Doha Institute Tamim Scholarship 2027 — Fully Funded in Qatar
Fully funded Master scholarship in Qatar for International students 2027
A fully funded master's in Doha taught in Arabic, with tuition, housing, a stipend and health insurance covered for international students. Apply by 15 January 2027.
Eligibility
- Bachelor's degree for master's entry, or a master's for doctoral entry
- Strong undergraduate academic record
- Arabic as the primary language of instruction, with English required at programme level
- Scholarship cannot be combined with any other award
- Executive master's programmes, diplomas and certificates are excluded
- Applicants who previously held an Institute master's scholarship are not eligible
The Doha Institute for Graduate Studies runs a fully funded graduate scholarship for international students that is unusual in two respects: it is taught primarily in Arabic, and it is not a separate application. You apply for a master's programme, and if you are admitted you are invited to apply for the scholarship. The 2027-2028 admission window opened on 1 September 2026 and closes on 15 January 2027.
What it covers
The Tamim Scholarship has three tiers and the tier is decided by your nationality and residency, not by your ranking. Qatari students who are not sponsored by a government body or an employer receive a full tuition waiver. Resident students receive a partial waiver of 10 to 100 per cent, assessed on financial need. International students receive the fullest package: a 100 per cent tuition waiver, student housing, a monthly stipend and health insurance.
The Institute's public page confirms the stipend exists for international students but does not publish the amount, so anyone budgeting should ask the admissions office directly rather than relying on an aggregator's figure. The same caution applies to return flights, which appear in internal policy documents and in secondary sources but not on the public scholarship page. A funded place is confirmed here; the exact monthly figure is not, and it is better to know that now than to discover it after you have accepted.
The academic model is the other reason to look closely. The Institute is an Arab research institution built around social sciences and humanities — philosophy, history, sociology and anthropology, political science and international relations, legal studies, Arabic language and linguistics, comparative literature, media and cultural studies, public administration, public policy and development economics — with a student-to-faculty ratio it states as 8:1 and a link to the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies. If your plan was to study these fields in a European language, this is the alternative case for doing so in Arabic.
Who can apply
Admission requires a bachelor's degree for master's entry or a master's for doctoral entry, with a strong undergraduate record, and English proficiency at the level each programme sets. Arabic is the primary language of instruction and research, so functional Arabic is a practical requirement rather than an optional advantage, and applicants should check the specific programme page for the English threshold it applies.
The scholarship rules are worth reading before you apply rather than after. It cannot be combined with any other scholarship regardless of source. It does not cover executive master's programmes, diplomas or specialised certificates. And applicants who have previously received a scholarship to study a master's at the Institute, whether or not they completed the degree, are not eligible.
Run this self-check. Do I hold a bachelor's degree with a transcript strong enough for the programme I want? Can I study and write at postgraduate level in Arabic, and can I evidence that? Do I meet the English requirement of the specific programme rather than the Institute in general? Have I checked that I am applying to a master's or doctoral programme and not an executive master's, which the scholarship excludes? Have I received no previous Institute scholarship? And can I supply transcripts, degree certificates, a CV, a statement, three academic references and a passport copy through an online portal? A no on the Arabic question does not end the application, but it should change which programme you choose.
The deadline
The admission application for 2027-2028 opened on 1 September 2026 and closes on 15 January 2027. There is one date for both admission and scholarship consideration, so a late application is not a scholarship risk — it is no application at all. The academic year begins in August 2027.
How to apply
You apply through the Institute's online admissions portal with the programme application: transcripts and degree certificates, a CV, a personal statement, three academic letters of recommendation submitted through the portal, a passport copy and English proficiency evidence or an official medium-of-instruction letter. Scholarship consideration follows admission: the Admissions Office contacts admitted students and invites them to complete the scholarship form, sometimes asking for additional documents.
https://www.dohainstitute.edu.qa/en/Admissions-Office/Pages/Scholarships.aspx
Because the scholarship step comes after admission, the programme application is where the outcome is decided. Students who treat the scholarship as a second competition and let the first application slide find out too late that there is only one competition.
Tips to win
Write the statement for the programme, not for the funding. The scholarship has no published merit ranking that rewards a separate essay, so the strongest thing you can do is make the admissions committee certain that you will finish the degree and use it. Name the research centre or faculty member whose work connects to your topic, and say what you would want to examine in Qatar or the region.
If you have regional or field experience — an NGO, a ministry, a newsroom, a research assistantship — put it early and concretely. The Institute's public profile emphasises applicants who will work on the region's questions, and a file that shows you already have is easier to fund than one that shows promise without evidence.
Common mistakes
Applying to an executive master's and discovering it is excluded. Assuming a second scholarship can be combined with this one. Budgeting on a stipend figure from a blog rather than asking the admissions office. Leaving the three academic references to the final week, when academics are least available. And applying in English-medium expectation to a programme that teaches in Arabic.
An OEAC advisor can review the personal statement and check your programme choice against the scholarship's exclusions before the 15 January deadline. Ask the advisory team for a review, especially if you are weighing an Arabic-language master's against a European one.
Other scholarships worth comparing on OEAC Network:
https://www.oeacnetwork.com/index.php?page=post&id=23 https://www.oeacnetwork.com/index.php?page=post&id=22 https://www.oeacnetwork.com/index.php?page=post&id=15
An OEAC advisor can review the personal statement and check your programme choice against the scholarship exclusions. Ask the advisory team for a review.
Last updated: 26 October 2026. Source: https://www.dohainstitute.edu.qa/en/Admissions-Office/Pages/Scholarships.aspx
Photo: P. Hughes — CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Always confirm the deadline and eligibility on the official page before you apply. Scholarship dates change between rounds, and this listing is a summary — the provider's own page is the authoritative source. OEAC Network lists scholarships for free and is not an agent for any university or funding body.
