AZERBAIJAN SCHOLARSHIP

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan are pleased to announce the “Heydar Aliyev - International Education Grant Program” for 2025-2026 academic year. The higher education scholarship by the Government of Azerbaijan will be offered on an annual basis for a period of 5 years.

The program honours the memory of Heydar Aliyev - the National Leader of Azerbaijan.

“Heydar Aliyev - International Education Grant Program” (hereinafter “Scholarship”) established by the decree of H.E. Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on 8 July 2023, provides an excellent opportunity for selected candidates to study in the leading universities of Azerbaijan at the preparatory courses, undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, general medicine/medical residency programs. Annually 100 international students will benefit from the Scholarship. The citizens of the following countries are eligible to participate in the program:

•    Member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation;
•    Member states of the Non-Aligned Movement;
•    Small Island Developing States;
•    Countries sharing common cultural, ethnic and historical ties with Azerbaijan.

5. APPLICATION CRITERIA

•   Citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan or individuals whose citizenship in the Republic of Azerbaijan have been terminated will not be considered for a Scholarship.
•   Age requirements for applicants shall be as follows:
  •   Undergraduate and general medicine programs – foreign nationals below 35 years as of 15.09.2025;
  •   Graduate and medical residency programs – foreign nationals below 40 years as of 15.09.2025;
  •   Doctoral programs – foreign nationals below 45 years as of 15.09.2025.

Selection Committee at any time may verify the authenticity of the information provided by the applicant and proceed according to current regulations.

6. APPLICATION PROCESS

For official nomination by the respective state entities/government authorities (Ministries, Embassies, etc.), the applicants must submit the required documents to the relevant authorities for the first stage of the application process. The last date of the submission is May 15, 2025 at 6 PM Baku time.

If the candidates are officially nominated by the respective government authorities, they will proceed to the second stage of the application process and apply through the Study in Azerbaijan Centralized Admission Service (MINISTRY).

Candidates can choose 3 (three) specialties at different higher educational institutions of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the appropriate channel for the academic year 2025–2026.

Applicants may track the status of their applications and get notifications about the next stages from the MINISTRY. At the same time, notifications will appear in the applicant’s personal account.

The MINISTRY website will remain accessible for registration of applications from June 1, 2025, starting at 12 AM to June 15 at 6 PM Baku time.

A candidate with multiple nationalities may submit only one application, and it must be for one of the eligible nations (Annex 2) listed in this Call for Applications (it must be submitted in accordance with the applicant's nationality as nominated by the relevant state bodies).

Only the applications that were nominated by their respective countries in the first stage will go through the evaluation process for the Scholarship program.

If applicants face any technical problems with the website, they may send an email to Ministry.support@tsii.edu.az with a short description and relevant screenshots.

7. REQUIREMENTS

• Completed nomination form (for the first stage of application process);
• Copy of Diplomas and Transcripts from prior High School or Higher Education Institution;
  The applicant’s academic marks (GPA) of the previous degree(s) of study (general secondary education, bachelor's degree, general medicine education, master's degree, medical residency) must not be less than 70 (on a scale of 0 to 100 or 7 on a scale of 10 or equivalent) of the relevant marking system;
• Copy of the medical certificate (including HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B/C tests);
• Copy of a valid passport that confirms the applicant’s identification information;
• CV or Resume;
•   Proficiency in the language of study:
  •   Applicants willing to study in English are required to have following scores:
    •   For undergraduate programs: minimum IELTS 5 (TOEFL 40);
    •   For postgraduate programs: minimum IELTS 5.5 (TOEFL 50);
    •   OR the language of study of the previous education must be English.
  •   Applicants willing to study in Russian:
    •   Proof of language proficiency OR the language of study of the previous education must be Russian.
  •   Applicants willing to study in Turkish:
    •   Proof of language proficiency OR the language of study of the previous education must be Turkish.
  •   Applicants willing to study in Azerbaijani:
    •   Proof of English, Russian or Turkish proficiency OR the previous education must be in any of these languages.
    The higher education institution may examine the candidate's proficiency for the applied level of education and language of study.
• Motivation letter;
• Local and international awards (if available).

7.1 PREREQUISITE FOR THE DOCUMENTS

• Documents must be legible/readable and clear;
• Documents must be in one of the following languages: Azerbaijani, Turkish, English, or Russian and must be notarized;
• Documents in a language other than those mentioned must be accompanied by a notarized English translation;
• All documents must be submitted in PDF format;
• Candidates must submit a medical certificate (including HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B and C tests) from the relevant clinics in their country of residence. The certificate must be issued no more than 3 months prior to submission and confirm that the applicant is in good health for travel and study.
  (If the certificate is not in Azerbaijani, Turkish, English, or Russian, a certified English translation is required);
• All requested documents must be uploaded with the application on the MINISTRY website before the deadline (June 15 at 6 PM GMT Baku time).

8. RESULT

• In accordance with the schedule mentioned in Part 4 (Timeline of the Call) of this call, the decision on the acceptance to the scholarship program will be sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and through MINISTRY website;
• If the selected applicant does not confirm the participation at the Scholarship program through the MINISTRY website within the established deadline, the Application Committee may grant the scholarship to another applicant who meets the abovementioned requirements;
• Official nomination of the candidates by the respective government authorities (Ministries, Embassies, etc.) of their country does not guarantee the grant of the scholarship by the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan;
• The final decision on the grant of the scholarships is solely up to the Selection Committee;
• All decisions made during the selection process are final and not subject to appeal.

9. CONSIDERATIONS

• Any expense that is not specified in this Call for Applications will not be covered or reimbursed by the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan;
• The selected applicant will receive instructions to initiate the process of formalizing the scholarship grant. If Application Committee does not receive a response to its communications within the established timeframe, it may result in the cancellation of the scholarship grant and the selection of another applicant;
• The selected applicants will receive guideline about their stay in the Republic of Azerbaijan. They may get the information about scholarship holder’s rights and obligations, visa, migration rules, as well as other useful materials;
• The selected applicant will be considered as a scholarship recipient only after delivering the required documentation to the offices of the higher education institution in the Republic of Azerbaijan, and will be subject to the commitments of Agreement of this Scholarship Program;
• The selected applicant, upon accepting the scholarship, commits to complying with the Agreement signed by grant holder and the higher educational institution, as well as keeping up-to-date with the respective departments assigned to the candidates by higher education institutions during scholarship period.