Scholarships for International Students

Global Scholarships

University of Galway is committed to attracting high-calibre students from around the world. To this end, we offer a range of merit-based scholarships to students from a number of outside of the EU countries, in line with our strategic international priorities. For international students commencing study at University of Galway they are a number of different scholarships on offer.

Global Achievement Scholarship (Undergraduate)

University of Galway is delighted to offer a Global Achievement Scholarship to eligible applicants, providing a €2,000 reduction in tuition fees for their first year of undergraduate study. There is no need to apply separately for this scholarship, as all eligible candidates will be automatically considered based on their academic results and personal statement.

To qualify for this scholarship, successful candidates must be:

assessed as international for fee purposes
self-funded (ie not receive funding from any other external sources such as government or employer sponsorship)

and have:

met the conditions outlined in your full-time undergraduate course offer letter
secured a place for full-time study at the University of Galway on an eligible programme starting in September 2024.
accepted your offer by Wednesday, 1 May 2024.

Please note that eligible programmes for this scholarship are limited to bachelor's degrees offered by the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies, and the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics.

If you are selected to receive this scholarship, a letter confirming your award will be sent to you.

Business Postgraduate Merit Scholarships

J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics at University of Galway is offering Merit Scholarships across their suite of Business Taught Master's programmes.
For international applicants, one merit scholarship is available per programme, awarded up to 50% of the tuition fees, for the majority of courses.
To be eligible for consideration, candidates must have achieved a H1 (or international equivalent) in their primary degree. There is no application form to be completed as part of this process.
Eligible students who have accepted their offer and paid their deposit before 1^st May 2024 will be automatically considered by the review team.
Scholarships will be awarded on a highly competitive basis.
All successful applicants will be notified directly via email. Those successful will be asked to complete a short form to confirm receipt of the scholarship.

For more information please click here.

A full list of terms and conditions can be found here.

List of Taught Postgraduate Programmes which offer scholarships

College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies

The College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies at University of Galway is awarding 60 Merit Scholarships across their suite of postgraduate taught programmes. The college is also offering Merit Scholarships across its portfolio of undergraduate programmes.
Scholarships will be awarded on a highly competitive basis.
All applicants have been considered by the review team and only successful applicants will be notified directly via email.
Successful candidates will receive their scholarship in the form of a tuition fee waiver. The value of this tuition fee waiver will be €1,500 for postgraduate taught programmes and €2,000 for undergraduate programmes applicable to year 1 of the programme.
Those successful will be asked to complete a short form to confirm receipt of the scholarship and to accept their offer of a place on the programme.
Postgraduate Merit Scholarship terms and conditions.

Undergraduate steps to follow:

To be considered for one of our Merit Scholarships no additional application is required. Once you have completed the steps below you are automatically considered for the merit scholarship.

You must have received an offer to study on any of the Undergraduate Full Degree Programmes at the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies.
You must Have accepted your offer by 1^st May 2024.
Paid your deposit by 1^st May 2024.

Postgraduate steps to follow:

Have received an offer to study on any of our Postgraduate Taught Programmes at the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies.
Have accepted your offer by 1^st May 2024.
Paid your deposit by 1^st May 2024.

The College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies team will notify students who are successful in securing these scholarships.

Siobhan McKenna Scholarship - Drama and Theatre Studies (MA) - University of Galway

Value: €4,000 [Comprising a Bursary of €2,500 and a Fee Waiver of €1,500]

This scholarship honours Siobhán McKenna, the late world-renowned actress of stage and screen who was also a theatre director, translator and activist. The scholarship is awarded annually based on previous practical experience and academic achievement to one individual whose application materials give evidence of current and/or future potential in acting, directing, translation, politically engaged arts or/and use of indigenous/native language or languages in the arts.

Applicants to our MA in Drama and Theatre Studies who have accepted and paid their deposit by 15 May 2024 will have their applications considered for this scholarship competition which is adjudicated by a panel of Drama and Theatre Studies staff.

School of Medicine

The School of Medicine, University of Galway is delighted to offer an Undergraduate Merit Scholarships to eligible applicants, providing a €2,000 reduction in tuition fees for their first year of undergraduate study.

To qualify for this scholarship, successful candidates must be:

assessed as international for fee purposes
self-funded (i.e. not receive funding from any other external sources such as government sponsorship)

and have:

secured a place for full-time study on the Bachelor of Medicine (MB) of Surgery (BCh) and of Obstetrics (BAO) Degree in the School of Medicine, University of Galway, starting September 2024.
accepted your offer and paid your deposit/tuition fee as per the date outlined in your offer letter.
met the conditions outlined in your full-time undergraduate course offer letter.

The School of Medicine will contact all eligible students in June 2024 about applying for the UG Merit Scholarship.

Shannon College of Hotel Management

Shannon College of Hotel Management has launched its scholarships for 2025/2026.

Full details can be found here.

College of Science and Engineering

The College of Science and Engineering at University of Galway is offering Excellence and Merit Scholarships across their suite of Science and Engineering postgraduate programmes .
For international applicants, several excellence scholarships are available up to €10,000 and merit scholarships are available up to €7,640.
Scholarships will be awarded on a highly competitive basis.
All candidates meeting the eligibility criteria who accept their offer and submit their deposit by Saturday, 1 June 2024, will be automatically considered. However, Computer Science applicants from the calendar year 2023 must adhere to a special deadline of Sunday, 17 March 2024 with no exceptions.
All applicants will be considered by the review team and only successful applicants will be notified directly via email.
Those successful will be asked to complete a short form to confirm receipt of the scholarship and to accept their offer of a place on the programme.

A full list of offerings per school can be found below:

The School of Biological and Chemical Sciences offers:

One Excellence Scholarship of €10,000 and a €2,000 Merit Scholarship for all Outside of the EU students in the following programmes:

• MSc Agrifood & Sustainability
• MSc Biomedical Science
• MSc Biotechnology
• MSc Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security

The School of Computer Science offers:

Two Excellence Scholarships of €6,700 and a €2,700 Merit Scholarship for all Outside of the EU students in each of the following programmes:

• MSC Data Analytics
• MSc Artificial Intelligence
• M.Sc Adaptive Cybersecurity

The school also offers a €1,700 merit Scholarship for all Outside of the EU students of:

• MSc Software Design and Development

The School of Engineering offers:

One School of Engineering Excellence Scholarship of €10,000 and a €2,000 Merit Scholarship for all Outside of the EU students in the following programmes:

• MSc Biomedical Engineering
• ME Biomedical Engineering
• ME Civil Engineering
• ME Electrical & Electronic Engineering
• ME Electronic & Computer Engineering
• ME Energy Systems Engineering
• ME Mechanical Engineering

The School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences offers:

One Excellence Scholarship of €10,000 across the following programmes:

• MSc Genomics Data Science
• MSc Biomedical Genomics

A €2,000 Merit Scholarship for all Outside of the EU students in the following programmes:

• MSc Health Data Science
• MSc Mathematics

The School of Natural Sciences offers:

A €7,640 Merit Scholarship for all Outside of the EU students in the following programmes:

• MSc Environmental Leadership
• MSc in Marine and Freshwater Resources: Management
• MSc Medical Physics
• MSc Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety
• MSc Sustainable Resource Management: Policy & Practice
• MSc Sustainable Environments

Hardiman Scholarships

For the most up-to-date information click here.

Visiting Students

Education in Ireland – Fund for Education Abroad

Deadline: Wednesday September 20th 2024

Eligibility Information: Applicants must be a US citizen or permanent resident, currently enrolled as an undergraduate at a US institution, receiving credit for the program at their home institution, and participating in a study abroad program in Ireland during Spring 2024

General application formation: Apply – Fund for Education Abroad

Application: Fund For Education Abroad Scholarship Spring 2024 (mykaleidoscope.com)

Interested students can check out blog entries by other FEA Scholars who studied abroad in Ireland here: Scholar Journals – Fund for Education Abroad

FEA's Spring 2042 flier can be found here: FEA Flyer (Fall Mailing) (fundforeducationabroad.org)

China Scholarship Council

University of Galway - China Scholarship Council Joint Scholarship for PhD Study 2025-2026

Value
Up to 15 PhD tuition-fee waivers from University of Galway with no subject restrictions.

CSC will cover the living costs and flight tickets.

Level of study
This funding is available to students undertaking full-time Ph.D. study.

Nationality restrictions
This funding is available to students with a Chinese passport.

Academic requirements
Candidates must meet the academic requirements for admission to the doctoral programme in University of Galway.

Opening date
Applications are now open.

Application Process

1. The scholarship applicant needs to find a supervisor who, following a discussion, is willing to supervise the student on condition that he/she is awarded a CSC scholarship. Applicant searches for a potential project supervisor via FindaSupervisor online, or other mechanism.

2. The applicant and supervisor work on a project plan. CSC Application Form

3. The supervisor applies to the College on behalf of the student by e-mailing the Research Plan Template prior to March 7^th 2025, with subject title ‘CSC Scholarship application’, to

College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies : aaron.potito@universityofgalway.ie

College of Business, Public Policy and Law: cbppl@universityofgalway.ie

College Science and Engineering: costello@universityofgalway.ie

College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences: cmnhs@universityofgalway.ie

4. University of Galway CSC scholarship committee evaluates the candidates and ranks them in priority order. The successful candidate will receive a conditional offer from the College by March 14^th2025.

5. The supervisor provides the selected applicant with the supervisor's 1-page CV

6. The applicant translates the Research Plan into Chinese.

7. All documents are to be signed by the supervisor and returned to the applicant for submission to CSC.

8. The applicant makes an application through the CSC portal: http://apply.csc.edu.cn/, selecting University of Galway from the list of Institutions. CSC Scheme opens for applications from 10 March 2025 and closes for applications on 31 March 2025.

9. CSC announces the final successful candidate list in May 2025

10. Successful candidate applies for admission to PhD programme at the University of Galway.

11. Supervisor completes QA203 to request a fee waiver for successful candidate.

12. Student commences PhD studies at University of Galway in September.

Government of Ireland Education Scholarships

For information on the Government of Ireland – International Education Scholarships 2025 click here.

Eligible Programmes:

College of Business, Public Policy, & Law

Global Environmental Economics (MSc, full-time)
Management and Sustainability (MSc)
Health Economics (MSc)
Criminology, Criminal Justice and Human Rights (LLM)
International Criminal Law (LLM)
International Human Rights (LLM)
International Migration and Refugee Law and Policy (LLM)
LLM (Gender and Human Rights: Law and Policy)
LLM (Transitional Justice, Human Rights and Conflict)
Business & Hospitality (MSc)
Global Hospitality Management & Intercultural Communication (MSc)
Hospitality Performance, Revenue & Asset Management (MSc)
Peace Operations, Humanitarian Law and Conflict (LLM)

College of Arts, Social Sciences, & Celtic Studies

Coastal & Marine Environments: Physical Processes, Policy & Practice (MSc) (full-time)
Planning and Development (MA)
Public Policy (MA)
Journalism (MA)
Global Media and Communication (MA)
Environment, Society, and Development (MA)
International Development Practice (MA)
Social Work (MA)
Gender, Globalisation and Rights (MA)
Adolescent Health (MSc)
Public Advocacy and Activism (MA)
Health Psychology (MSc)

College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Applied Clinical Data Analytics (MSc)
Clinical Research (MSc)
Cellular Manufacturing (MSc)
Regenerative Medicine (MSc)
Preventive Cardiology (MSc)
Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (MSc)
Exercise Physiology & Application in Therapy (MSc)
Exercise Physiology & Rehabilitation (MSc)
Diabetes (MSc)

The Government of Ireland scholarship programme typically opens towards the end of November each year. However, the eligible programme list is subject to change each year.

Once the scholarship programmes open and we have the confirmed list of eligible programmes, we may be able to offer an extension to the deadline for accepting your offer until the successful awardees are announced. This is at the discretion of colleges. Please contact postgradadmissions@universityofgalway.ie if you would like to request this.

Unfortunately, we are not able to offer extensions to accept offers before the scholarship programme has opened.

Other External Funding Sources for International Students

Irish Fulbright Commission

Government of Ireland – International Education Scholarships 2025

Claddagh Scholarship Program (CSP) 2024/2025

The George J. Mitchell Scholarships

2024 Japanese Government Monbukagakusho (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology/MEXT) Research Student & Undergraduate Student Scholarships

The Wellcome Trust

Irish Research Council

The Health Research Board

Open Society Foundations

Irish Aid Fellowship Training Programme

This is one of the instruments used by Irish Aid to support capacity development in Ireland's programme countries in Africa and Asia. The FTP involves the award of fellowships to suitably qualified candidates from the target countries to undertake studies usually at postgraduate level in fields such as development studies, rural development, health care and education and other disciplines which are likely to support and enhance the capacity of recipients to contribute to the development effort in their own countries. Irish Aid’s partner countries are Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Lesotho, Palestine, Timor Leste and Vietnam and Malawi.

For further information on applications and approved courses please contact office icosirl.ie

China Scholarship Council (CSC)

The General Sir John Monash Awards(Australia)

Research Careers Ireland

Education in Ireland is an Irish government agency responsible for promoting Irish education overseas. The Education in Ireland website lists various funding opportunities for international students studying in Ireland.