Eligibility

1. Applicants must be an international student at the time of award.
2. University of Sydney International Scholarship holders are expected to enrol in a full-time postgraduate research degree.
3. Applicants must apply to be considered for RTP Scholarships at the time of their application for admission to their HDR Course and must submit the required supporting material in the manner specified on the Scholarships Office website. Applicants who have already commenced their HDR candidature must apply by completing the application form available on the Scholarships Office website.

Stipend and Allowances

1. A student who relocates their place of residence from outside the Sydney Metropolitan area to commence their research degree at the University of Sydney may claim a relocation allowance for eligible expenses. The value of the allowance is up to $1,485 for travel from their home country to Sydney at the commencement of their degree, and up to $1,485 for travel to return to their home country after successful completion of their degree. Costs of relocation may only be claimed for the student’s personal relocation expenses and not for any other person or dependants.
2. Reimbursement of up to $420 for Masters candidates and up to $840 for Doctoral candidates will be made for eligible claims for direct costs of producing a thesis in accordance with the University’s thesis allowance claim information.
3. Holders of the Scholarship may receive a concurrent award, scholarship or salary to undertake their research degree provided such award, scholarship or salary provides a benefit less than 75% of the Scholarship.

To be eligible for this award, you must:

• be an international student
• hold citizenship in one of the countries or regions listed below
• receive admission into a full-time undergraduate coursework or postgraduate coursework degree, commencing in 2026*
• not be an Australian or New Zealand citizen, or a permanent resident of Australia
• not have already started a degree at the University of Sydney at the time that you apply for the award. However, you are eligible if you are completing a degree here and are applying for the award with a second degree.

This award is not available for the Master of Business Administration (MBA), Executive MBA (EMBA), study abroad, executive education programs, or courses offered in distance mode or to students participating in a Law Dual Degree pathway program.

Only successful applicants will be contacted after applying for the scholarship. The indicative turnaround time to receive a scholarship offer is 5 weeks from when you submit an application for the scholarship.

Approximately 20 scholarships will be awarded globally per year across the two intakes focusing on diversity of course and diversity of nationality. The information listed here is subject to change without notice. Information describing the number and value of scholarships awarded is indicative.

Benefits

The scholarship will provide the below benefits for the published full-time duration of the recipient’s single undergraduate degree (including embedded honours) up to a maximum total duration of 4 years full-time study.

• 100% tuition fees, and
• Student Services Amenities Fee.

No other amount is payable. Recipients are responsible for all other costs for studying at the University of Sydney including but not limited to, Overseas Health Cover (OSHC), living costs, accommodation, textbooks, flights and costs associated with being under the age of 18.

Who’s eligible

You must:

• have applied for but not yet commenced a single undergraduate coursework degree (may include embedded honours) at the University of Sydney at the time of award which has a maximum duration of 4 years. Only applicants who apply for eligible courses will be considered for this scholarship. The scholarship is not available for combined degrees with a postgraduate component, the Bachelor of Arts (Dual Degree, Sciences Po, France), Bachelor of Economics (Dual Degree, Sciences Po, France) and degrees that include the Bachelor of Advanced Studies. *
• must enrol in their eligible degree full-time
• not be commencing a second degree at the University of Sydney
• be an international student as defined in the Higher Education Support Act 2003. Australian Citizens, Australian Permanent Residents and dual citizens with Australian nationality are not eligible
• must have completed secondary school (or a foundation program in Australia or from a University of Sydney recognised foundation partner)
• must not have previously undertaken any tertiary studies (excluding extension studies completed as part of a year 12 program).

The VCIS is a scholarship offered on commencement of a coursework degree (it is only awarded once during first year of commencement and not renewable for following years).

This scholarship is possible for all undergraduate and postgraduate coursework applicants and students need to hold an unconditional offer at the time of the rounds listed on the website for each intake in order to be ranked for consideration. No separate application is required for this scholarship

Five scholarship amounts are offered based on your ranking against the selection criteria:

1. $60,000 payable for one year in two equal instalments per semester
2. $40,000 payable for one year in two equal instalments per semester
3. $20,000 payable for one semester
4. $10,000 payable for one semester
5. $5,000 payable for one semester

The availability of some amounts may be limited to specified cohorts.

*An offer round will be run for International Baccalaureate (IB) graduates after 16 December 2025 results are released and for international UAC students post the 23 December 2025 offer round.

Who’s eligible

You must:

• be an international student
• have applied for but not yet commenced a bachelor’s degree or a coursework master’s degree that is a CRICOS registered award program usually delivered onshore at the University of Sydney
• receive an unconditional offer of admission by the relevant close date.

Background

The Vice-Chancellor’s International Scholarships are awarded to exceptional international students.