IsDB Scholarship 2026/27: Islamic Development Bank Programmes for Bachelor’s, Master’s & PhD

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) scholarship programmes are among the very few large, recurring funding systems built specifically for students from IsDB member countries and for Muslim communities living in countries that are not IsDB members. If you are a strong student from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia, Uganda or another member country who cannot fund a degree alone — or a Muslim student in India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, South Africa or another non-member country facing the same problem at home — there may be an IsDB programme designed for exactly your situation. But “the IsDB Scholarship” is not one scholarship. It is a family of four programmes with different levels, different eligible countries, different funders’ expectations, and — this is the part most guides get wrong — different funding models. Two of the programmes are built on an interest-free loan that you repay after graduation; two are grants. Understanding which programme you belong in, and what you are actually agreeing to, matters as much as the application itself.

This guide explains the IsDB Scholarship Programmes for 2026/27 as the Islamic Development Bank itself presents them on isdb.org/scholarships: the Scholarship Programme for Muslim Communities in Non-Member Countries (SPMC), the IsDB-ISFD Scholarship Programme for Least Developed Member Countries, the Master of Science (M.Sc.) Scholarship Programme, and the Merit Scholarship Programme for High Technology (MSP), which carries PhD and post-doctoral study. You will find who each programme is for, the eligibility rules, what the funding covers, the honest explanation of the Qard Hasan (interest-free loan) model, a step-by-step application route through the official IsDB scholarship portal, the documents to prepare, the realistic timeline, and the mistakes — including falling for fee-charging scams — that applicants must avoid.

A note on dates before we begin: IsDB’s scholarship page now carries the 2027-2028 programme heading, and recent cycles have typically opened their call in the early part of the year — the 2025-2026 call closed on 20 April 2025 after an extension, and the 2026-2027 call was open in January–February 2026. Exact opening and closing dates are set per cycle and published only on the official IsDB scholarships page and portal. This guide therefore describes the timeline by its established pattern and labels last cycle’s dates as last cycle’s dates. If any website gives you a precise 2027-28 deadline that IsDB has not published, treat it as a guess.

IsDB Scholarship Programmes at a Glance

Read the funding-model column twice. The single most common misunderstanding about IsDB is the belief that every programme is a free, fully funded grant. For SPMC and IsDB-ISFD — the two undergraduate programmes, which are also the programmes most readers of this guide will apply to — IsDB’s model is deliberately different, and Section 4 below explains it in full before you decide to apply. If you are comparing IsDB with other routes, our scholarships directory and study abroad guides set it alongside grant-based government scholarships so you can weigh the models side by side.

The Four Programmes, Explained Properly

1. SPMC — for Muslim communities in non-member countries (since 1983)

SPMC is IsDB’s oldest scholarship programme, launched in 1983 to strengthen human resources in Muslim communities outside its membership. It supports undergraduate study — normally in the student’s own country, at a recognised (usually public) university — in development-critical fields. The eligible non-member country list in recent booklets has included, among others, Australia, Cambodia, Croatia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Ghana, India, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, the Netherlands, the Republic of Congo, the Russian Federation, Rwanda, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the Philippines, Trinidad and Tobago, Vietnam and Zambia. The list is republished in each cycle’s booklet, so confirm your country appears in the current one. Applications are screened with the involvement of a local partner — a recognised community/NGO organisation acting as IsDB’s counterpart in your country — which verifies documents, interviews candidates and confirms financial need. That local verification is a real stage of the process, not a formality.

2. IsDB-ISFD — for Least Developed Member Countries (Bachelor’s and TVET)

The IsDB-ISFD programme, co-funded by the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development, targets students from 21 LDMCs: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Palestine, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Uganda and Yemen. It funds Bachelor’s degrees and technical/vocational diplomas (TVET) in fields such as medicine, engineering, agriculture and related sciences. Depending on the cycle and the field, study may be in the student’s own country or in a member country that has an agreement with IsDB — recent cycles have named Malaysia, Morocco and Türkiye among placement countries for parts of this programme. Bangladeshi readers should note carefully: Bangladesh is an LDMC for this programme, which is why IsDB-ISFD, not SPMC, is the undergraduate IsDB route for Bangladeshi citizens.

3. M.Sc. — Master’s for LDMCs (since 1998)

IsDB created the M.Sc. programme in 1998 as a feeder into the MSP, after recognising that the least developed member countries were barely benefiting from doctoral-level support because their Master’s pipeline was too thin. It funds up to two years of Master’s study in science, technology and related development fields for citizens of 20 LDMCs — the booklet list has comprised Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Maldives, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Palestine, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Togo, Uganda and Yemen. Note the difference from the IsDB-ISFD list: the M.Sc. list includes Maldives and does not include Bangladesh or Senegal, so always check the current booklet rather than assuming the two LDMC lists are identical. Candidates are normally expected to be nominated or endorsed by a scientific, academic or research institution in their country, and to hold admission (full or provisional, as the booklet specifies) from an approved institution.

4. MSP — Merit Scholarship Programme for High Technology (since 1992)

The MSP supports PhD study and post-doctoral research in applied sciences and high technology, to build the scientific and research capacity of institutions in member countries. It is open to citizens of all 57 IsDB member countries — Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen. In practice the MSP is aimed at people already inside the academic system — university staff and researchers whose home institution will benefit from, and expects the return of, their upgraded expertise. PhD support runs up to 36 months; post-doctoral research is a shorter placement, typically six to twelve months.

And what about “IsDB-MTCP”? Applicants researching online sometimes meet references to an IsDB–MTCP route. MTCP is the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme, a Malaysian Government scholarship scheme run by Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs; it is a separate programme from IsDB’s own four programmes, and IsDB’s current scholarships page groups applications under SPMC, IsDB-ISFD, M.Sc. and MSP. If you are interested in Master’s study in Malaysia under MTCP, apply through MTCP’s own official channels; if you are applying to IsDB, use the IsDB portal and the four programmes above. Do not let a third-party page blur the two together — and never pay anyone who claims to sell access to either.

Eligibility: Who Can Apply?

Eligibility is programme-specific. The common spine across all four programmes is: citizenship of an eligible country for that programme; an excellent academic record at the previous level; medical fitness (you must be willing to undergo a medical examination after selection); not holding another scholarship at the same time; not being an IsDB Group staff member, Executive Director, or a close relative of one; and a genuine commitment to return and contribute to your country’s or community’s development after your studies. IsDB programmes are development instruments first and personal opportunities second, and the selection process reads your file in that light.

• SPMC: Muslim; citizen of an eligible non-member country and resident in your home country; maximum age 24 in recent booklets; completed senior secondary education (about 12 years) with good grades in the major subjects relevant to your field; demonstrated financial need verified by the local counterpart organisation; admission to a recognised university in an approved field, normally in your own country.
• IsDB-ISFD: Citizen of one of the 21 LDMCs; maximum age 24 in recent booklets for the undergraduate/TVET tracks; completed secondary education with good grades in major subjects; financial need; admission in an approved field under the programme’s placement arrangements.
• M.Sc.: Citizen of one of the 20 eligible LDMCs; maximum age 30 in recent booklets; a Bachelor’s degree in a science/technology-related field with at least a “Good” (in some booklets “Very Good”) standing; preferably work and/or research experience; a research proposal in an approved field showing scientific and development relevance; institutional nomination/endorsement as the booklet requires; the language proficiency your host institution requires.
• MSP (PhD): Citizen of a member country; maximum age 35 in recent booklets; a Master’s degree in an approved high-technology field with strong standing; preferably work/research experience; a research proposal of clear scientific and development relevance; employer/institutional support consistent with the programme’s return obligations. MSP (post-doctoral): maximum age 40 in recent booklets; a PhD in an approved field; at least two years of research experience after the PhD; a record of publications in the field; a research proposal as above.

Two eligibility subtleties deserve emphasis because they eliminate many applications early. First, religion: the SPMC is, by design, for Muslim communities, and Muslim faith is an eligibility condition of that programme. The member-country programmes (IsDB-ISFD, M.Sc., MSP) are framed in the booklets by citizenship of member/LDMC countries rather than by a personal faith test. Second, age limits are applied strictly as of the date the booklet specifies. If you will pass the maximum age before that date, you are out for this cycle regardless of your grades — plan your application year accordingly, and use our deadline and planning tools to map your remaining windows across several scholarships, not just this one.

Benefits — and the Qard Hasan Loan Model You Must Understand

Across the programmes, IsDB’s benefit package, as described in its official booklets and handbook summaries, typically includes the items below. The exact composition varies by programme and by whether you study at home or abroad, and IsDB does not publish one universal stipend table — monthly amounts are calibrated to living costs in the country of study. Any third-party page quoting a single worldwide IsDB stipend figure is guessing.

The loan question, answered honestly

For the SPMC and IsDB-ISFD undergraduate programmes, the money IsDB spends on you is advanced as Qard Hasan — an interest-free loan in Islamic finance. You receive full funding during your studies: tuition, stipend and allowances as above. After you graduate and gain employment, you repay the principal — without interest — in instalments to a local IsDB Education Trust in your country or community. The repaid money is recycled to fund the next student from your community, which is why IsDB describes this as a community revolving model rather than a commercial debt. There is no interest and the repayment is designed to begin when you are earning, but it is a real obligation: read the undertaking you sign, understand the total that will be recorded against you, and apply only if you accept the model in good faith.

The M.Sc. and MSP programmes, by contrast, operate as grants in the recent programme summaries — there is no loan repayment — but they carry a different obligation: a binding commitment to return to your home country/institution and serve for a period (commonly described as twice the study period in programme materials) applying what you learned. In other words, every IsDB programme asks something durable of you in return: repayment, return, or both in spirit. Applicants who present their plans in exactly those terms — what they will study, where they will return to, and what they will build or teach — are speaking the language IsDB selects for.

Fields of Study

IsDB funds fields that member countries and communities need, not every field a university offers. At undergraduate level, approved fields in recent booklets centre on medicine and health sciences (medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, medical laboratory sciences, microbiology, public health), engineering and technology (civil, mechanical, chemical, electrical, urban planning and related branches), agriculture and forestry (including sustainable agriculture and food security), computing and IT (software engineering, telecommunications, data science), and natural sciences (physics, geology, environmental sciences), with some social science fields such as economics appearing in some tracks and cycles. At M.Sc. level, the emphasis shifts to development-facing science and technology: sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, climate change, water and hygiene, green chemistry, waste management, ICT for development, infrastructure and innovation, education and psychology, and Islamic finance and banking among them. The MSP’s high-technology list is the most specialised of all, spanning advanced health, engineering, energy, agriculture, Islamic economics and finance, green technologies and related applied research areas.

The practical rule: your field must appear in your programme’s current booklet list, and for M.Sc./MSP your research proposal must argue the field’s development relevance to your country explicitly. A proposal that could have been written for any country on earth scores worse than one tied to a named problem — a water system, a crop, a disease burden, an energy gap — in yours. When you compare fields and destinations, our rankings coverage and study guides can help you sanity-check institutions, but the booklet, not any ranking, decides whether your field is fundable.

How to Apply for the IsDB Scholarship: Step by Step

1. Identify your programme before anything else. Use the table at the top of this guide: non-member-country Muslim undergraduate → SPMC; LDMC undergraduate/TVET → IsDB-ISFD; LDMC Master’s → M.Sc.; member-country PhD/postdoc → MSP. Applying to the wrong programme wastes the cycle.
2. Read the current cycle booklet for your programme on isdb.org/scholarships. The booklet is the controlling document: eligible countries, fields, age limits, documents and obligations for this cycle are all in it. Download and keep it.
3. Secure the academic side early. Undergraduate programmes work with admission to a recognised university in an approved field (for SPMC, normally at home; follow your booklet’s exact wording). M.Sc. and MSP applicants need admission or the institutional nomination/endorsement their programme requires — start these conversations months before the portal opens, because universities and employers move slower than portals.
4. For SPMC and IsDB-ISFD, engage the local counterpart. These programmes involve a local partner organisation that verifies documents, financial need and, for SPMC, community standing, and may interview you. Find the counterpart named for your country in the booklet or via IsDB, and follow its preselection steps as well as the portal steps.
5. Prepare documents (next section) including certified translations of anything not in English or French, your research proposal if you are an M.Sc./MSP applicant, and evidence of financial need if you are an undergraduate applicant.
6. Register on the official portal at isdbscholarships.smartsimple.com when the call opens and complete the application for your programme. The portal is the only application channel, and applying costs nothing.
7. Submit before the closing date shown on the portal for your cycle, and keep your submission confirmation. Do not leave submission to the final day; portal traffic near deadlines is heavy every year.
8. Complete any interview, verification or medical steps you are called to. Shortlisted candidates may face interviews by IsDB or its partners, and selected candidates undergo a medical examination.
9. If selected, follow the placement and undertaking process exactly: sign the programme’s undertaking (including, for SPMC/IsDB-ISFD, the Qard Hasan repayment undertaking), complete visa and travel steps where study is abroad, and report to your institution as instructed. Do not change your programme, field or university afterwards without IsDB’s written approval — unapproved changes can end the award.

Questions during the process go to IsDB through the contact channels published on its scholarships page — programme summaries list the scholarship team’s email for applicant queries. Keep every communication polite, brief and tied to your application ID.

Required Documents

The portal and booklet for your cycle set the exact list, but across recent cycles IsDB applicants have consistently prepared:

• Passport or national identity document proving citizenship of the eligible country.
• Academic certificates and transcripts for all completed levels (secondary for undergraduate tracks; Bachelor’s for M.Sc.; Master’s/PhD for MSP), with certified English or French translations where the originals are in another language.
• Admission letter or evidence of admission/application status from the recognised university or institution, as your programme requires.
• Curriculum vitae (CV) — expected at Master’s, PhD and post-doctoral level and useful at every level.
• Research proposal (M.Sc. and MSP) stating the research problem, its scientific merit and its development relevance to your country/community.
• Personal statement / motivation covering your study plan and your post-study return and contribution plan.
• Evidence of financial need for the needs-based undergraduate programmes, in the form the counterpart organisation requests.
• Institutional nomination or employer endorsement documents where the programme requires them (M.Sc. and MSP in particular).
• Language proficiency evidence for the medium of instruction of your programme (for example TOEFL/IELTS for English-medium study), where available or required by the institution.
• Medical fitness documentation at the stage IsDB requests it (medical examination follows selection).
• Recent photographs and any country- or counterpart-specific forms named in the booklet.

Deadlines and Application Timeline

IsDB opens one main call per cycle. The established pattern from recent cycles: the call opens in the early part of the year — the 2026-2027 call was open in January–February 2026 — and the previous cycle (2025-2026) closed on 20 April 2025 after an extension, while the 2024-2025 call closed on 30 April 2024. The window’s length therefore varies; do not assume you have until April. The table below is a planning timeline built from that pattern, labelled as a pattern — the binding dates for 2027-28 will be those published on isdb.org/scholarships and the portal.

If the IsDB window does not align with your readiness this year, sequence your applications: government grant scholarships such as the Aga Khan Foundation International Scholarship (for postgraduates from its eligible countries) and the ICCR Scholarship to study in India run on different calendars, and a well-kept document folder serves all three.

Selection Criteria and How to Improve Your Chances

IsDB selects on a combination its booklets make visible: academic excellence at the previous level; for the undergraduate programmes, verified financial need; fit between your field and the programme’s approved list; for researchers, the quality and development relevance of your proposal and your publication/experience record; and the credibility of your return-and-contribute plan. Geography matters too: LDMC programmes exist precisely to direct funding to the least developed member countries, and SPMC allocations serve communities country by country.

To strengthen a real application: choose a field that is unambiguously on the approved list rather than arguing a borderline case; make your academic record easy to verify with clean, translated, certified documents; write a proposal or personal statement anchored in a specific development problem in your country and a specific role you will return to; secure the strongest institutional endorsement available to you if your programme uses nominations; and, for SPMC/IsDB-ISFD, cooperate fully and honestly with the counterpart organisation’s need verification — understating or overstating your finances both damage you when documents are checked. Finally, apply in the first half of the window. Early, complete applications get queries resolved while there is still time to fix them.

Common Mistakes — Including Scams

• Paying anyone in connection with an IsDB application. IsDB charges no fee at any stage — not for application, selection or “enrollment processing”. Anyone requesting money for IsDB scholarship services is running a scam. The only official portal is isdbscholarships.smartsimple.com and the only official information source is isdb.org.
• Assuming all IsDB funding is a free grant. SPMC and IsDB-ISFD awards are Qard Hasan loans repayable after graduation. Applying without reading the undertaking leads to nasty surprises later; the model is fair and interest-free, but it is an obligation.
• Applying to the wrong programme. A Bangladeshi undergraduate belongs in IsDB-ISFD, not SPMC; a Pakistani Master’s student is not eligible for the M.Sc. programme because Pakistan is not on its LDMC list. Programme-country matching errors are absolute — there is no transfer.
• Choosing an unapproved field. If your field is not in your programme’s booklet list, your file can be screened out before academic review. Check the list first, not after.
• Missing the employer/institution dimension of MSP and M.Sc. These programmes are built around institutions that nominate, endorse and re-absorb scholars. A purely individual application that ignores that design is weaker than the same file with institutional backing.
• Weak return plans. “I will come back and help my country” is not a plan. Name the institution, sector or problem you will return to and the role your new qualification fits.
• Late discovery of the call. Because the window can be short and has closed as early as February’s end announcements in one recent cycle’s reporting, students who first hear about IsDB in April may find the call already closed. Monitor the official page from December onward.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the IsDB Scholarship fully funded?

The package is comprehensive — tuition paid to the university, a monthly stipend calibrated to the country of study, allowances, medical cover, and travel plus installation support for those studying abroad. But “fully funded” hides the funding model: for the SPMC and IsDB-ISFD undergraduate programmes the award is an interest-free Qard Hasan loan that you repay after graduation to a local Education Trust. The M.Sc. and MSP programmes are grants with return-service obligations. Read your programme’s booklet so you know exactly which model you are accepting.

Do I have to be Muslim to apply for an IsDB Scholarship?

For the SPMC — the programme for Muslim communities in non-member countries — yes: it is designed for Muslim students, and faith is part of that programme’s eligibility. For the member-country programmes (IsDB-ISFD, M.Sc., MSP), the booklets frame eligibility by citizenship of member or LDMC countries. In all cases, your citizenship must match the programme’s country list.

I am from Bangladesh. Which IsDB programme is mine?

Bangladesh is one of the 21 LDMCs in the IsDB-ISFD programme, so Bangladeshi school-leavers apply there for Bachelor’s/TVET funding. Bangladesh is not on the M.Sc. programme’s 20-country list in recent booklets, so Bangladeshi Master’s applicants should not assume M.Sc. eligibility; Bangladeshi academics can, however, apply to the MSP for PhD/post-doctoral support, since the MSP covers all 57 member countries.

I am from India. Can I apply?

India is not an IsDB member country, but Indian Muslim students are within the SPMC’s design: India appears on the SPMC eligible non-member country list in recent booklets. SPMC supports undergraduate study, normally at a recognised university in India itself, with financial need verified through the local counterpart organisation. Confirm India’s presence in the current cycle’s booklet before applying.

How much is the monthly stipend?

IsDB does not publish a single stipend table. Amounts are set per programme against living costs in the country where you study, so a scholar studying at home and a scholar placed abroad receive different amounts. The current booklet and your award letter are the authoritative sources; treat any precise worldwide figure quoted on unofficial sites as unverified.

Is there an application fee?

No — none, at any stage. Registration and application on the official portal are free. If any person, agent or website asks you for money in connection with an IsDB scholarship application, it is a scam; walk away and rely only on isdb.org and isdbscholarships.smartsimple.com.

Can I study anywhere in the world on an IsDB Scholarship?

No. Placement follows the programme’s design: SPMC study is normally in your own country; IsDB-ISFD placements are at home or in agreed member countries (Malaysia, Morocco and Türkiye have featured in recent cycles); M.Sc. study is at approved institutions in member countries; MSP research is at high-technology institutions as approved in your award. You study where the programme places and approves you, not anywhere you choose.

What happens if I do not return home after an M.Sc. or MSP award?

Return and service are core conditions of those grants, not courtesies. Scholars sign undertakings covering return and service to their home country/institution, and breaching a signed undertaking has serious consequences for you and for your nominating institution’s future candidates. Apply only if you intend to honour the model — IsDB funds development at home, delivered by people who go back.

Sources & Verification

This guide is based on the Islamic Development Bank’s official scholarship pages (isdb.org/scholarships), which describe the history and structure of the SPMC (1983), MSP (1992), M.Sc. (1998) and LDMC undergraduate programmes, and on the programme booklets and handbook summaries IsDB publishes for each cycle — the source of the eligible-country lists, age limits, benefits composition (tuition paid to the institution, monthly stipend, books/clothing allowance, medical cover, thesis/conference allowances, return airfare and installation allowance for study abroad) and the Qard Hasan repayment model for the undergraduate programmes. Applications are made through IsDB’s official portal (isdbscholarships.smartsimple.com). Where cycle-specific details vary — eligible lists, fields, exact closing dates — this guide attributes them to “recent booklets/cycles” and directs you to the current booklet, which is the controlling document.

Disclaimer: IsDB programme details, eligible-country lists, fields and deadlines change by cycle. Always confirm your programme’s rules in the current official booklet on isdb.org before applying. StudyGraduate is an information portal, not an agency, and cannot guarantee selection, admission or visa approval for any applicant.