Fully funded scholarships are competitive and few. Income-linked fee reductions are far easier to get and often worth more in total.
Three different kinds of funding
Students usually search only for the first of these three, and it is the hardest to win.
- Fully funded awards: Erasmus Mundus, DAAD EPOS, Swedish Institute. Highly competitive, often needing work experience.
- Partial awards: Charpak, Deutschlandstipendium, Invest Your Talent in Italy. Realistic for strong applicants.
- Income-linked reductions: Italy's ISEE-based tuition and regional DSU support. Not marketed as scholarships, but frequently the largest saving available.
How to prioritise
Apply to one or two fully funded awards where you genuinely fit the criteria, and build your actual budget around the partial and income-linked routes. Applications take real time, and four rushed applications are worse than two prepared ones.
Ground rules
Verify every deadline and amount on the provider's own website before you plan around it — figures change annually. Never pay an agent for access to a public scholarship, and be sceptical of any scholarship without an official government or university source.
Figures in this guide are indicative and were checked on 2026-07-25. Fees, visa rules and financial-proof amounts change; confirm the current numbers with the university and the relevant embassy or immigration authority before you act.