We list 2 fellowship Scholarships for Nigerian Students in Italy, with the deadline, study level and eligibility of each one taken from the award's own terms. 2 of them are fully funded. 1 state eligibility that includes Nigerian applicants. Awards with a known closing date are listed soonest first.
Written from the 2 awards on this page — every figure below is counted from what the awards themselves state. 5 min read.
This page collects 2 fellowship scholarships in Italy that are open to Nigerian applicants. Both are labelled fully funded by the bodies offering them, and both sit at fellowship level rather than at taught master's or bachelor's level. That is a small, specific list, and it is worth reading carefully before you spend money on transcripts or courier fees.
Italy is not the first country most Nigerian graduates think of when they plan study abroad, but it hosts research institutions and university departments that run short, funded residencies rather than long degree programmes. The two awards here follow that pattern. They are for people who already hold a doctorate or who work in research and teaching, not for fresh graduates looking for a coursework degree.
Both awards on this page are described as fully funded. Beyond that label, the benefits differ.
These counts describe what the award pages say in writing. They are not a promise that every cost you incur will be met, and you should read the individual award page for the exact wording before you budget. Where an award names accommodation and insurance, that usually means the host institution arranges them rather than paying you a cash sum to arrange your own.
The CICOPS Research Scholarships at the University of Pavia are the clearest example on this list. The brief records 8 scholarships, with EUR 150 (gross) per week plus travel, accommodation, meals and insurance. Note the word gross: tax and any local deductions come out of that figure, so plan your personal spending on the net amount, not the headline.
Of the 2 awards on this page, 1 is confirmed as open to Nigerian applicants. Within that, Nigeria or the wider region is named directly in the eligibility text. For the other award, eligibility is not stated on the award itself, which means you would need to check with the provider before treating it as open to you.
Do not read "fully funded" as "open to everyone". Fellowship awards at this level are usually tied to a research profile. The CICOPS award is described as a research visit for PhD holders and academic staff. If you are finishing an M.Sc, or you hold a B.Sc or HND, this particular list is not aimed at you yet. The realistic route is to complete a doctorate or to take up an academic or research post first, then apply.
If you do hold a PhD and you are teaching or researching in a Nigerian university, polytechnic or research institute, you are in the group these awards are written for. You will usually need a host who agrees to receive you, so start that conversation early.
The brief does not record specific application requirements for these awards, so treat the following as the practical groundwork rather than a checklist taken from the award pages. Research fellowships of this kind normally ask for a research proposal, a curriculum vitae, evidence of your doctorate, and a letter or invitation from the host department. Some ask for two academic referees.
Two Nigerian realities are worth planning around. First, transcripts and degree certificates take time. If your PhD was awarded by a Nigerian university, request the transcript and an official statement of result early, and confirm whether the provider wants a sealed copy sent directly or a scanned upload. Second, English-test waivers: where an award is research-based and your previous degree was taught in English, some providers waive a language test. That is decided case by case by the provider, so ask rather than assume, and do not pay for a test you may not need until you have an answer in writing.
Courier costs are real. Budget for sending documents to Italy, and check whether the provider accepts certified electronic copies first.
Both awards on this page carry a stated deadline. 1 is still open at the time of writing, and 1 recurs. The busiest months for deadlines in this collection are June and April, with one award closing in each.
The award closing soonest is NATO Defense College Fellowships 2026-2027 (Fully Funded), which closes 1 April. That leaves roughly 175 days from the date this page was prepared, which is enough time to secure a referee and a host letter if you start now.
The second award, CICOPS Research Scholarships 2027, University of Pavia (Italy), closed 10 June 2026. It is listed here because it recurs, so the useful move is to note the month and prepare for the next round rather than to apply today. Its research visits run for 4 to 12 weeks in 2027. The NATO fellowship runs from 3 to 5 months.
Italy hosted 625 Nigerian students in 2023, ranking it 25th among destination countries, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. That is a modest presence compared with the numbers who go to the United Kingdom or Canada, and it tells you something useful: the Nigerian applicant pool for Italian awards is smaller, and the competition for a niche research fellowship is not the same as for a large taught master's scheme.
It also means fewer people around you will have done this before. Expect to do your own reading, to email the provider directly when the award text is unclear, and to keep your own record of what you sent and when.
Two awards is a short list, and it is honest about what it is: a narrow set of fully funded Italian fellowships for researchers. If you match the profile, the deadlines are workable. If you do not yet hold a doctorate, use this page as a marker for where your next qualification should take you.
Italy is one of the most attractive destinations in Europe for international students who want to pursue higher education abroad. Known for its rich history, cultural diversity, and internationally recognized universities, Italy offers a wide range of fully funded scholarships for international students 2026–2027 at the bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD levels. These scholarships cover tuition fees, monthly living allowances, accommodation, health insurance, and in some cases, travel expenses, making it easier for talented students to study in prestigious Italian institutions like the University of Bologna, Sapienza University of Rome, and Politecnico di Milano. With these opportunities, international students can access high-quality education in fields such as engineering, medicine, business, arts, and social sciences while experiencing Europe’s unique lifestyle.
*UNESCO Institute for Statistics, inbound internationally mobile students from Nigeria, 2023.
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