Pan African University (PAU) Scholarships

Who can apply

Maximum age of 25 for male and 28 for female applicants for master's programmes
An undergraduate degree from a recognised university, at least second class upper division or its equivalent, in a relevant field
PhD candidates may be required to sit a written or oral examination after pre-selection
Candidates for the Master in Conference Interpreting and Translation must have excellent knowledge of at least two African Union official languages (Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese)
Awardees commit to working in Africa after graduation
One recommendation letter from a former university lecturer, plus the names of three reference lecturers, each with an email address and a WhatsApp number, marked mandatory
PAUSTI in Kenya states on its own institutes page that it is admitting no new students in 2026; check the current institute-by-institute list before assuming your target institute is open

Four institutes, four host universities

The Pan African University runs a full scholarship for master’s and PhD study at one of four institutes, each hosted at a named university rather than run by PAU alone: PAUSTI at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kenya for basic sciences, technology and innovation; PAULESI at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria for life and earth sciences, health and agriculture; PAUGHSS jointly at the University of Yaoundé II and the University of Buea in Cameroon for governance, humanities and social sciences; and PAUWES at the University of Tlemcen in Algeria for water, energy and climate change. Successful candidates receive a joint degree from PAU and the relevant host university, and the African Union Commission funds them fully, tuition and living costs both covered, in exchange for a commitment to work in Africa after graduation.

PAUSTI’s own closure, and what’s actually still on offer

Not every institute is open in the same way. PAUSTI’s own institutes page states plainly that there is no admission of new students in 2026, so anyone targeting basic sciences, technology or innovation there specifically should not count on this cycle even once a new call opens elsewhere. Check the current institute-by-institute list directly rather than assume all four are accepting applications together.

The other three institutes publish named programmes rather than broad subject areas. PAULESI in Nigeria offers master’s tracks including Geosciences, with separate mineral-exploration and petroleum options, Plant Breeding, Environmental Management, Medicinal Plant Research and Drug Development, and Veterinary Vaccine Production and Quality Control, among others. PAUGHSS in Cameroon offers Governance and Regional Integration, Conference Interpreting, Translation, and Transborder Languages and Intercultural Communication. PAUWES in Algeria runs paired engineering and policy tracks across Water, Energy and Climate Change, plus a PhD specifically in the Water, Energy and Climate Change Nexus. Confirm your specific field appears on the institute’s own current list before applying, since these change between calls.

The paperwork, and PAU’s own leadership framing

The application itself asks for more documents than most funders require. Alongside certified transcripts, a passport or national ID, a passport photo and a detailed CV, PAU requires one recommendation letter from a former university lecturer and, separately, the names of three reference lecturers, each with an email address and a WhatsApp number, explicitly marked mandatory on the form. Certifying transcripts and academic records for an application like this takes real lead time; the guide to translating and certifying academic documents covers what that process usually involves. PAU frames itself as a continental leadership pipeline rather than a general funding scheme, describing its mission as building toward “a prosperous, integrated and peaceful Africa” and encouraging candidates aiming at transformative leadership roles as academics, industrialists, innovators and entrepreneurs, not simply the strongest exam results.

Where things stand right now

As of 9 September 2026 there is nothing open to apply to. The most recent call ran from 15 November to 15 December 2025 for 2026 intake, and PAU’s own application platform confirms it closed on schedule with no applications accepted after the deadline. No date for a 2027/2028 call has been announced. If this is a route you are counting on, check au-pau.org directly rather than assuming the same November-to-December window will repeat, since PAU has not committed to that pattern anywhere on its site; PAU’s scholarship office can also be reached directly at scholarships.support@au-pau.org for questions ahead of the next call.