waiting period: several schemes require the membership to have been held for a year or more before the deadline, so a student reading this today is locked out of that round no matter how good the application is. Here is where each one stands.
| Scheme | Membership cost | Waiting period | Can you apply today? |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMBE Undergraduate Travel and Mentoring Award | None required | None | Yes |
| Biophysical Society Travel Awards | USD 25 student | None, dues just have to be paid by 1 October 2026 | Yes |
| Biochemical Society Care and Assistance Grants | GBP 32.50 postgraduate | None | Yes |
| Biochemical Society travel, lab visit and online attendance grants | GBP 32.50 postgraduate | 12 months, or 6 on a multiyear plan | No, not for the 1 September 2026 round |
| Society for Endocrinology Travel Grant | Not published on a reachable page | 12 months, or 6 for Early Career members | No, and Student Members are excluded entirely |
| Nutrition Society Conference Grants | GBP 21 student | 2 consecutive years | No |
| British Pharmacological Society PhD Funding Programme | None required of the student | None | Yes, closes 31 October 2026 |
The British Pharmacological Society scheme deserves a second look if you are finishing a BSc or an MSc. The Society states that the student submits the application, not the supervisor, and it funds a PhD that has not started yet, at GBP 21,805 to GBP 23,805 a year plus up to GBP 10,000 a year in research costs. Very little else in this list funds someone who does not already have a PhD place. One caveat to plan around: course fees are paid at the Home student rate, so an international candidate will have a fees gap to cover from somewhere else.
The general lesson is worth acting on now rather than in September. If a society runs schemes you will want in a year, the cheapest thing you can do today is join it.
Which of these are closed to international applicants?
Eighteen of the ninety entries are restricted to applicants from a specific country or group, and several of those are widely recommended without the caveat attached.
The United States. The NCI predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships, F31 and F32, require you to be a US citizen, a non-citizen national, or a lawful permanent resident at the time of award. The National Institutes of Health states plainly that foreign nationals on student visas are not eligible. The same applies to the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology. Against those, the Cancer Research Institute states there are no citizenship restrictions on its Irvington fellowship, the Life Sciences Research Foundation and the Jane Coffin Childs Fund accept citizens of any country provided non-US citizens hold the award at a US institution, and HHMI’s Hanna Gray Fellows Program asks for work authorisation rather than citizenship.
Nationality by design. The Mandela Rhodes Scholarship, closing 14 April 2027, is open only to citizens of an African country. Chile’s Fondecyt postdoctoral competition requires Chilean nationality or permanent residence. The Global Korea Scholarship requires that you and both your parents hold non-Korean citizenship and that you are under 40. RIKEN’s International Program Associate scheme is for non-Japanese doctoral candidates only, and additionally requires that your university already has a partnership agreement with RIKEN. The Commonwealth PhD Scholarships remain restricted to 18 least developed countries and vulnerable states, and India is not among them; Indian students are eligible for the Commonwealth Master’s Scholarships, which is a different scheme on a different page.
One is restricted by gender and one by ethnicity. The Margaret McNamara Education Grants South Africa Program is open only to women who are at least 25 at the deadline, are nationals of a country on the fund’s own list, and are already enrolled at one of its listed South African universities. The Sir Hugh Kawharu Masters Scholarship in New Zealand is open only to applicants of Maori descent, which is why it does not appear in the table above.
Indian institutional posts are a category of their own. The RCB Faridabad and BRIC-inStem positions in this list all require a completed MSc plus CSIR-UGC NET, GATE or an equivalent Indian national eligibility test, and the CSIR Travel Grant Scheme is for Indian researchers based in India. That is not a hidden restriction, but it is worth stating, because these are the entries an Indian reader is most likely to act on today.
Why do so many scholarship listings turn out to be wrong?
Four kinds of misleading listing were live somewhere while this issue was being compiled.
Programmes that are between rounds and read as open. India’s Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship site returned a gateway error throughout this pass, the Department of Biotechnology and University Grants Commission sites refused the connection outright, and the INSPIRE fellowship’s most recent published result is for the 2025 applications. None of that is evidence any of them has closed. It means we could not read them, so nothing about them appears here. A fetch failure is never treated as a closure in this list.
Schemes that have quietly stopped. TWAS, which many students in the Global South apply through, currently has no open PhD or postdoctoral fellowship at all: its own pages mark every partner scheme as closed, TWAS-DBT and TWAS-CSIR both state that no call will open in 2026, and TWAS-Sida is discontinued. The Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World has suspended both its PhD and its Early Career fellowships, printing on its own site that there will be no call because of funding. Both are still recommended widely. JSPS has also ended its RONPAKU dissertation PhD programme, stating there will be no open calls from FY2025 onwards.
Fees hidden behind a good reputation. The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology PhD Program and its Research Internship both looked like strong entries for this list: the internship pays a daily allowance, funded accommodation and a return ticket, and is open to final-year bachelor’s students worldwide. Both were excluded because OIST charges a 5,000 JPY application fee and states it is not refundable under any circumstances and that no waivers are offered. This list excludes any opportunity with a fee to apply, without exception, and regardless of how legitimate the organisation is.
Deadlines with the year rolled forward. This remains the most dangerous error in the genre. Several funders in this list print a recurring day and month with no year at all, which is completely normal for learned societies: the Nutrition Society prints 31 March and 31 August, the NCI prints receipt cycles of 8 April, 8 August and 8 December, RIKEN prints April and September, and the Australian National University prints 31 August and 15 April against its scholarship rounds. Aggregators habitually attach a year to those and republish them. We do not, because a confidently wrong year is how a student misses a real deadline.
How is this list verified?
Every fact in this article comes from the funding organisation’s own domain, fetched on 4 August 2026. Aggregators are used only to notice that an opportunity might exist. We then find the funder’s page and read the deadline, the eligibility and the funding there. If we cannot find an official page, the opportunity does not appear, with no caveat and no partial entry.
The reason is a near-miss that happened while this lane was being built. A search summary confidently stated that the next ICGEB round would open in January 2027 with a March 2027 deadline. ICGEB’s own page, read at the same moment, showed an open round closing on 14 August 2026. A student who trusted the summary would have missed a deadline two weeks away.
Every candidate this week was also run through the same automated checks that admitted the existing records: the funder’s domain has to be on an allowlist or an institutional domain, the page has to be free of any fee to apply and of the standard scam signals, and the exact sentence carrying the deadline has to be findable in the page we actually fetched. Thirty-nine of forty candidates passed. One was dropped because its page would not load for us at all, which tells us nothing about whether it is open, so we say nothing about it.
We also refuse to print a date we cannot stand behind. Where a funder gives a day and month with no year, we print exactly what they printed. Where a numeric date could be read two ways, we do not guess. Where a funder points at a per-course or per-university deadline, as the Australian Government Research Training Program and the Max Planck IMPRS network both do, we say the deadline varies and send you to the place that holds it. A vague but honest answer costs you five minutes. A confidently wrong date costs you the application.
What should I do before the deadline?
Three practical notes that apply across most of this list.
References are part of the deadline, and sometimes they are the deadline. QIMR Berghofer requires three referee reports to arrive before its own 24 August 2026 closing date, and says chasing them is the applicant’s job. The Biophysical Society will take a recommendation letter by email up to 5 October 2026, four days after the application itself. The Life Sciences Research Foundation needs three reference letters and a supervisor letter by 1 November 2026, a month after the application. Ask your referees now.
Your institution’s internal deadline may be the real one. Chile’s Fondecyt makes this explicit and unusually visible: the applicant must send the proposal for institutional sponsorship by 27 August 2026, while sponsorship itself closes a week later on 3 September. The earlier date is yours. The same structure is hidden inside most MSCA applications, Canada’s CGRS D and CPRA, and the two SAMRC schemes, where the supervisor submits a week after the student. If you are applying through an institution, ask its research office for the internal date before you plan around the public one.
A host has to agree before some of these can be submitted at all. RIKEN requires you to secure a host researcher before you can apply, Mexico’s Secihti requires the host institution’s legal representative to sign an acceptance letter before you can submit, and UQ requires a nominated supervisor to support your expression of interest before a full application is invited. Those conversations take weeks, so a deadline in October is really a deadline in August.
If you are still building the computational skills these labs screen for, our computational biology skills roadmap sets out the order to learn them in, and our free assessments and certificates give you something verifiable to put on an application while you wait for the next round to open.
Want the guided, hands-on version?
Our live Molecular Modeling & MD Simulations cohort bootcamp takes you from zero to running real docking and MD workflows, with a portfolio project for your grad-school applications.
Join the waitlist (free) →Frequently asked questions
Which life science fellowships are open to international applicants?
Most of this list. Seventy-two of the ninety entries place no citizenship condition on the applicant. The Cancer Research Institute states there are no citizenship restrictions on its Irvington postdoctoral fellowship. The Life Sciences Research Foundation and the Jane Coffin Childs Fund accept citizens of any country, provided non-US citizens hold the award at a US institution. MSCA European Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to any nationality, and QIMR Berghofer in Australia, Mexico’s Secihti and Argentina’s CONICET all state in terms that foreign applicants may apply. The clearest exceptions are the NCI F31 and F32 fellowships and the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology, all of which require US citizenship, national status or permanent residency at the time of award.
Are there any fellowships an undergraduate can apply to?
Very few, and they come almost entirely from learned societies rather than national funders. The Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution runs an Undergraduate Travel and Mentoring Award that needs no society membership and where the student is the applicant; the supervisor only supplies a letter confirming undergraduate status. The Biophysical Society runs a separate undergraduate track on its Annual Meeting Travel Awards, closing 1 October 2026, and student membership costs USD 25 with no waiting period. The Nutrition Society names undergraduates on a first degree in its Conference Grants eligibility, though it wants two consecutive years of membership first. In India, the RCB Faridabad apprenticeship pays Rs. 13,500 a month to a recent bachelor’s graduate.
Do any of these charge an application fee?
None of them, because any opportunity with a fee to apply is excluded from this list without exception. That rule cost us two genuinely good entries this week: the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology PhD Program and its Research Internship both charge a 5,000 JPY application fee that the institute states is not refundable and carries no waivers, so neither appears here. Note that a society membership fee is a different thing and does not disqualify a scheme, though we always state what it costs. A request for money to apply, a demand for your bank or Aadhaar details before any selection decision, and a contact address that is only a messaging number are the three clearest signs that a scholarship listing is not genuine.
What does fully funded actually mean?
It varies more than the phrase suggests, so read the funding column rather than trusting the label. At the top end, the University of Sydney pays AUD 42,754 a year plus full tuition and health cover, and NTU Singapore pays S$3,000 a month to an international PhD student with no bond. In the middle, QIMR Berghofer and the University of Queensland both pay AUD 39,220 a year, Mexico’s Secihti pays MXN 21,397.32 a month for a doctorate, and the South African Medical Research Council pays ZAR 250,000 a year. At the other end, several travel and conference grants in this list are worth GBP 500 to GBP 800 and cover one trip. Some programmes, including Gates Cambridge and the Mandela Rhodes Scholarship, publish no figure at all on the pages we checked, so we leave the amount blank rather than estimate it.
Why do some entries have no deadline date?
Because the funder did not print one, and we will not invent it. Nine entries here are recurring calls that print a day and month with no year, which is the norm for learned societies and for the NCI receipt cycles. Ten are rolling or continuous flow, including FAPESP’s master’s and doctoral fellowships in Brazil, which genuinely accept applications at any time of year. Eleven defer to a per-course, per-university or per-meeting deadline: the Australian Government Research Training Program has no national date at all because every participating university runs its own rounds. In each case we print the funder’s own wording and link you to the page that holds the operative date.
How often is this list updated?
We publish a new roundup every week and add newly verified opportunities to the index in between, which is how it went from 33 entries on 31 July to 90 today. Every record carries the date it was last verified so you can judge for yourself how fresh it is, and every live record in the store was re-checked against its funder’s page for this issue. Always open the official link before you apply, because the funder’s page is the authority and this page is a signpost to it.
Want the guided, hands-on version?
Our live Molecular Modeling & MD Simulations cohort bootcamp takes you from zero to running real docking and MD workflows, with a portfolio project for your grad-school applications.
Join the waitlist (free) →