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. Diplomatic staff in that country assess 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. Official dates for that cycle 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.
Application step tracker
Last published process pattern. The 2026–27 window is closed. Official 2027–28 dates are not published — do not copy 26 March 2026 onto a new year.
Filing sequence
Planning tool. Not an official MAECI timeline.
The sequence that matches the last call
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Step 1
Read the call, then the country list
Confirm that your citizenship is included and that your award type still exists. Do not rely on a 2026 blog post for a 2027 country annex. Print or save the PDF. The portal will not argue with a closed list on your behalf.
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Step 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.”
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Step 3
Create the Study in Italy account and complete the scholarship form
Use studyinitaly.esteri.it. 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 is incomplete on arrival.
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Step 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.
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Step 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.
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Step 6
Wait for the mission, then for enrolment proof
Selection is local to the country track. After a positive result you still need a place in Italy, a path to an Italian current account, and the visa conversation described on the after selection page.
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
Invitation letters, language proof, enrolment certificates.