Pioneering Women in STEM

The application process for Swedish universities is managed by University Admissions. It is a centralised process and, on their portal, you can apply for up to 4 master’s programmes.  

• Go to UniversityAdmissions.se and apply for your master’s programme(s) by 15 January 2026. The list of eligible programmes for the Pioneering Women in STEM scholarship 2026/2027 can be found here in mid-November.
• Once you have submitted your application for master’s at University Admissions, you will get a personal application number consisting of eight digits. Save the number for your application to the Pioneering Women in STEM scholarship. Your application for the scholarship will be disqualified if you type in the wrong personal application number when applying for the scholarship. 

Note! Applicants for Stockholm School of Economics and Konstfack are part of separate intakes and admissions processes. They will not receive an application number.

If you miss the deadlines or fail to follow the application procedure of University Admissions, you will not be eligible for the scholarship.

Do you have any questions related to applications for master’s studies, admissions, the application fee or application number? Please contact University Admissions. 

To apply for the Pioneering Women in STEM scholarship, you must submit the documents listed below.  Make sure to read through the instructions carefully. Failing to follow the instructions will result in disqualification. Templates for the listed documents will be published here in mid-November.

• Curriculum Vitae 

You must use SI’s provided template for CV 2026/2027. The CV should not exceed three pages. It is up to you to decide which of your previous experiences are relevant for your application. Additional pages will not be considered during the evaluation.  

• Proof of work and leadership experience  

You must use SI’s provided template for proof of work and leadership experience 2026/2027. The work and leadership form should be signed by the referee ad stamped with an official stamp of the referring organisation or a notary office. The form(s) should be typed, then printed, signed, stamped and uploaded as one single PDF-file. You can find instructions in the template form and our FAQ further down on this page.  

• Two letters of references   

You are required to submit two letters of reference from two different referees. One of the letters must be based on work experience. The second letter can be based on work experience or engagements outside of work. Note! It is a merit if the second letter is based on your involvement in networks or civil society organisations outside of work. 

You must use SI’s provided template for the letter of reference 2026/2027. All letters of reference should first be typed, then printed, and lastly signed by the referee and stamped with an official stamp of the organisation/company or notary office. Scan the letters and upload them to the application portal as one single PDF-file.  

• Photocopy of your valid passport/National ID card 

You must submit a photocopy of your valid passport or National ID card with your scholarship application. It must clearly show your personal data, including your name, citizenship, and photograph. It is your responsibility to ensure that your submitted proof of identification is valid at the time of applying. You will be asked to upload the photocopy in the online application portal.   

• Motivation

In the application portal you will be asked to write your motivation for applying for the scholarship. You might also be randomly selected to record a short video presentation.  

Note! You must complete your application in English. Your application will be disqualified should you not follow these instructions and fail to submit any of the abovementioned documents. We will not consider any other documents than the requested ones.

Data protection and integrity 
The Swedish Institute (SI) is a public agency. As such, all applications received by SI are in the public domain. We use the personal information you give us to process your application. If you are granted a scholarship, we will continue to use this personal information to manage it. We deal with this information following the Swedish Principle of Public Access to Information and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Your personal information is handled by SI employees and outside experts who have signed a contract of compliance. For more information, please read SI’s privacy policy. 

Screening
After the application deadline, we carry out a screening of all applications and disqualify those that do not meet the eligibility criteria for the Pioneering Women in STEM scholarship. If you have failed to follow the instructions for the required documents, for example by providing an incomplete application, using the wrong forms, missing a valid stamp, etc., then your application will also be disqualified. Reasons are given in the instructions in the forms and here on the website. Therefore, you should read through all available information carefully before filling out and submitting your documents.

Evaluation before admissions
We will then go through all the eligible applications and evaluate the information provided in your applications. We give scores with particular consideration for the aim and purpose of the Pioneering Women in STEM programme and the government strategy it reports to. We are looking for talented professionals with capability, an existing platform and ambition to contribute to the further development of their home country and region. The quality of the application is crucial in our selection.

On the day you receive your notification of selection results from University Admissions, SI will receive the admission results, including your personal information directly from University Admissions.  

You will be in the running for the Pioneering Women in STEM scholarship if: 

• You have been admitted or conditionally admitted to one of the eligible STEM master’s programmes on 26 March 2026

AND

• You have not made any changes to your original admissions results (e.g. decline an admissions offer.) If you make any changes to your original admissions results, your application will no longer be in the running for the Pioneering Women in STEM scholarship.  

I’m conditionally admitted, what now?
If you have been conditionally admitted, you will have received information from University Admissions regarding what you need to do to finalise your admission.  

I was only listed as reserved or placed on the waiting list…
Those who are not admitted to an eligible master’s programme by this date or are only listed as reserves or are placed on the waiting list will not be considered for the scholarship.  

Note! Please check the instructions on how to reply to my admissions offer on University Admissions. Contact University Admissions directly if you have any questions.

After the admissions results are announced by University Admissions on the 26 March 2026, SI finally evaluates the applications that are still eligible for the scholarship. 

The rigid screening and evaluation process provides us with a shortlist of the best candidates. In the final evaluation, we give priority to certain factors, therefore thoroughly read through the call for applications above, as it explains what we take into consideration. 

We aim to include allt of the eligible countries, provided there is a sufficient number of quality applications. We also need to stay within our budget. We may make additional adjustments in the final selection to achieve the distribution we are aiming for. However, we do not have any quotas for specific countries, fields of study, Swedish universities etcetera.  The scholarship is highly competitive and the number of recipients from different countries, and to certain programmes/universities may differ from year to year, depending on the quality of the applications received. When all the above factors have been taken into consideration, the final selection of scholarship recipients will be completed.  

Announcement of scholarship recipients
The successful scholarship recipients will be announced on 23 April 2026 on si.se. Due to a large number of applications, only those who are offered a scholarship will be notified.

Accept your scholarship offer
Each recipient will receive an official scholarship offer by email by the end of April 2026. The recipient is responsible for ensuring that the email address provided in the application is correct. The scholarship must then be accepted or declined within the deadline stated in the offer.