Heydar Aliyev International Education Grant Program 2025-26

Ministry of Science & Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan announce the Heydar Aliyev International Education Grant for 2025 academic year.

on April 8, 2025

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan are pleased to announce the “Heydar Aliyev International Education Grant Program” for 2025 2026 academic year. The higher education scholarship by the Government of Azerbaijan will be offered on an annual basis for a period of 5 years.

The program honours the memory of Heydar Aliyev – the National Leader of Azerbaijan. “Heydar Aliyev – International Education Grant Program” (hereinafter “Scholarship”) established by the decree of H.E. Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on 8 July 2023, provides an excellent opportunity for selected candidates to study in the leading universities of Azerbaijan at the preparatory courses, undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, general medicine/medical residency programs.

Annually 100 international students will benefit from the Scholarship. The citizens of the following countries are eligible to participate in the program:

Member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation;
Member states of the Non-Aligned Movement;
Small Island Developing States;
Countries sharing common cultural, ethnic and historical ties with Azerbaijan.

The objective of the program is to contribute to the development of human capital in other countries and to support the education of foreign nationals in higher education institutions of Azerbaijan by granting scholarships on full-time basis at the Bachelor’s (including general medicine education), Master’s including medical residency), Doctoral levels, as well as the preparatory courses.

Benefits of the Heydar Aliyev International Program Scholarship

The applicants approved for the Scholarship will be provided with the following:

TUITION FEES: Tuition fee and language preparatory courses (in accordance with the language of instruction) for the study period at the undergraduate, graduate, general medicine, medical residency, doctoral level.
INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS: An international economy class flight ticket to Baku, Azerbaijan (from the country of origin) and from Azerbaijan (to the country of origin respectively) once a year.
MONTHLY ALLOWANCE: Monthly allowance of 800 AZN (470 USD)* for accommodation, daily expenses, educational materials (10 months each year, except July and August).
MEDICAL INSURANCE: Yearly allowance of 200 AZN (117 USD)* for the medical care and medication during the study period in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Note: All the privileges and payments under Part 3 (Scholarshıp Benefits) will be applicable only for the duration of each program described under Part 2 (Educational Levels).
VISA & REGISTRATION: A single entry visa to the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as, a temporary residence permit for the stay in the country for the period of each academic year.

Timeline of the Call

Activities and Dates
Submission of applications (first stage) to the relevant government authorities of the applicant’s country (Ministries, Embassies, etc.): March 15 to May 15, 2025

Review and evaluation of candidates by the respective government authorities: May 16 to May 31, 2025
Registration of applications (second stage) in the SIACAS (Study in Azerbaijan Centralized Admission
Service): June 1 to June 15, 2025
Review and evaluation of candidates: June 16 to July 15, 2025
Notification of the selected candidates: July 16 to July 31, 2025
Start of academic year: September 15, 2025
Last date for the arrival in the Republic of Azerbaijan: September 30, 2025

Application Criteria

Citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan or individuals whose citizenship in the Republic of Azerbaijan have been terminated will not be considered for a Scholarship. Age requirements for applicants shall be as follows:

Undergraduate and general medicine programs – foreign nationals below 35 years as of 15.09.2025;
Graduate and medical residency programs – foreign nationals below 40 years as of 15.09.2025;
Doctoral programs – foreign nationals below 45 years as of 15.09.2025. Selection Committee at any time may verify the authenticity of the information provided by the applicant and proceed according to current regulations.

Heydar Aliyev International Scholarship Application Process

For official nomination by the respective state entities/government authorities (Ministries, Embassies, etc.) the applicants must submit the required documents to the relevant authorities for the first stage of the application process. The last date of the submission is May 15, 2025 at 6 PM Baku time.

If the candidates are officially nominated by the respective government authorities they will proceed to the second stage of the application process and apply through Study in Azerbaijan Centralized Admission Service (SIACAS) website (portal.edu.az) from June 1 to June 15, 2025. After logging in SIACAS website applicants must choose the relevant Admission channel (“Heydar Aliyev – International Education Grant” program) to apply.

Candidates can choose 3 (three) specialties at different higher educational institutions of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the appropriate channel.

Applicants may track status of their applications and get notifications for the next stages from the SIACAS. At the same time, notifications will appear in applicant’s personal account. SIACAS website will remain accessible to registration of applications from June 1, 2025, starting at 12 AM, to June 15 at 6 PM Baku time.

A candidate with multiple nationalities may submit only one application, and it must be for one of the eligible nations (Annex 2) listed in this Call for Applications (it must be submitted in accordance with the applicant’s nationality as nominated by the relevant state bodies).
Only the applications that were nominated by their respective countries in the first stage will go through the evaluation process for the Scholarship program.

If applicants face any technical problems with the website, they may send email to [email protected] with short description and relevant screenshots.

HEYDAR ALIYEV INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM 2025/26

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Heydar Aliyev International Requirements

Completed nomination form (for the first stage of application process); Copy of Diplomas and Transcripts from prior High School or Higher Education Institution; The applicant’s academic marks (GPA) of the previous degree(s) of study (general secondary education, bachelor’s degree, general medicine education, master’s degree, medical residency) must not be less than 70 (on a scale of 0 to 100 or 7 on a scale of 10 or equivalent) of the relevant marking system.

Copy of the medical certificate (including HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B/C tests);
Copy of a valid passport that confirms the applicant’s identification information;
CV or Resume;

Proficiency in the language of study: Heydar Aliyev International Education Grant Program applicants willing to study in English are required to have following scores: for undergraduate programs minimum IELTS 5 (TOEFL 40); for postgraduate programs minimum IELTS 5.5 (TOEFL 50); the language of study of the previous education must be English.

Applicants willing to study in Russian – proof of language proficiency or the language of study of the previous education must be Russian; Applicants willing to study in Turkish – proof of language proficiency or the language of study of the previous education must be in Turkish.

Applicants willing to study in Azerbaijani – proof of the English, Russian or Turkish language or the language of study of the previous education must be English, Russian or Turkish. The higher education institution may examine the candidate’s proficiency for the applied level of education and proficiency in the language of study.

All requested documents must be uploaded along with the application in the SIACAS website before the deadline (June 15 at 6 PM GMT Baku time). Motivation letter; Local and international awards (if available).

Prerequisite for the Documents

Documents must be legible/readable and clear;
Documents must be in one of the following languages: Azerbaijani, Turkish, English and Russian languages and have to be notarized;
Documents in a language other than those indicated above must be accompanied by a notarized translation into English;
The applicant must submit the documentation in PDF format;

Candidates must submit a medical certificate (including HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B and C tests) from the relevant clinics in the country of residence. The medical certificate has to be dated no more than 3 (three) months before the submission of application and must verify that the applicant is in good health for travel and study (if the certificate is in a language other than Azerbaijani, Turkish, English and Russian, it should have a certified translation);

Email addresses for Heydar Aliyev International queries and questions related to this call:

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan – [email protected]
Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan – [email protected]
Technical issues with the SIACAS website (portal.edu.az) – [email protected]