What this page lists
This page lists 6 fully funded masters scholarships in Russia open to Nigerian students. Every award here is labelled fully funded by the body offering it, and every one of the six sits at masters level. The same six also appear at other study levels: 4 of them are open to bachelors applicants and 3 to PhD applicants, so a few of these awards cover more than one level and you may meet them again when you browse those pages.
One award on the list sits in Medicine & Health Sciences. The rest span the subjects the individual universities teach, which is why the provider names matter more than a subject filter here.
What the awards say they cover
Read the funding line on each award before you shortlist it. Of the six, all six name tuition in their own text, 5 name living costs, 4 name accommodation, 1 names health insurance and 1 names research or training costs. Those are the words on the award pages, not a promise that every cost you will face is handled.
- Tuition — named by 6 awards
- Living costs — named by 5 awards
- Accommodation — named by 4 awards
- Health insurance — named by 1 award
- Research or training costs — named by 1 award
Where an award names a stipend, treat it as a contribution towards monthly living rather than a full salary. Where it names dormitory housing, that usually means a place in university accommodation, not rent money paid to you. Budget separately for your flight, your visa costs, your documents and your first weeks in the country.
Who can apply
You come to this list holding a first degree or an HND. The qualifications that lead into masters study are B.Sc, B.A, B.Eng, LLB, MBBS and HND. Both taught and research masters are covered by the awards on this page.
Awards usually state a minimum class of degree. Where an award asks for an "upper second", that corresponds to Second Class Upper (2:1) on a Nigerian transcript. Whether an HND is accepted is decided by each university, so check the individual award page rather than assuming.
On nationality, the position is straightforward and worth reading carefully. None of the six awards names Nigeria or the West African region in its eligibility text, and none of the six states that it has no nationality restriction. For all six, eligibility is simply not stated on the award as we have it. That is not a rejection and it is not an open door — it means you must confirm eligibility with the university or the scholarship body before you spend money on a transcript or a courier.
The awards on this list
The six awards come from a mix of government schemes and individual universities.
Three providers appear by name in the brief. Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) accounts for one award. National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, in Moscow, accounts for one. The leading Russian medical universities — Sechenov, Pirogov, RUDN, Kazan, Kursk and others — account for one. The remaining awards are run through government schemes and partner universities rather than a single institution.
What the applications demand
The requirements stated across the six awards are lighter than you might expect, which means the real work sits in the university application itself.
- Letters of recommendation — required by 2 awards
- An English test score (IELTS or TOEFL) — required by 1 award
- An admission offer first — required by 1 award
That last point deserves attention. One award will not consider you until you already hold an admission offer, so the sequence is university application first, funding application second. If you are targeting that award, start your programme research and your document gathering months earlier than you would otherwise. Where an English test is not named, do not assume it is waived — ask the university directly, since English-test waivers are decided institution by institution.
Letters of recommendation take time in Nigeria. Approach your lecturers or your supervisor early, give them your CV and your statement, and be ready to pay for the courier if the letter has to travel in hard copy.
Deadlines
None of the six awards carries a fixed date on this page. All six are undated here, and none is marked as currently open or as recurring. That is not the same as having no deadline — it means the date is not stated in the listing, so you must open each award and read the deadline line in full.
What the award pages do describe is a pattern. The Russian Government Scholarship and the Russian Government Quota Scholarship both indicate that applications usually open in November and close in February for the next academic year, with the quota scheme running to February or March. MEPhI and the Russian medical universities follow a similar November-to-February window. HSE University states that deadlines vary by programme, generally between January and August.
Treat those as the shape of the cycle, not as dates you can rely on. Confirm the current window on the award page before you plan anything around it.
Russia as a destination
Russia is not a small destination for Nigerian students. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 1,950 Nigerian students were studying in Russia in 2023, placing the country eighth among destinations for Nigerian students. That figure is worth knowing because it tells you there is an established route, not because it tells you anything about your own chances.
The awards on this page are concentrated in Moscow and in the major university cities, and the medical universities in particular draw students into long professional programmes. If you are applying at masters level, you are entering a cohort that is smaller than the undergraduate intake, which is one reason the funding lines differ so much between awards.
What to do next
Start with eligibility. Open each of the six awards and read the eligibility section line by line, because for all six the nationality position is not stated on the listing as we hold it. If the award text does not answer your question, email the university or the scholarship body and ask directly whether Nigerian applicants are considered for the current cycle.
Then work backwards from the November-to-February window. Your transcript request, your degree certificate, your recommendation letters and any English test you decide to sit all take weeks, and the courier costs are yours. Order the documents before the window opens, not during it.
Finally, shortlist by what the award actually pays for. If an award names tuition only, you need a plan for living costs and accommodation before you accept a place. If it names tuition, living costs and accommodation, your budget is narrower. Read the funding line as written, and build your plan on that.
