Mr. Sanjay Laul, Founder at MSM Grad
The requirements that made an application for a scholarship competitive were largely constant for many years. These included outstanding academic performance, potential for leadership, a clear vision for how the degree connected to national development and a personal background that showed the capacity to cross cultural boundaries. These parameters are still relevant. However, there has been a change in how the most prestigious scholarship programs are assessing applicants. This change has been because of AI.
The fields that receive the most scholarship support have not been the only ones affected by artificial intelligence. Regardless of the subject, it has altered the qualities that committees seek in candidates for funding.
DAAD: from academic excellence to AI research pipelines
The German Academic Exchange Service is currently the largest academic exchange association globally by quantity, providing assistance to over 140,000 researchers annually. Their scholarship structure has not changed since its inception. For the EPOS and Forschungsstipendien programs, the stipends for 2026 have been established at €934 for master students per month and €1,300 for PhD researchers per month, since neither program has changed. The costs of health insurance, a six-month German language class, and travel will continue to be covered by the programs.
The types of programs financed by the DAAD have changed within Germany. There are now also AI, ML, and DE programs at TU Munich and RWTH Aachen that are being financed through the DAAD scholarship, and the DAAD scholarships favour those who have had prior employment or research experience in regards to the programs.
As a result of this, candidates are going to be applying to a much larger number of technologically-focused programs than previous years under the DAAD’s standard emphasis on an applicant’s academic history and research goal. The competitive environment for a humanities applicant applying for a DAAD research grant in 2026 has shifted drastically to STEM fields and then even more so to AI and data-type areas within STEM fields.
In contrast to Chevening and Fulbright, DAAD prioritizes academic excellence over cultural exchange. Particularly, applying through DAAD-listed AI research programs enhances competitive positioning for candidates aiming for Germany’s AI research environment at universities like TU Munich.
Erasmus Mundus: joint degrees built around the AI skills gap
There is one key distinction between Erasmus Mundus and the other three programs. It’s not just one school with one degree, it’s several schools offering many degrees at the same time and occupying many different countries, so that students can build their professional networks as part of the Erasmus Mundus programme while still in school. With their two-year-degree process experiencing both Europe and Asia, students have access to unlimited amounts of two years’ worth of European business networks through design instead of hard work.
Providing total funding for tuition, travel costs and stipend amounts between €1,100 – €1,400 each month, AI4Gov is just one example of how all master’s programs focusing specifically on Artificial Intelligence will provide full financing to its participants. In terms of their funding model, no other scholarship currently provides full funding for all AI master’s programs like the Erasmus Mundus scholarships do.
The focus and combination of technical AI expertise with the application of that technical knowledge towards policy/governance as it pertains to Europe makes the AI for Government (AI4Gov) program unique. Unlike some other master’s programs which only focus on technical AI knowledge, AI4Gov focuses on both policy/governance aspects of AI along with technical knowledge; therefore, as one of the few programmes to provide complete financial assistance to students from South Asia or Africa who desire to pursue careers in digital governance/public sector technology/AI regulation, AI4Gov should be considered of great value by prospective students in these regions.
The 2026 deadline date for September entrance has been rescheduled to early January. Erasmus Mundus applications are limited to three programs per academic year per applicant. The competition is truly international, and candidates must choose carefully which joint degrees to pursue due to the three-program cap.
Chevening: leadership redefined as digital influence
Chevening’s funding has always been transparent. Not the greatest pupil. The leader of the future. the one who will go back to their nation and create something.
The Chevening program still requires a minimum of two years of work experience, and the announced monthly stipend for 2026-2027 is £1,690 inside London and £1,378 outside.
Increasingly, the selection committees for Chevening are perceiving a new style of leader, away from the traditional archetype, i.e., the civil servant or professional working in the development sector at mid-career level. The committee still sees these participants competing equally for a Chevening Award. However, when the committee looks at an applicant’s evidence of influence and leadership, they now look for new categories of leaders: digital entrepreneurs, technology policy advocates and specialists at the intersection of artificial intelligence ethics and governance.
Chevening is searching for future leaders (in 2026) who have a broad understanding of how artificial intelligence is influencing public life, politics, and the distribution of power within their individual countries. Five years ago, Chevening would have been unable to understand an applicant’s leadership statement supporting their argument for the value of AI literacy within public organisations, nor would they have endorsed any applicant focusing on the impact of automation on the society of a developing country.
Fulbright: cultural exchange meets technological fluency
Fulbright’s primary mission has not changed since its inception in 1946- build mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries through educational exchange. The mechanism for this is the experience of completing a degree or research assignment in the U.S., returning home, and having a career that incorporates what the grantee learned during the exchange.
As the program has noted, as we progress into 2026, technology will increasingly define the most significant areas of mutual understanding between the U.S. and the rest of the world. The areas of fastest divergence in opinions between the U.S. and other nations, where bilateral understanding is most important, include AI governance, data governance, cybersecurity policy, and digital infrastructure.
To be eligible for a Fulbright grant, candidates from India must have at least three years of professional work experience and a minimum of 55% in undergraduate studies, reflecting its emphasis on cultural exchange. AI, data science, and technology policy will now be prioritized as part of the program cycle leading up to 2026.
There has been no modification to the Fulbright essay question. However, winning responses have. An argument that directly aligns with Fulbright’s foundational logic is made by a candidate who frames their work in technology as a contribution to the mutual understanding of how societies govern AI rather than just as technical expertise seeking international training.
The thread connecting all four
None of these initiatives have given up on their initial goals. Academic excellence is still funded by DAAD. Erasmus Mundus continues to create networks throughout Europe. Chevening continues to support upcoming leaders. Fulbright continues to fund cross-cultural interactions.
All four have acknowledged that AI is not a field distinct from those goals. It is the setting in which those goals are now being pursued.