WPA Fellowships and Training Schemes:

The World Psychiatric Association runs four different things people call fellowships, and they have almost nothing in common. One pays for a congress trip. One sends you abroad to observe. One is a prize you cannot apply for. One welcomes medical students who have not graduated yet.

The gate: your national society

Every route here runs through membership of a WPA Member Society. WPA counts 146 of them, grouped into regions and zones.

The Pakistan Psychiatric Society counts among them. So the gate stands open, and your own membership decides whether you walk through it.

Now the detail worth printing in bold, because it changes where you look.

WPA places the Pakistan Psychiatric Society in Region III, Zone 12, which WPA defines as the Middle East and Central and Western Asia. Zone 15, South Asia, contains the Bangladesh Association of Psychiatrists, the Indian Psychiatric Society, the Indian Association for Social Psychiatry, the Psychiatrists’ Association of Nepal, the Sri Lanka College of Psychiatrists and the Myanmar Mental Health Society.

Pakistan is not in that zone. A psychiatrist in Lahore following WPA’s South Asia zonal activity is following a zone they do not belong to, while their own zone’s representative and activities sit elsewhere entirely.

Route one: the World Congress fellowship

This is the one with published figures, and it is the most winnable.

What it covers. Waived congress registration, an accommodation stipend of €330, and a travel stipend of up to €800 for international travel, €600 within Europe and €100 locally. WPA reimburses both stipends after the congress, which matters enormously: you pay first, then claim.

Who qualifies.

1. Fluent English.

2. Member or trainee affiliate of a WPA Member Society.

3. At least two years of specialist training.

4. No more than five years since completing specialist training.

5. A strong educational and professional record.

6. Agreement to translate one specialist corner lecture from the congress into your own language.

That five-year window is the whole game. A psychiatrist seven years past qualification cannot apply, however strong the record. Work out your own window today and put the date in your calendar.

The file is short. A letter of recommendation from a department head, society president or WPA Section Chair confirming your status and that you are within five years of qualifying; a CV; and a letter of motivation. A panel of peers and senior psychiatrists appointed by the Congress Scientific Committee assesses the nominations. Our guide on asking for a reference letter covers the first item, and the free CV builder the second.

The timing, from the last cycle. For the 26th World Congress in Stockholm, 23 to 26 September 2026, the extended application deadline fell on 26 March 2026, with notifications by 27 May 2026. That congress has now taken place.

WPA’s own listing names the 28th World Congress of Psychiatry in Taipei, Taiwan, in 2028. Treat the dates on that listing carefully, because WPA shows it as a month-long range rather than a congress week, which reads as a placeholder.

Route two: the World Psychiatry Exchange Program

WPA’s Early Career Psychiatrists Section runs the World Psychiatry Exchange Program, an annual scheme offering clinical observerships, research projects, mentoring and educational activities, shaped around both the host institution and the participant.

Applications typically open in the autumn for the following year. You are reading this in autumn.

WPA does not publish what the programme costs or covers, so ask before you plan. The Section’s Exchange Program Coordinator handles queries, and the Section itself answers at wpa.ecp.section@gmail.com.

One detail worth knowing about the Section itself: it has no age limit and no membership fee, and covers trainees and psychiatrists up to seven years after becoming specialists. That is two years wider than the congress fellowship window, so a psychiatrist six years post-qualification still belongs in the Section even though the congress fellowship has closed to them.

Route three: the prizes

The Jean Delay Prize, which WPA calls psychiatry’s most prestigious award, goes every three years at the World Congress to a colleague who has made a noteworthy contribution to the biological, psychological or social aspects of psychiatry. Past recipients include Robin Murray in 2023, Hannelore Ehrenreich in 2020 and Jules Angst in 2017. Nominations, not applications, and the 2026 cycle ran to an extended 16 February 2026.

You will not win this one early in your career, and that is fine. Know it exists, and know that somebody could nominate your department’s senior professor if anybody thought to do it.

Route four: the one for students

WPA runs a Medical Students Essay Competition, which it describes as a flagship activity. Winners in 2025 came from King’s College London and Mulungushi University in Zambia; in 2024 from Ahvaz Jundishapur University in Iran and the University of Pernambuco in Brazil.

Look at that list of institutions. Two of the last four winners studied in Iran and Zambia. This is not a competition that only Western students win, and it costs nothing but writing to enter.

If you are a medical student reading this, it is the most realistic WPA opportunity on the page, and it builds exactly the publication record that the WHF Emerging Leaders Programme and most research fellowships later demand.

Route five, almost: the diploma

WPA also lists a Graduate Diploma in International Psychiatry, delivered with the University of Melbourne. WPA’s own page carries no eligibility, cost or deadline for it, so treat it as a lead and ask the WPA Secretariat before building a plan around it.

Step-by-step

Step 1, today: work out your five-year window. Count from the date you completed specialist training. That single number decides whether the congress fellowship still welcomes you, closes soon, or has already gone.

Step 2, today: confirm your Pakistan Psychiatric Society membership is current.

Step 3, this week: write to the ECP Section at wpa.ecp.section@gmail.com and ask when the Exchange Program opens for the next cycle and what it covers. Autumn is the stated window, so this week is the right week.

Step 4, this week: join the ECP Section. No age limit, no fee, and a seven-year span.

Step 5, November: ask WPA’s Secretariat which zone activities apply to Pakistan, given the Zone 12 placement, and who represents your zone.

Step 6, December: prepare the three congress documents in advance: recommendation letter, CV and motivation letter. The letter is the slow item.

Step 7, early in the year: watch for the congress fellowship call, which in the last cycle closed in late March with notifications in late May.

Step 8, if you are a student: write the essay. Nothing else on this page costs so little to attempt.

FAQ

Does WPA offer fellowships?

Yes, principally fellowships to attend its World Congress of Psychiatry, plus the World Psychiatry Exchange Program for early career psychiatrists.

What does the congress fellowship cover?

Waived registration, a €330 accommodation stipend, and travel of up to €800 internationally, €600 within Europe or €100 locally, all reimbursed after the congress.

Who can apply?

A member or trainee affiliate of a WPA Member Society with at least two years of specialist training and no more than five years since completing it, fluent in English.

Is the Pakistan Psychiatric Society a member?

Yes, one of 146 WPA member societies.

Which WPA zone is Pakistan in?

Region III, Zone 12, the Middle East and Central and Western Asia, not Zone 15 South Asia.

What do I have to give back?

Fellows agree to translate a congress lecture, or in an earlier cycle a WPA newsletter, into their own language.

When is the deadline?

In the last cycle, WPA extended applications to 26 March 2026 and notified by 27 May 2026, for a congress that September.

Where is the next World Congress?

WPA lists the 28th World Congress in Taipei, Taiwan, in 2028. Confirm the exact dates, since WPA’s listing shows a month-long range.

What is the Exchange Program?

An annual scheme of clinical observerships, research projects, mentoring and educational activities, with applications typically opening in the autumn for the following year.

Does the Exchange Program pay?

WPA’s page does not say. Ask the Section before planning.

Can medical students apply for anything?

Yes, the Medical Students Essay Competition, whose recent winners include students from Iran and Zambia.

What about the Jean Delay Prize?

It runs every three years by nomination, not application, for distinguished contributions to psychiatry.