ARES International Training Scholarships

Who can apply

Permanent resident of, and working in, one of 32 ARES partner countries: 21 in Africa, 5 in South America and the Caribbean, 5 in Southeast Asia, plus Palestine as a standing exception to the residence requirement
Holds a graduate degree meeting the chosen programme's own admission requirements, earned no more than 20 years before the programme starts; extended by one year per childbirth or adoption
At least two years of relevant professional experience in one of the 32 partner countries, between the most recent degree and the application deadline
Application completed in the language the chosen programme is taught in, with good written and spoken command of it; basic French is not required but helps with daily life in Belgium
May apply to only one programme; once submitted, the application cannot be modified

Built around where you work, not where you were born

Eligibility here is built around where you work, not where you were born. Applicants need to be a permanent resident of one of the 32 partner countries, spanning 21 across Africa, 5 in South America and the Caribbean, and 5 in Southeast Asia, and to have spent at least two years working there in a relevant role since their most recent degree. Palestinian applicants are the one standing exception, eligible regardless of where they currently live. ARES lists the 32 by name: in Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, DR Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe; in South America and the Caribbean, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti and Peru; in Southeast Asia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines and Vietnam. For a wider view of scholarships built specifically for applicants from developing countries, see the guide to funding for students from developing countries.

Nine tracks, with coverage that differs by which one you’re on

Nine tracks ran for 2027-2028: one specialised bachelor’s degree, eight specialised master’s programmes and one continuing training course, all taught in Belgium through the Wallonia-Brussels Federation’s university network. Bachelor’s and master’s programmes run up to 12 months; continuing training tops out at 6. Coverage differs by track. Degree programmes add tuition fees and exceptional visa costs on top of travel, a subsistence allowance and insurance, while the continuing-training track swaps tuition and visa support for indirect mission-expense funding instead.

The round is closed; here is how it ran

ARES’s own page now states plainly that the 2027-2028 call is closed, with the next call expected in August 2027 and no specific date published yet. The round that closed had run through the standard GIRAF platform: applicants needed an existing account, went to “Competitive Calls” in GIRAF, opened the “Application” form for this call exactly once, saved and completed it (fields marked with an asterisk had to be filled before the form could be saved for the first time, after which it could be resumed as a draft), and then submitted it. ARES is explicit that a submitted application cannot be modified afterward. Expect the 2028-2029 round to follow the same mechanics.

What the award actually pays for

ARES’s reference document for the call sets out the terms in a table, separated by track. Every scholarship holder gets one return flight a year in economy class on an IATA airline, a monthly subsistence allowance, and insurance paid directly by ARES rather than reimbursed. For bachelor’s and master’s scholars, that subsistence allowance runs as 12 monthly payments plus a reduced 13th month, and it already has up to 200 euros built in for visa costs; if the real cost goes over that, the excess is reimbursed against receipts. Degree scholars separately get up to 250 euros, also against receipts, for travel between institutions, a cost that has nothing to do with the flight from your home country. Tuition fees are covered for the bachelor’s and master’s tracks only. The continuing training track works differently: instead of the visa-cost allowance and tuition, it gets a flat 200 euros toward additional international travel costs and indirect mission-expense support. None of these figures were on the funder’s public web page; they come from the call’s own reference document.

Before the next call opens

If you are eligible on paper, the most useful thing to do while the call is closed is line up the two-year professional-experience evidence and, if you do not already have one, look into what a GIRAF account requires, since account setup has had its own lead time in past rounds. Contact for this programme runs through ARES’s cooperation team at scholarships-cooperation@ares-ac.be.