What IBM PhD Fellowship Award actually covers.
The IBM PhD Fellowship Award is a prestigious worldwide programme that honours exceptional PhD students in computer science, AI, quantum computing, and related disciplines. IBM welcomes nominations from African institutions and supports students working on research topics aligned with IBM's strategic priorities, including AI, blockchain, cybersecurity, and cloud computing. Award recipients receive a stipend, an IBM mentor, and opportunities to intern at IBM Research labs including IBM Research Africa.
Who can apply.
Open to phd applicants. Eligible nationalities are listed below.
46 more eligible countries — full list available on the official application page.
Accepted fields.
IBM PhD Fellowship Award currently lists the following eligible fields of study. Other related disciplines may also be considered — check the official call.
Four steps to a complete application.
Scholar Africa is a discovery and tracking platform — the application itself is submitted directly through the official provider site. The steps below mirror our HowTo schema.
Check eligibility
Confirm your nationality, academic level, and field of study match the criteria above.
Eligibility checklist
Prepare documents
Transcripts, recommendation letters, personal statement, and a valid passport.
Document checklist
Submit the application
Submit before October 28, 2026 via the official portal.
Submission checklist
Track your application
Use your Scholar Africa dashboard to monitor status and deadline reminders.
Post-submission checklist
What we checked, when we checked it.
Every scholarship on Scholar Africa goes through six checks (link, contact, organisation, winners, third-party, manual review). IBM PhD Fellowship Award currently scores 8.0/10.
Report an issue
Other scholarships worth a parallel application.
Same eligibility window or destination. Many strong applicants apply to three or four programmes per cycle.