MBZUAI Scholarship and Funding 2026: PhD vs Master's

Who can apply

A STEM degree from an accredited, UAE Ministry of Education-recognised institution, with a minimum CGPA of 3.0 or 3.5 on a 4.0 scale depending on the programme
A full application includes a CV, statement of purpose, research statement, referee recommendations, and a required screening exam; a subset of applicants are then invited to a technical interview
Only one application per admission cycle is accepted
PhD Year 1 funding is centrally provided while matching a faculty advisor, then transfers to the advisor from Year 2, subject to a confirmed match
Master's students are not automatically funded; funding requires a faculty advisor-sponsored assistantship, an approved government scholarship, or merit-based funding decided during admissions review, and students without a funding source are classified as fee-paying
Funded students must maintain an in-person presence on campus throughout the funded period and obtain approval before any time away

“Fully funded” isn’t automatic for everyone

Read past the “fully funded” label most secondhand sites still use here, because MBZUAI’s own page no longer promises that for everyone. PhD applicants get real, if conditional, Year 1 funding while they match with a faculty advisor. Master’s applicants get something narrower: MBZUAI’s own words are that M.Sc. funding is “not automatically funded, fee-paying by default,” and a student who doesn’t secure a faculty-sponsored assistantship or merit-based funding during admissions review is billed as a fee-paying student, full stop.

The actual stipend figures, and they split by nationality

That distinction matters more than the entitlements list, but the entitlements themselves are now stated in real numbers rather than left vague. MBZUAI’s own funding table gives the actual monthly figures, and they split sharply by nationality: AED 37,500 a month for a UAE national on the M.Sc. track against AED 15,500 for an international student on the same track, and AED 43,500 against AED 17,500 at PhD level. On top of that, funded students get free tuition, a return flight home each year, health cover, a university-sponsored residence visa, and, per MBZUAI’s broader admissions materials, eligibility for the UAE’s Golden Visa on graduation. If you hold an external scholarship or fellowship, disclose it: MBZUAI states plainly that outside funding normally replaces the university stipend rather than stacking on top of it, and funded students are expected to stay physically on campus for the funded period, with prior approval required for any time away.

One programme is entirely excluded from funding

One programme run through MBZUAI is explicitly excluded from all of this: the Master in Applied Artificial Intelligence (MAAI) is fee-based on its own terms, AED 5,000 per credit across 34 credit hours, AED 170,000 total, and is not eligible for University or faculty-sponsored funding under any circumstance.

Seven named departments at very different stages of maturity

Beyond MAAI, MBZUAI runs seven other named M.Sc. departments, and their maturity varies considerably: Computer Science, Computer Vision (ranked in the world’s top 15), Machine Learning (top 25 worldwide and the university’s largest department), Natural Language Processing (top 15 worldwide, with a stated focus on Arabic and underserved languages), Robotics (opening a dedicated Robotics Research Lab in 2026), Statistics and Data Science (its first cohort only started in 2025), and Computational Biology, which welcomes its first-ever M.Sc. and PhD cohorts in 2026. A brand-new department carries different risk and opportunity than an established, ranked one; check which stage a specific department is at before assuming they’re interchangeable.

The paperwork, and Computational Biology’s own later timetable

The application itself is more document-heavy than a screening exam alone: a CV, statement of purpose, research statement, and referee recommendations all go in alongside the required screening exam, with a subset of applicants then invited to a technical interview. One further wrinkle worth knowing: Computational Biology runs on its own later timetable. Every other programme’s application portal opens 7 September 2026, but Computational Biology’s opens a full month later, 7 October 2026, even though every programme shares the same 15 December final deadline.

Housing is not automatic, and MBZUAI no longer publishes a flat price

On-campus student housing exists, but read the eligibility line carefully: MBZUAI’s own housing page limits it to “undergraduate and first year graduate students,” with visiting students accommodated only where space allows. A PhD or Master’s student beyond their first year is not guaranteed a place. What’s on offer is a fully furnished apartment on gender-specific floors, mostly double occupancy (a small number of disability-adapted rooms can be requested), with laundry machines, a canteen, prayer rooms and common lounges included, and self-service cleaning (paid cleaning is available separately). Room type cannot be chosen in advance. On the cost itself, MBZUAI’s page no longer states a fixed figure; it says prices “will be provided on application” and directs enquiries to student.housing@mbzuai.ac.ae. Treat any specific AED figure quoted elsewhere online as unconfirmed and out of date. If you end up housing yourself off campus instead, MBZUAI’s own guidance puts a one-bedroom apartment in the nearby Masdar City area at roughly AED 57,000 to AED 100,000 a year, with leases usually running 12 months and a municipality fee and, often, an agency fee on top.

Health cover, wellbeing support and keeping your scholarship

Every student, not just funded ones, is stated to receive health insurance for the duration of their studies, covering access to a set list of off-campus medical providers; MBZUAI’s Student Life team activates it once you arrive. The same team runs a confidential counselling and wellbeing service available to all students through the semester, a 24/7 wellbeing line reachable over Microsoft Teams, and an on-campus first aid clinic, alongside a dedicated Accessibility Services role for students who need learning accommodations, which MBZUAI asks you to arrange before your studies begin rather than after. There is also a named Financial Aid and Scholarship team whose stated role includes advice on retaining your scholarship and understanding its benefits, worth using if anything about your funding status becomes unclear once you’re enrolled.

A separate undergraduate track exists, with its own dates and its own scholarships

This entry covers MBZUAI’s graduate programmes specifically. The university also runs a distinct undergraduate division, with two Bachelor of Science tracks (Artificial Intelligence, in a Business or an Engineering concentration), its own $45,000-a-year tuition figure before cost of attendance, and its own merit- and needs-based scholarships that MBZUAI states can cover up to 100% of tuition and cost of attendance, awarded automatically with the admission offer rather than through a separate scholarship application. Its deadlines run on a different calendar to the graduate one covered here, with an Early Action and a Regular Decision round. If you are applying as an undergraduate rather than to a Master’s or PhD, check MBZUAI’s own undergraduate admissions page directly rather than assume this entry’s 15 December graduate deadline applies to you.