CYCLE STATUS — checked 8 September 2026. The 2026-1 cycle is closed. The call now running is the one KOICA names "2027": nominations reached KOICA in July 2026, university document screening runs to about October 2026 and final acceptance to about November 2026. The 2027 guideline changes the menu — the universities, fields and seat numbers listed further down this page are from the closed 2026-1 round and are NOT the 2027 list.
This is not a student scholarship. It is an ODA capacity-building fellowship, and the applicant must be a serving government official or public-sector employee of a KOICA partner country. If you are a student, a private-sector employee or self-employed, you are not eligible — no matter how strong your academic record is.
You must be officially nominated by your own government. That means a recommendation letter from your employing agency bearing the institutional seal, submitted through your country's focal ministry, which forwards the package to the Korean Embassy or the KOICA country office. This is not optional and cannot be replaced by an academic reference.
There is no individual online application portal. A private individual, a private-sector employee or an ordinary student cannot apply directly to KOICA or to a university — no such route exists. Any site offering you a "KOICA application form" to fill in yourself is not the official process.
The Doctoral track changed between cycles. The 2026-1 guideline restricted it to KOICA Master's alumni; the 2027 guideline no longer requires a KOICA Master's — any Master's degree held by the cycle's reference date qualifies, and KOICA Master's alumni MAY still apply (the KOICA Uzbekistan office says so explicitly). What disqualifies you is a Master's obtained through a Korean government scholarship OTHER than KOICA (Section 3.G), or a previously cancelled KOICA award. Three years of experience after the Master's is preferred.
Previous recipients of a Korean government degree scholarship are ineligible for the Master's track (a narrow exception exists for those whose earlier award was at Bachelor's level and who now apply for a Master's). For the Doctoral track only a non-KOICA Korean government scholarship counts against you — a KOICA Master's does not. Previously cancelled or withdrawn KOICA scholars are excluded from both.
Who for
Serving government officials / public-sector employees, nominated by their own government
Apply via
Your government's focal ministry → Korean Embassy / KOICA country office. There is no individual online portal.
Level
Master's (17 months) · Doctoral (36 months) — the 2027 guideline lists four doctoral programmes, three seats each
Language
English-taught. TOPIK / Korean is not required.
Tuition
Full tuition and admission fee
Monthly stipend
1,200,000 ₩ per month
Extras
Round-trip economy airfare · university dormitory (terms vary by university) · health insurance (~81,000 ₩/month)
Citizenship
Citizen of one of the 96 designated countries in the 2027 guideline — Uzbekistan is one of them
When it usually opens
Usual months
Twice a year — around July and around December
How long it stays open
KOICA publishes a closing date, not a length — and its international guideline sometimes gives only the month (the 2027 call said "July, 2026"); the exact day is then set by each Korean Embassy or KOICA country office (7 July 2026 for Uzbekistan). Your own government closes its internal round earlier still; that earlier date is your real deadline.
This is a fellowship for serving public servants nominated by their ministry. Students cannot apply, whatever the month.
A pattern from past cycles, not a date to apply by. Always check the official page before you plan around it.
Application windows
First call of the year
Your own government usually closes its submissions around the middle of December. Interviews follow in December and January, university screening runs to April, and you arrive in Korea in August. ⚠️ Read off past cycles, not published as a schedule — confirm on the official site
Second call of the year
Usually runs in July. KOICA's international guideline gives only the month ("July, 2026" for the 2027 call); each Embassy or KOICA country office sets its own day — 7 July 2026 for Uzbekistan (KOICA Uzbekistan office, via a Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade recommendation letter), 10 July 2026 for Georgia (Korean Embassy). University screening runs to around October, and you arrive in Korea in February. ⚠️ Read off past cycles, not published as a schedule — confirm on the official site
Overview
KOICA is South Korea's official bilateral development-cooperation agency, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and this scholarship is part of Korea's Official Development Assistance. It is run through CIAT (Capacity Improvement and Advancement for Tomorrow) with designated Korean host universities such as SNU GSPA, KDI School, Ajou GSIS, Ewha, Hanyang and Korea University, which rotate by cycle. It funds a 17-month Master's — and a 36-month Doctorate (the 2026-1 guideline restricted it to KOICA Master's alumni; the 2027 guideline opens it to any Master's holder, so long as that Master's was not funded by a non-KOICA Korean government scholarship) — in development-linked fields such as public administration, gender equality, smart-city management, tax and fiscal policy and education leadership. Its purpose is to build the professional capacity of public servants from around 95–96 partner countries so they can apply what they learn inside their own institutions. That purpose is why the entry route runs through governments rather than through students.
Who can apply
A serving government official or public-sector employee of a KOICA partner country. This is the defining requirement.
An official nomination from your home government — a recommendation letter with the institutional seal, routed through the national focal ministry.
Citizenship of one of the 96 designated countries in the 2027 guideline's country annex, grouped into five regions across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Pacific, and the Middle East / CIS / Eastern Europe. Uzbekistan appears in that last group, so Uzbek citizens are eligible on nationality — the blocking requirement for them is the government-nomination rule above, not the country list.
Age: preferably under 40 at the cycle's reference date. The guidelines describe this as a preference rather than an absolute cut-off.
Master's track: a Bachelor's degree, preferably with 2+ years of relevant work experience. Doctoral track: a Master's degree held by the cycle's reference date, preferably 3+ years of experience after the Master's — and not a Master's obtained through a non-KOICA Korean government scholarship (a KOICA-funded Master's is fine).
A strong command of English in speaking and writing, since coursework and the thesis are in English. Formal TOEFL/IELTS scores are described as not mandatory at the KOICA screening round, but an individual university may require them at its own round.
Good physical and mental health; a severe illness is disqualifying.
No previous Korean government degree scholarship (for the Doctoral track, a KOICA Master's is allowed — only a non-KOICA Korean government scholarship disqualifies), and no previously cancelled or withdrawn KOICA award.
What it covers
Tuition and the admission fee are covered in full.
A monthly living allowance of 1,200,000 ₩.
A one-time settlement allowance: 600,000 ₩ for Master's scholars, 1,200,000 ₩ for Doctoral scholars.
A one-time completion grant: 300,000 ₩ for Master's scholars, 600,000 ₩ for Doctoral scholars.
Round-trip economy-class airfare at actual cost, for entry and departure.
Health insurance of roughly 81,000 ₩ per month, and university dormitory accommodation — the 2027 guideline says the terms "vary depending on universities", so full-programme housing is not guaranteed in writing.
Not covered, and explicitly your own responsibility: visa fees, stopover expenses, local transport, document authentication and medical check-up costs.
Completion grant 300,000 ₩ (Master's) · 600,000 ₩ (Doctoral)
Airfare
Round-trip economy, actual expense
Insurance
≈81,000 ₩ per month
Accommodation
University dormitory — terms vary by university (2027 guideline)
Duration
Master's 17 months · Doctoral 36 months
How to apply — step by step
KOICA issues the guideline to governments Each year KOICA sends the annual guideline — quotas, eligible universities and programmes, deadlines — to partner-country governments through Korean Embassies and KOICA country offices. It is not published as a public application call.
Your focal ministry announces it internally Your country's designated focal ministry — an Economic Affairs Division, a Ministry of Public Administration or an equivalent, depending on the country — circulates the opportunity to eligible public servants. If you are not inside that system, you will not see the announcement.
Complete the forms and get the sealed nomination The applicant — already a serving official — fills in KOICA Application Forms Parts 1–4 and obtains an official nomination/recommendation letter bearing the institutional seal from the employing agency.
Submit through the ministry, not to KOICA The complete package — forms, sealed nomination letter, passport copy — goes to the home-government ministry, which forwards it to the Korean Embassy or the KOICA country office by the international deadline (15 December 2025 for the 2026-1 cycle).
KOICA Round — interview and document screening The KOICA country office or the Embassy interviews candidates (on-site or by phone) and screens the documents.
University Round — screening, medical check, interview Candidates who pass the KOICA round go through document screening, a local medical check-up and an interview with the specific host university and programme they have been matched to.
Final acceptance, visa and arrival Submit original or apostilled documents, receive the admission notice and visa guidance from the university and KOICA, then arrange the visa, vaccinations and travel yourself and arrive shortly before the programme starts.
Required documents
KOICA Application Forms, Parts 1–4 The core application. You receive it through your focal ministry — it is not a form you download and send in yourself.
Government nomination letter with the institutional seal Mandatory proof that your employing agency is nominating you. Without the seal the file is not a KOICA application at all — this single document is what separates an eligible candidate from an ineligible one.
Passport copy, valid 6+ months Identity and nationality proof against the partner-country list.
Degree certificates and transcripts Apostilled or certified, and translated if not in English.
University-specific application materials(optional) Submitted only after you pass the KOICA round, to the host university you were matched with.
Medical documentation(optional) Requested at the later screening stages, including a local medical check-up during the university round.
Useful guides & documents
2026-1 KOICA SP Application Guideline (Oct 2025) (2026-1) The KOICA-authored guideline, re-hosted unaltered by Pakistan's Economic Affairs Division. Source of the eligibility rules, the timeline and every ₩ figure on this page.
KOICA Fellowship Program (CIAT) — official overview The programme page on koica.go.kr. It could not be read while this entry was written, but it is the primary source and should be checked before you rely on anything here.
SNU GSPA — the KOICA Scholarship Program (2023) A Korean host university's own page. Useful for seeing what a host programme looks like from the university side — its details describe the 2023 cycle.
KDI School — KOICA programmes (2024-25) Another host university, listing programme names and quotas for the 2024–25 cycle.
Frequently asked questions
Can a regular student apply without a government nomination?
No. Every official KOICA guideline reviewed requires a serving government official nominated by their home government and submitted through the Korean Embassy or KOICA country office. There is no route for a private individual, a private-sector employee or an ordinary student. A narrow NGO exception (government office plus Embassy or UN-affiliated recommendation) appeared on a single university page for the 2023 cycle only and is not confirmed as current policy.
How is this different from GKS?
GKS is run by NIIED under the Ministry of Education and is open to ordinary students. KOICA SP is an ODA capacity-building fellowship under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, restricted to nominated public servants. Same country, completely different door.
Is there a hard age limit?
The guidelines say "preferably under 40" at the cycle's reference date, phrased as a preference rather than an absolute cut-off.
Do I need TOEFL or IELTS?
Not mandatory at the KOICA screening round, per the guideline text. An individual host university may still require a score at its own round, so check the programme you are matched to.
Is there an open deadline right now?
No. As of 23 September 2026 the two identifiable deadlines — 15 December 2025 for the "2026-1" cycle and July 2026 for the "2027" cycle — have both passed, and no further round has been announced. For Uzbekistan the "2027" deadline was concrete: the KOICA Uzbekistan office set 7 July 2026, with applications submitted via a recommendation letter from the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade (MIIT) to the KOICA office. Watch the KOICA page and your own ministry, since the announcement reaches candidates through the government, not through a public portal.
Can I apply directly for the Doctoral track?
Yes. A Master's from any country qualifies, including a KOICA-funded one. The 2026-1 guideline had required a completed KOICA Master's; the 2027 guideline dropped that requirement and asks only for a Master's degree held by the cycle's reference date. What disqualifies you is a Master's obtained through a NON-KOICA Korean government scholarship, or a previously cancelled KOICA award. The route still runs through your own government's nomination, as for every KOICA track.
Do I need Korean?
No. The programmes are English-taught and TOPIK is not listed as a requirement in the guidelines reviewed. Coursework and the thesis are in English.
Where exactly do I submit my application?
To your own government's designated focal ministry — never directly to KOICA or to a university. The ministry forwards the package to the Korean Embassy or the KOICA country office.
KOICA's own CIAT fellowship page — the primary source, which could NOT be read when this entry was written (every path was blocked by robots and by network policy). Nothing here was taken from it; check it yourself before acting on any figure above. https://www.koica.go.kr/koica_en/3441/subview.do
Amounts, quotas and deadlines may change every year. Verify on the official site before applying.