Mastercard African STARS Scholarship (MSc Fellowship) 2025 For Africans | Fully Funded
Mastercard Foundation, in partnership with Stellenbosch University in South Africa, has commenced applications for the 2025 African Stars Fellowship Program.
The Mastercard African STARS Scholarship offers a fully funded opportunity that covers the full cost of the MSc programme, including Tuition fees, accommodation, living stipend, research, and Air travel costs.
- Duration: 2 years (Feb 2026 – Jan 2028).
- Location: Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
- Structured 9-month lecture block, including a compulsory Statistics and Bioinformatics module, followed by elective capita selecta modules in Infectious Diseases or Pathogen Genomics, offering flexibility to address emerging research priorities.
- Over 1 year of hands-on research training within Stellenbosch University’s world-class infectious disease laboratories to complete a bioinformatics research project.
- Career development workshops tailored to the needs of researchers in low- and middle-incomecountries (LMICs).
- Ongoing mentorship from a dedicated team of supervisors based at Stellenbosch and partnering institutions.
- For detailed information on the MSc programme structure, consult page 136 of the 2025 Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Yearbook.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Be born in and / or living in Africa
- Be 35 years of age or younger at the time of application
- Hold a BSc Honours (NQF level 8) or equivalent 4-year degree (≥65%) in:
- Bioinformatics, Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science,
- Biochemistry, Genetics, Molecular Biology, or a related field
- Women are strongly encouraged to apply
Benefits:
- Tuition fees
- Accommodation
- Living stipend
- Research-related expenses
- Air Travel expense
- Health insurance
How to Apply?
- Click the green button below to visit the scholarship’s webpage.
- Step 1: Click here to apply for the African STARS Fellowship (Scholarship)
- Note: This form is only for the scholarship application.
- Deadline: 26 June 2025
- Step 2: Submit a formal application to Stellenbosch University for admission to the MSc Programme.
- Deadline: 31 August 2025 (International), 30 September 2025 (South Africans)
Deadline: June 26, 2025
