Three of these ten run in the opposite order
With a national scheme you win the scholarship and then pick a university. TU Delft, EIT Digital and the Swedish Institute work the other way round: you win the place first, and the money is decided afterwards. People miss these every year by waiting for a scholarship call that never comes on its own.
10 routes · checked 18 October 2026
Apply for admission first, or the scholarship cannot reach you
For the three programme-based routes the admission application comes first and usually closes earliest. Missing that date ends the scholarship too, even where the scholarship deadline is still weeks away. Start with the programme page, not the funding page.
Programme-based routes
The scholarship is attached to one university or one consortium. You apply to study, and the funding decision follows.
| Guide | Route | Country | How the timing works |
|---|---|---|---|
| TU Delft Excellence Scholarship | MSc data science at one university | Netherlands | Apply to the MSc first. The scholarship is decided from that application. |
| EIT Digital Master School | Two-year double degree across two European countries | Europe | One admission round decides both the place and the funding. |
| Swedish Institute SISGP | Data science at Swedish universities | Sweden | Two steps. Universities first, then the scholarship application. |
National schemes
Here you win the funding and then choose where to use it. Each row links to the guide that covers that scheme in full.
| Guide | Route | Country | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vanier CGS | PhD only, CAD 50,000 a year | Canada | Set by your university, around mid-September. Ask them. |
| Gates Cambridge | Cambridge, master’s and PhD | United Kingdom | Varies by course. The US round and the international round run separately. |
| GKS Korea | Data science and computing | South Korea | Depends on your track. Embassy and university routes differ. |
| Erasmus Mundus | Data science joint masters across two or three countries | Europe | Varies by joint programme, usually autumn to January. |
| DAAD Scholarship | Data science master’s and PhD | Germany | Varies by programme. Each DAAD course sets its own date. |
| MEXT Scholarship | Information science, including the research track | Japan | Varies by embassy. The university track runs separately. |
| CSC China Scholarship | Data science at 280+ universities | China | Varies by university and by Chinese embassy. |
Start here
The guides that cover this field as a whole, rather than one route.
Fully funded scholarships for data science students
The main guide, with what each route pays and who it accepts.
10 scholarships
Computer science scholarships
Seven of these routes fund both, and that page also covers the company fellowships.
Related field
Writing a PhD research proposal
What a data science proposal needs beyond the model you plan to build.
Documents
One habit worth building. For every route on this page, find the admission deadline before you look at the funding deadline. In the three programme-based routes the admission date is the real one. In the national schemes the funding date comes first, but you still need an offer or a supervisor in place, and that takes longer than people expect. Confirm every date on the funder’s own page before you apply.