Fellowship Scholarships Offered in South Africa , 2025 - 2026

What is a fellowship scholarship?

A fellowship can be defined as a competitive, merit-based award. It is given to students to support individuals with advanced study and research for a short time. While normal scholarship usually covers tuition fees, a fellowship may give a stipend for living expenses and other costs, to help student focus fully on their projects. Fellowships offer prestige, skill development, and valuable networking opportunities, typically for graduate, doctoral, or postdoctoral students and experienced professionals.

Different characteristics of scholarship are as follows:

1. The main reason is to help academic or professional development in a specific project or area of study.
2. The funding is usually a stipend or grant for living expenses and research, but it does not include tuition.
3. The only people who qualify for it are the advanced students, graduate degree holders, or mid-career professionals.
4. Prestige: A fellowship provides a prestigious status and recognition within a specific field.
5. It usually focuses on a specialized field or project. It does not require repayment or work in return for the stipend.
6. What is the difference between a Fellowship and a normal Scholarship?
7. Scholarships are a broader category of financial aid, awarded based on academic achievement, talent, or athletic ability.
8. Fellowships are in a more specialized field. It requires students to have an undergraduate or graduate degree in a specific field. It is more competitive and focuses on supporting professionals.

Some of the examples of Fellowship are:

1. Academic Fellowships that support PhD students to conduct research and work on advanced projects, just like a research assistantship that supports researchers.
2. Professional Fellowships are for mid-career professionals to encourage skills and knowledge in their field. eg, medical fellowships for specialized training after residency.
3. Arts Fellowships are for artists, writers, and musicians to support creative pursuits.

finally, you can visit Scholarship Databases websites like ScholarshipLit to find and apply for available fellowship and scholarship opportunities.