Swedish Institute Study Scholarships (SISS) for South Africa

Are you a talented and ambitious citizen of South Africa and want to study for a master’s degree in Sweden on a fully-funded scholarship? Find out if you can apply to the Swedish Institute Study Scholarships for South Africa.

Master

Available for South Africa

Closed

Previous SI scholarship holders from South Africa on the SI Diploma Ceremony 2017. — Previous SI scholarship holders from South Africa at the SI Diploma Ceremony 2017. Photo: Magnus Liam Karlsson

Information on this page is only about the previous call for applications. Information about next call will be available on 1 December 2018 for master’s studies starting in the autumn semester 2019. The eligibility criteria as well as the application procedure and key dates may differ from this year.

The recipients of the Swedish Institute Study Scholarships for South Africa for master’s studies 2018/2019 have been determined. Check the list of successful recipients.

We will publish a list of eligible master’s programmes for the academic year 2019/2020 here by 1 December 2018. Only the master’s programmes that are in the list are eligible for SISS for South Africa.

To begin with, apply for up to four master’s programmes at universityadmissions.se, between 16 October 2017 – 15 January 2018.
Then apply for an SI scholarship between 2-9 February 2018, follow the instructions below.

Up to 10 scholarships will be awarded to South African citizens attending master’s studies starting in the autumn semester 2018.

The scholarship covers

Tuition fees: directly paid to the Swedish university by us
Living expenses of SEK 9,000/month
Travel grant of SEK 15,000 *
Insurance against illness and accident
Membership of the SI Network for Future Global Leaders (NFGL) – a platform to grow your network and experience, while in Sweden
Membership of the SI Alumni Network after your scholarship period – a platform for further professional development and to stay in touch

* The travel grant is a one-time payment for the entire scholarship period. The grant is not applicable to students already living in Sweden.

The scholarship does not cover:

Additional grants for family members.
Application fee to University Admissions.

Are you eligible to apply? Find out through our list of criteria:

Country of citizenship

Only citizens of South Africa are eligible for SISS for South Africa.

Application procedure - Step by step

1. Apply for a master’s programme at universityadmissions.se - 16 Oct 2017 - 15 Jan 2018

To begin with, apply for up to four eligible master’s programmes at universityadmissions.se by 15 January 2018.
University Admissions is the national online application service which handles admissions to universities in Sweden. It is an independent agency not related to the Swedish Institute (SI). The eligibility and application procedure for SI scholarships and for university admissions are different.
Only the master’s programmes that are in the list of eligible master’s programmes are eligible for SISS for South Africa. We will publish a list of eligible master’s programmes for the academic year 2019/2020 here by 1 December 2018.
Once you have submitted your application to the master’s programme(s) at universityadmissions.se, you will get a personal application number consisting of seven or eight digits. Save the number as you will need it when applying for our scholarships.
1 February 2018: deadline for receipt of application fee and supporting documents that are required by University Admissions. The application fee is non-refundable.
If you missed the deadlines or failed to follow the application procedure at University Admissions, you will not be eligible for SI scholarships.

Questions?

Do you have any questions related to university admissions, application fee and application number?

Contact University Admissions

Support for the application fees

As written above, you need to pay an application fee of SEK 900 to University Admissions for your applications to universities in Sweden. The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) in South Africa will support up to 15 applicants with the university application fees. Read more about the support on the website of the DHET. For questions related to this support, please directly contact the DHET.

2. Apply for SI Study Scholarships for South Africa - 2 Feb 2018 - 9 Feb 2018

Apply for an SI scholarship after you have completed your application to master’s programme(s). See more information about required documents and templates below.
During the application period 2-9 February 2018, submit the required documents digitally through our online application portal.
The online application portal is open from 00:00 CET 2 February 2018 to 24:00 CET 9 February 2018. Link to the online application portal will be available on this page below during the application period.

Due to the high volume of applications, the online application portal may be under heavy pressure at the end of the application period. We strongly urge all applicants not to wait until the last day to apply.

3. Notifications from University Admissions - 6 Apr 2018

By 6 April 2018, you will receive your notification of selection results from University Admissions. SI will receive the admission results directly from University Admissions.
Only applicants who are admitted, including conditionally admitted, to one of the eligible master’s programmes by 6 April 2018, will be considered for an SI scholarship.
If you are only listed as a reserve/placed on waiting list and are not admitted to any of the eligible master’s programmes, you will not be considered for an SI scholarship.
There are no scholarships available for late admissions.
You can only be awarded a scholarship for the master’s programme you are admitted to by 6 April. Master’s programme to which you are listed as reserve, will not be considered. If you are admitted to an eligible programme by 6 April, and meanwhile are put on a waiting list for a programme you ranked higher, only the programme you got admitted to by 6 April will be considered by the selection committee. Therefore it is important that you make sure to decline reserve places in time so that your admission will not be changed. Check the instructions on how you should answer your admissions at University Admissions. Please directly contact University Admissions if you have any questions.

4. Announcement of up to 10 successful SI scholarship recipients - 26 Apr 2018

Up to 10 successful SI scholarship recipients of SISS for South Africa 2018/2019 are announced at si.se at 16:00 CEST on 27 April 2018.
Each successful scholarship recipient receives an official scholarship offer by email in the late afternoon on 27 April 2018.
If you receive a scholarship offer, you are required to accept or decline this offer by the deadline indicated in the offer. It is your responsibility to make sure that the email address you filled in your application is correct to be able to be notified about the offer.
Due to the large number of applicants, only those who are offered a scholarship will be notified.

Waiting list

A number of applicants can be placed on a waiting list for a reserve place. Scholarship offers which are declined by successful candidates may then be offered to applicants on the waiting list. Kindly note that being placed on the waiting list does not guarantee that you will be offered a scholarship.
SI will publish the waiting list when announcing the successful scholarship recipients. If your name is not on the list you have not been offered a reserve place.

Application is closed.

The call for applications ended on 9 February 2018. The next application period will be available in 2019. You may find other scholarship opportunities at www.studyinsweden.se.

Required documents

You should only submit the required documents listed below in your online scholarship application. We will not consider any other documents than the required ones. You must complete your applications in English. You must use our templates provided below and complete them according to the instructions, otherwise your applications will be deemed ineligible.

The compulsory documents required are:

A motivation letter: you must use the SISS template for motivation letter. The template for the next call will be available here in January 2019.
A Curriculum Vitae (CV): you must use the SISS template for CV and the CV should be maximum three pages. It is up to you to decide which parts are relevant for your application. Additional pages will not be considered. The template for the next call might be made available here in December 2018.
A copy of your passport: your personal data including name, citizenship and photograph must be shown clearly. Copy of passport should be included together with the CV as a last fourth page. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have a copy of your valid passport showing that your citizenship is South Africa, to include in your application.

Make sure you have a complete application

A complete application must consist of:

a completed motivation letter
a CV
a copy of your valid passport

If your application is missing one of the required documents above, it will be deemed ineligible.

If you apply to several master’s programmes

You need to submit a separate copy of your scholarship application for each eligible master’s programme that you have applied to. For example, if you have applied to the maximum of four master’s programmes on universityadmissions.se, you must submit four separate and complete online scholarship applications. Each application must have all the required compulsory documents attached. You may use the same documents for each application, or create unique ones for each master’s programme. You should use the same account at the application portal to submit all your scholarship applications and you should provide the same e-mail address for all your scholarship applications.

Optional documents

Work and leadership experience is not a requirement for citizens of South Africa who apply within SISS for South Africa. However, it will be a merit if you have work and leadership experience. In this case, please use our templates to provide one or two letters of reference and proof of work and leadership experience.

One or two letters of reference: you must use the SISS-South Africa template for letter of reference. The letter can be based on any types of work you had. If the letters are not signed by the referee and stamped with official stamp of the referred organisation or a notary office, they are not valid. Templates should be typed, then printed, signed and stamped; and then be uploaded as one PDF-file. You can find more information in the instruction in the template and in our FAQ. The template for the next call might be made available here in December 2018.
Proof of work and leadership experience: you must use the SISS-South Africa template for proof of work and leadership experience. Any experience not signed by the referee and stamped with official stamp of the referred organisation or a notary office, are not valid. The template should be typed, then printed, signed and stamped; and then be uploaded as one PDF-file. You can find more information in the instruction in the template and in our FAQ. The template for the next call might be made available here in December 2018.

Scholarship period

The scholarship is intended for full-time one-year or two-year master’s programmes, and is only awarded for programmes starting in the autumn semester. The scholarship is granted for one academic year (two semesters) at a time. It will be extended for programmes longer than two semesters, provided that the student has passed his/her courses/credits.

The scholarship period cannot be changed or extended beyond the awarded scholarship period, nor can the scholarship be transferred to a study programme other than the awarded master’s programme.

The competition for SI scholarships is very fierce. We recommend that you also look for other scholarship opportunities from your Government or from other organisations in your country, as well as scholarship opportunities from Swedish universities.

Who we are looking for

The Swedish Institute Study Scholarships (SISS) programme is the Swedish government’s international awards scheme aimed at developing global leaders. It is funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden and administered by the Swedish Institute (SI). The programme offers a unique opportunity for future leaders to develop professionally and academically, to experience Swedish society and culture, and to build a long-lasting relationship with Sweden and with each other. SISS for South Africa is a special initiative within SISS, in connection with the Binational Commission agreement between Sweden and South Africa.

The goal is to enable the scholarship holders to play an active role in the positive development of the societies in which they live. Ideal candidates are ambitious young professionals with academic qualifications, demonstrated leadership experience, ambition to make a difference by working with issues which contribute to a just and sustainable development in their country in a long term perspective, and a clear idea of how a study programme in Sweden would benefit their country.

Priority will be given to applicants who

have completed bachelor’s with honours or equivalent from a South African university, and
choosing study programmes with an emphasis on one of the following subject areas (listed in alphabetical order, no priority or ranking is implied):

Computer science and IT
Design (industrial design, architecture, urban/regional planning)
Engineering
Environmental technology/Sustainable development
Gender studies
Nanotechnology
Public health

Previous South African scholarship holder at the SI Diploma Ceremony 2017. Photo: Magnus Liam Karlsson

What is it really like to be an SI scholarship holder?

Check out the stories of some of our previous scholarship holders from South Africa.

Check out the stories

Photo: Magnus Liam Karlsson

Do you have any questions?

Check out our FAQ and find the answers to your questions.

Frequently Asked Questions