I still remember the moment I almost missed out on this scholarship. It was a Tuesday night. I’d just finished my university application on University Admissions.se, closed my laptop and went to bed feeling pretty good about myself. What I didn’t realize until three weeks later, scrolling through a random Facebook group for people heading to Sweden, was that applying to the university was only step one. There’s a whole second application to the Swedish Institute itself that most people don’t even hear about until it’s almost too late.
That’s the part nobody tells you about the SI Scholarship. It’s not one application. It’s two, on two different websites, with two different deadlines. Mess up either one and you’re out.
So if you’re googling “Swedish Institute Scholarship” at 1am wondering where to even start, I’ve been there. Let me walk you through it, mistakes and all.
What This Scholarship Actually Is
The Swedish Institute Scholarships for Global Professionals or SISGP as most people call it is a fully funded master’s scholarship run by a Swedish government agency under the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. It’s for international students who want to do a full-time English-taught master’s in Sweden and it’s open to applicants from 34 countries.
It covers full tuition and gives you a monthly stipend for living expenses over one or two years of study. More specifically that’s full tuition fees, a monthly stipend of 12,000 Swedish krona and a one-time travel grant of 15,000 Swedish krona if you’re not already living in Sweden.
You also get membership in the SI Network for Future Global Professionals which is basically a platform to help you grow professionally and build connections while you’re there. This part is underrated honestly. It’s not just a certificate on a shelf. People actually use this network for job leads and collaborations years down the line.
In 2025 the Swedish Institute gave out about 200 fully funded scholarships across Swedish universities so yeah competition is real but it’s not impossible if you understand what they actually want. If you want to know what 12,000 SEK a month even means in your own money check XE’s currency converter before you get too attached to the number.
The Two Portal Trap (This Is Where People Fail)
Here’s the part I wish someone had drawn me a diagram of before I started.
Portal 1: University Admissions.se. This is where you apply to the actual master’s program. You go to UniversityAdmissions.se and apply for your master’s by 15 January and you can pick up to four programmes on this one portal.
Once you submit it you get a personal application number, eight digits. Save this number. You need it for your SI Scholarship application and if you type it wrong your application gets disqualified.
Portal 2: The SI Scholarship Portal. This one’s completely separate opens later and only stays open for a short window. Usually 9 to 25 February and it closes at 14:59 CET on the last day.
I want to say that again because it trips people up constantly. The scholarship portal is open for roughly two weeks a year. Not two months. Two weeks. If your documents aren’t already ready to go you will scramble.
Someone I know in an SI applicant group missed this completely. She thought submitting to University Admissions was the whole process and never even opened the SI portal. Found out in April she got into the university but no scholarship. Don’t be that person.
Who Can Actually Apply
Before you get excited about the stipend run through the eligibility checklist honestly.
- You need citizenship from one of the eligible countries. This list changes a bit year to year so check the current one on si.se rather than trust an old blog post like this one.
- You need to apply for a programme that’s actually eligible for the SI scholarship and be liable to pay tuition fees at University Admissions.
- You need demonstrated leadership experience whether that’s from a job or civil society work.
- Work experience is not optional. For most eligible countries you need at least 3,000 hours of work experience before the deadline from a max of three employers.
The work hours math matters more than people think. If you work part time do the actual math early. Working 20 hours a week gets you roughly 1,000 hours in about 50 weeks so someone part time might need close to three years to hit 3,000 hours not one.
Also worth knowing you’re not eligible if you already have a degree from a Swedish university have lived in Sweden two years or more before the program starts already got an SI scholarship once or hold Swedish or EU/EEA citizenship or residency tied to Sweden or the EU. There are some exceptions for a couple nationalities though. If you’re on a different visa track the Swedish Migration Agency has the residence permit rules that run alongside all this.
The Step by Step Process In Plain Language
Step 1: Find the eligible programs (mid November) Not every Swedish master’s program qualifies for this. There’s over 400 eligible programs across leading Swedish universities covering stuff like governance public health entrepreneurship sustainability and STEM fields. Download the list of eligible programs from the official SI page before you start picking universities. Don’t fall in love with a program first and check eligibility later. That’s backwards and wastes weeks.
Step 2: Apply to up to four programs on University Admissions.se This usually runs mid October through mid January. Pick your four wisely treat it like a real shortlist not a wishlist. Save that eight digit application number the second you get it. Screenshot it email it to yourself write it on a sticky note whatever it takes so you don’t fat finger it later.
Step 3: Prepare your scholarship documents while you wait This is the step almost everyone underestimates. You’ll typically need
- A CV using SI’s own template usually capped around three pages
- Two letters of reference using SI’s template with at least one based on work experience
- Proof of work and leadership experience
- A photocopy of your valid passport or national ID
- A motivation statement often filled out directly in the online form
Do this in December and January. Don’t wait for the portal to open in February because you’ll only have maybe two weeks to chase signatures stamps and scans and that’s not enough time if a referee is slow.
While you’re waiting it’s also worth reading up on what daily life in Sweden actually costs so the stipend doesn’t surprise you either way. Study in Sweden’s page on fees and costs breaks down rent food and transport by city and it’s way more reliable than random forum posts.
Step 4: Submit through the SI Scholarship portal in February Once it opens usually the second week upload everything. Triple check your application number before you hit submit.
Step 5: Wait for two separate results University admission results come out late March. SI Scholarship decisions come a few weeks after usually late April. So yeah you find out if you got into the program before you find out if you got the money. It’s an odd wait but that’s how the timeline goes every year.
Mistakes I’ve Seen (and Made) Along the Way
Editing the official template too much. Past applicants have flagged this. Don’t delete the header text on the CV template even though it looks like junk. Screening sometimes relies on that formatting staying intact. Use the template as is don’t try to redesign it to stand out.
Miscounting work hours. People round up because they really want to hit 3,000. Don’t. Calculate honestly from actual dates and actual hours per week. If you’re short it’s better to know now and apply next year with a stronger record than submit numbers that don’t hold up.
Treating the motivation statement like a job cover letter. SI isn’t hiring you. They want to know how your specific degree connects to solving a problem back home. Vague lines about wanting to grow personally don’t land the same way a concrete plan does.
Getting reference letters from the wrong people. A glowing letter from a family friend who runs a small shop doesn’t carry the same weight as a direct supervisor talking about your actual leadership and impact at work.
Assuming rejection from SI means no Sweden at all. It doesn’t. If your university application goes through but the scholarship doesn’t self funding is still an option if that’s realistic for you financially. Different math problem but the door isn’t fully shut.
A Few Honest Observations
The scholarship really does fund your whole degree tuition monthly living costs and a travel grant which is rare compared to a lot of “scholarships” that are really just partial tuition waivers dressed up nicely.
That said the selection process really is holistic. No single checkbox guarantees you a spot and no single missing box guarantees rejection either except the disqualifying stuff like a wrong application number or a missed deadline. Those are avoidable and honestly the ones that sting the most because they’ve got nothing to do with how qualified you actually are.
If there’s one thing I’d underline twice it’s this. Build a simple calendar the day you decide to apply. Mark the university deadline mark the two week SI portal window and work backwards from there for your documents. The people who get this scholarship aren’t necessarily the most impressive on paper. A lot of the time they’re just the ones who didn’t let some preventable mistake knock them out of the running.
Always double check dates and eligible countries directly on si.se before you commit to anything here since these details get updated every year and even a well meaning guide like this one can go stale by the next cycle.