Joint Japan World Bank Scholarships 2026 Available Worldwide (Window 2 Opens)

The Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program (JJ/WBGSP) has opened its second application window for the 2026 intake cycle, with submissions accepted from March 30 through May 29, 2026. The programme will fund mid-career professionals from World Bank member developing countries to pursue master’s degrees at 24 partner universities across four continents.

The JJ/WBGSP occupies a distinctive niche in the international scholarship landscape, focusing on working development professionals who are already embedded in public policy, governance, infrastructure, and public health in their home countries. The programme aims to equip practitioners with advanced analytical tools at a top-tier university and return them to the field with sharper skills and a global peer network.

Scholars selected under the JJ/WBGSP receive a comprehensive funding package that covers the full cost of tuition, a monthly subsistence stipend, round-trip international airfare, and basic medical insurance for the duration of the programme, which can extend up to two academic years depending on the degree.

The scholarship is open exclusively to nationals of World Bank member developing countries; applicants with dual citizenship with any developed country are disqualified. Strong candidates typically hold a bachelor’s degree earned at least three years before the application deadline and have a minimum of three years of paid, full-time work experience in a development-related field. Applicants must be currently employed full-time in development-related work at the time of application.

Candidates must have secured unconditional admission to at least one of the 44 participating master’s programmes before submitting a JJ/WBGSP application. Staff of the World Bank Group, their alternates, and close relatives of World Bank staff are ineligible, as are former JJ/WBGSP recipients who either declined the award after selection or failed to complete their programme.

The application timeline is tight, with Window #2 opening on March 30 and closing on May 29, 2026. Applicants should prepare to upload their admission letter, academic transcripts, proof of work experience, a detailed curriculum vitae, and a statement of purpose that connects their professional background to their proposed field of study and post-graduation development goals.

The number of awards varies by cycle, and competition is intense, with thousands of applications received from across Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific. The 44 participating programmes span institutions including the Australian National University, Columbia, Erasmus, IHE Delft, Keio, LSE, Oxford, Stanford, SOAS, the University of Tokyo, and several other universities in Japan, France, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.

For the professionals who secure it, the JJ/WBGSP serves as a professional accelerant, providing a credential from a world-class institution layered onto years of field experience, with a global alumni network that stretches across finance ministries, multilateral agencies, and development organisations worldwide.