The Application

How to Apply for the Italian Government Scholarship

Study in Italy is the scholarship desk. Universitaly is the enrolment desk. The Italian mission in your one chosen country is the reader. Here is how the file actually moves.

ScholarshipUnion Editorial 4 min read Updated Oct 6, 2026

Do not start in the middle

Applicants lose months because they treat MAECI like a university scholarship office. It is not. The Ministry publishes a call. You file on the Study in Italy portal for one country. A committee set up by the Italian diplomatic mission in that country assesses the file. In parallel — not instead — you handle university admission and, for many programmes, pre-enrolment on Universitaly.

The 2026–27 window is closed. The next annual cycle is 2027–28, and as of 6 October 2026 its official dates have not been published. The steps below are the last published process pattern. When MAECI posts the new call on the official site, follow that PDF if any click-path changes.

The sequence that matches the last call

1
Read the call, then the country list
Confirm that your citizenship is included, that your award type still exists and that you are within the age cap. Do not rely on a 2026 blog post for a 2027 country list. Save the PDF. The portal will not argue with a closed list on your behalf.
2
Choose one country and stay there
That country is the mission that will read you and, if you are selected, the mission you will usually return to for a study visa. Dual Italian and foreign citizens use the foreign-country track. Do not open a second file “for luck”.
3
Create the Study in Italy account and complete the scholarship form
Use studyinitaly.esteri.it with an email address you check regularly — every later message goes there. Upload a legible passport or ID copy at registration (missing it meant exclusion). Match names to the passport. Select the correct award type: master's, AFAM, PhD, research, Italofonia, or a bachelor renewal on Costruiamo il futuro. A research file without an invitation letter and project is incomplete on arrival.
4
Run university admission and Universitaly in parallel
Pre-enrolment and many admission tests go through Universitaly. A MAECI grant does not enrol you. Joint and double degrees must still produce a valid Italian enrolment certificate — a partner-university letter from outside Italy is not a substitute.
5
Submit before the Italian-time deadline in the new call
The last official close was 26 March 2026 at 14:00 Italian time. That is history, not a 2027 promise. Italian time is the clock that matters: local midnight in your city is irrelevant if Rome has already closed the form. Do not leave it to the final days — traffic slowdowns were not accepted as an excuse.
6
Evaluation, interview and ranking
In the last call the mission's committee first compared files on merit and eligibility, then interviewed shortlisted applicants, then published a merit ranking of winners and reserves on its website. Only winners were notified through the portal.
7
Upload supplementary papers if asked, then accept
If you declared a missing degree certificate, PhD admission letter or language certificate and you are in the ranking, the portal lets you upload it (in 2026 the cut-off was 1 July at 14:00). Then accept the award and the awarding letter, secure your seat in Italy and the Italian current account, and start the visa conversation described on the after selection page.

Application step tracker

Last published process pattern, as a personal checklist. Do not copy 26 March 2026 onto a new year.

Universitaly / admission — pre-enrolment and host admission in parallel, not instead of the grant.
One country — pick the mission that will read the file and later stamp the visa.
Study in Italy account — create the scholarship form on studyinitaly.esteri.it.
Uploads — passport, transcripts, language, plan; invitation letter and project if research.
Submit before the official hour — last close was 26 March 2026 at 14:00 Italian time. The next call will name its own clock.

Progress: 0% (0 of 5 ticked)

Planning tool. Not an official MAECI timeline.

What you should not outsource

Agents who sell “guaranteed MAECI” are selling a public form. The call is free to file. Nobody can legally purchase a diplomatic selection. If someone asks you to apply through a second country because “their embassy is easier”, they are asking you to break the one-country rule.

Do not wait for a scholarship letter before you look at Universitaly deadlines. Those calendars are set by universities and the ministry of university, not by the scholarship clock. Students who treat MAECI as a substitute for pre-enrolment arrive in summer with a grant and no seat.

What to upload

Documents →

Invitation letters, language proof, PhD admission letters and enrolment certificates each have their own rules. The documents chapter lists them.