Eligibility Criteria

 

Merck Foundation Scholarships are provided to nationals of African Countries, Developing Countries and underserved communities as per the World Human Development Index list of Developing countries. http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/latest-human-development-index-ranking

Merck Foundation Scientific Committee and Scientific Committee of Academic Partners will focus on African countries with a special focus on French-speaking and Portuguese speaking and SIDS (Small Islands Developing State), with the aim to build healthcare capacity and transform patient care in the public sector which are under pressure due to its limited resources. Therefore, for African countries, the recommendation letter from the First Lady office or Minister of Health (MOH) from the respective country is mandatory. For Asian Countries, the recommendation letter from the Minister of Health (MOH) or the Medical Societies is mandatory. Individual requests are not accepted as per the guideline. 

Moreover, Merck Foundation Scientific Committee will take in consideration in the selection process the following factors when it is needed:  the Human Development Index, Population and number of eligible applications received from each country and number of scholarships that have been already provided to each country in such specialties.

 

Moreover, Merck Foundation plans to offer English scholarships to candidates applying from French and Portuguese speaking African countries and also to Latin American countries, to give them an equal opportunity to benefit from the online specialty training (which is provided only in English), provided the applicants are able to submit the English Proficiency Certificate.

 

In case of in-campus Fellowship programs and Clinical Training Scholarship provided in India, such as Fertility and Embryology Training and Oncology Fellowship, interpreters (French/Portuguese) will be provided to non-English speaking scholars throughout their training program.

 

The First Lady office or Minister of Health of African Countries and Medical Societies of Asian and Developing countries can submit the recommended list of candidates for Merck Foundation Scholarship Program to: info@merck-foundation.com 

 

Application deadline for Online Scholarships: 30th June 2026