How to Find PhD Scholarships: A Step-by-Step Search Method
International PhD scholarships rarely appear in one place. Use official portals, government programs, and university pages, and verify every listing before you apply.
Start with official portals, not search engines
A general web search for "PhD scholarship" returns many blogs, aggregator sites, and old pages. Some of these pages reprint real scholarships with the wrong dates or the wrong eligibility rules. Start instead with a small set of official portals, and keep returning to them.
Two useful general portals for international PhD students are:
- EURAXESS, the European Union's portal for researchers. It lists PhD and researcher vacancies across Europe, updated daily, with visa, tax, and social security information for each country.
- The DAAD Scholarship Database, run by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). It lists DAAD's own funding programs and also "offers from other selected funding organisations." DAAD states that it compiles this information "with the greatest possible care" but cannot guarantee that every listing is correct or complete, so it tells applicants to contact the program directly before they apply.
That last point matters beyond Germany. Treat any scholarship database, even an official one, as a starting list, not a final answer. Confirm every detail on the funding body's own page.
Government and EU-funded programs
Many PhD scholarships come from a government or an EU program, not from a single university. The EU's main doctoral funding scheme is Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks. A consortium of universities, research institutes, and companies in different countries runs each network and recruits PhD candidates directly, so you apply to an open vacancy, not to "MSCA" itself. Networks can run for up to four years, or five years for Joint Doctorates, and open vacancies appear on EURAXESS.
MSCA Doctoral Networks apply a mobility rule: in general, you must not have lived or worked in the country of the recruiting organization for more than 12 months in the 36 months before your recruitment date. Rules like this are common across EU-funded schemes. Check the mobility rule for every call, even when you qualify for one similar scheme and not another.
National governments run their own programs too. The Fulbright Program, funded by the US government and administered by the Institute of International Education, is one example. If you are not a US citizen, you apply through the Fulbright Commission, Foundation, or US Embassy in your own home country, not directly to a US university. Many national scholarship programs work the same way, through a commission, embassy, or national agency in your home country, rather than one central website.
See PhD Atlas guides on specific programs, including DAAD doctoral scholarships, MSCA Doctoral Networks, the Chinese Government Scholarship, and the MEXT scholarship for Japan.
University funding pages
Many PhD positions, especially in the Netherlands, the Nordic countries, and the UK, are paid university jobs, not scholarships that you apply for separately. Universities advertise these on their own vacancy or doctoral school pages, often alongside internally and externally funded positions.
Tip: Even when a position first appears on an aggregator site, go to the hiring university's own page before you apply. Confirm the deadline, the pay, and the eligibility rules there.
How to verify a scholarship before you apply
Use this short checklist before you spend time on an application:
| Check | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Is the page official? | The funding body's own domain, such as a university, a government ministry, or a named foundation, not an aggregator |
| Is the deadline current? | The official call page, not a blog post, which may repeat an old deadline |
| Does it name the current year or call? | A scholarship page with no year, or an old year, may be outdated |
| Can you find contact details? | An official program names a contact office or email for questions |
| Does the eligibility match your case? | Nationality, degree, and mobility rules vary by call, so read the current rules, not a summary |
If a page does not show a current year or a current deadline, do not assume the terms still apply. Go to the funding body's own site and check the current call.
A simple weekly search routine
- Check EURAXESS for new PhD and researcher vacancies in your field.
- Check the funding database for your target country, such as DAAD for Germany, alongside general EU program pages.
- Check the doctoral school or careers page of two or three target universities directly.
- Note the deadline and the official source URL for anything that fits your profile, so you can confirm it again closer to the deadline.
- Re-check any scholarship you plan to apply for, a few days before the deadline, on its official page.
Common mistakes
- Applying based on a deadline from an aggregator site, without checking the official page.
- Assuming a scholarship database is complete. DAAD states openly that it cannot guarantee every listing is correct.
- Ignoring mobility and residence rules, which can disqualify you even when you meet the degree and nationality rules.
- Applying to "MSCA" directly, instead of to the specific project vacancy that is hiring.
Where to find open positions
Check PhD positions and funded PhD positions on PhD Atlas for current openings across countries. For general advice on the application process, see how to find a PhD position in Europe.
PhD Atlas matches open positions to your CV. Sign up so new positions and scholarships reach you directly.