USM Scholarships 2026 for International Students

Looking for a scholarship at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)? Here is the short answer for 2026: USM’s own funding for international students is aimed at postgraduate research students, and most of it is partial. The USMCARE scholarship pays tuition fees for selected PhD students, research assistant posts funded by supervisors’ grants pay a monthly stipend, and smaller grants support research trips abroad. For a fully funded place, most international students combine a USM offer with an external award such as the Malaysia International Scholarship (MIS).

This guide explains each option, who can apply, what it pays and when the calls open, based on USM’s official postgraduate pages as of October 2026.

USM Scholarships at a Glance (2026)

USMCARE Scholarship

USMCARE is the main USM-funded award that international students can apply for. It pays tuition fees for full-time PhD students in research mode. It does not include a monthly allowance, so you need another source of money for living costs.

Eligibility

• Malaysian students, or international students from a low or lower-middle income country under the World Bank classification.
• Full-time PhD by research only.
• A bachelor’s degree with a CGPA above 3.00 out of 4.00 (or a recognised equivalent), and either a master’s degree by research or a master’s by coursework or mixed mode with a CGPA above 3.50.
• At least one manuscript published in a journal indexed in Web of Science or Scopus.
• You must apply in your first semester, or at the latest in your second semester. The latest round covered students who started in Semester I 2025/2026 (October 2025) and Semester II 2025/2026 (March 2026).

What it covers

• Tuition fees for up to 36 months, renewed every semester based on your research progress.
• No monthly allowance.
• International students still pay the 6% service tax (SST) on fees themselves.

The latest USMCARE call closed on 1 October 2026. New calls are announced by the USM Institute of Postgraduate Studies (IPS), so check its financial assistance page at the start of each semester.

Graduate Research Assistant Posts

The most common way international research students receive a monthly income at USM is through a supervisor’s research grant. Supervisors with active, funded projects can appoint postgraduate students as graduate research assistants (GRA) or research assistants. The stipend is usually between RM2,000 and RM3,000 a month, and the post is open to international students when the funding agency allows it.

There is no central application form. Contact potential supervisors before you apply for admission, describe your research interest, and ask whether they have funded positions. This works especially well in research-heavy fields such as food science and technology and chemical engineering, where USM runs many grant-funded projects.

Graduate Horizon Scholarship (GHS)

The Graduate Horizon Scholarship funds a short research attachment abroad for students who are already registered at USM.

• Who: registered, active, full-time research-mode master’s or PhD students.
• Amount: up to RM5,000.
• Duration: 1 to 3 months.
• Host: a university ranked in the QS World University Rankings top 100, or a multinational company abroad, with an active MoU or MoA with USM. You need an official invitation letter from the host.
• Condition: within one year of the attachment, you must publish in an indexed journal with the host researcher as co-author.
• Deadline: the latest call closed on 15 October 2026; new calls are announced by IPS.

Postgraduate Research Attachment and Conference Fund

USM also runs two smaller schemes for registered students:

• Postgraduate Research Attachment (PGRA): up to RM4,000 for a 1 to 3 month attachment at a university or research institute that has an MoU or MoA with USM, with a co-authored publication required within a year. The call is currently closed.
• Postgraduate Conference Fund: partial support for presenting your work at international conferences. Applications are closed for now and reopen when IPS announces a new call.

What Happened to the USM Fellowship and Vice-Chancellor’s Award?

Older guides, including earlier versions of this page, listed the USM Fellowship, the Vice-Chancellor’s Award, the Graduate Assistant teaching scheme and the USM Global Fellowship. As of October 2026, none of these appears on the USM admissions or IPS financial assistance pages. Do not plan your budget around them. If you are interested in teaching duties in return for support, ask your faculty directly whether a department-level assistantship is available.

Malaysia International Scholarship (MIS)

The Malaysian government’s MIS is the most generous award available for postgraduate study at USM, and USM is on the list of eligible public universities. The 2026 call, announced in March 2026, offered:

• Full tuition fees, paid directly to the university.
• A living allowance of RM1,500 a month, paid every four months after a progress report.

Main conditions in the 2026 guidelines:

• Full-time master’s or PhD study, for applicants from ASEAN, Commonwealth and other listed countries.
• A CGPA of at least 3.00 (or second-class upper honours) for master’s applicants; a CGPA of 3.00 or an excellent master’s result for PhD applicants.
• IELTS 6.0, TOEFL PBT 550, or a previous degree taught in English.
• Age limit of 40 for master’s and 45 for PhD applicants.
• A research proposal of at least 1,000 words for research programmes.
• Priority fields include engineering, ICT, natural sciences, agriculture, business and social sciences; medicine, nursing and pharmacy are excluded.

MIS is competitive and runs one call a year; the 2026 call was announced in March. For more options, including home-country and university awards, see our list of scholarships in Malaysia for international students.

How Much Funding Do You Need?

Even with USMCARE, you still need to cover living costs, fees for the semesters before an award starts, and compulsory costs such as visa processing and medical insurance. Use these guides to build your budget:

• USM postgraduate fees for master’s and PhD programmes
• USM undergraduate programmes and fees
• Health insurance for international students in Malaysia

How to Apply for USM Scholarships

1. Choose your programme and supervisor first. Most USM funding is for research students, and a supportive supervisor is essential for both GRA posts and USMCARE.
2. Apply for admission. You usually need an offer, or to be registered, before you can apply for USM awards.
3. Check eligibility carefully. USMCARE needs a published manuscript and the right home-country income group; MIS has age, English and CGPA limits.
4. Prepare documents early. Transcripts, English test results, a research proposal, your publication list and a recommendation from your supervisor.
5. Watch the IPS announcements. Calls open for a short window each semester, and late applications are not accepted.

If you are still deciding where to do your doctorate, our guide to PhD study in Malaysia compares funding and costs across universities.

FAQs

Sources: USM Admissions, postgraduate financial assistance; USM Institute of Postgraduate Studies; Ministry of Higher Education, MIS 2026 guidelines. Checked in October 2026.