We list 7 phD Social Sciences Scholarships for Nigerian Students, with the deadline, study level and eligibility of each one taken from the award's own terms. 5 of them are fully funded. Most are held in the United States (3), Australia (2) and Canada (1). 4 state eligibility that includes Nigerian applicants. Awards with a known closing date are listed soonest first.
These awards do not restrict the field of study, so social sciences applicants can apply too.
Written from the 7 awards on this page — every figure below is counted from what the awards themselves state. 5 min read.
This page collects 7 PhD scholarships in the social sciences that are open to Nigerian students. Every entry is a doctoral-level award, and every one of them sits in the social sciences rather than in engineering, natural sciences or medicine. That focus matters, because a doctoral place in sociology, political science, economics, development studies or a related discipline is usually funded through a specific research group or supervisor rather than through a general university scholarship pot.
The awards here are hosted in four countries: the United States (3), Australia (2), Canada (1) and Romania (1). Providers named on the page include Stanford University, Harvard University, the Jefferson Scholars Foundation, Monash University, participating Australian institutions and Canadian universities.
Funding is one of the first things to check, and on this page it is mostly stated clearly. 5 of the 7 awards are labelled fully funded. The remaining 2 do not state their funding position either way in the listing, so treat those as unknown until you read the award's own page.
Where awards describe their own benefits in writing, the breakdown is as follows:
These are the benefits the awards themselves mention. A fully funded doctoral package in the social sciences commonly combines a tuition waiver with a stipend, but do not assume a benefit is included unless the award's own text says so. Where an award is silent, the safe approach is to email the graduate school or the named contact and ask directly.
This is the question that decides whether the rest of the page is worth your time. Of the 7 awards, 4 are open to Nigerian applicants. Within that group, 1 names Nigeria or the wider region explicitly, and 3 carry no nationality restriction at all. For the remaining 3 awards, the listing does not state an eligibility position, which means you need to confirm it on the award page rather than assume either way.
If you are coming from the Nigerian system, the qualification that leads into this level is a master's degree — an M.Sc, M.A, MBA or M.Phil. A good first degree alone will not usually be enough for a doctoral application, and a taught master's with a dissertation component is the standard route. If your master's was completed in Nigeria, expect to supply transcripts, a degree certificate and a statement of result, and budget for courier costs to send hard copies where a university insists on them.
English testing is worth planning early. Only 2 of the 7 awards state an IELTS or TOEFL requirement in their listing. Many universities waive the test where your previous degree was taught and examined in English, but a waiver is granted by the institution, not by this page, so confirm it in writing before you pay for a test slot.
Doctoral applications carry a heavier document load than master's applications, and the requirements stated on this page reflect that:
The research proposal is the document most Nigerian applicants underprepare. A social sciences PhD proposal needs a clear question, a short review of what is already known, a described method, and a realistic sense of the data you can actually reach. If your fieldwork depends on Nigerian institutions, agencies or communities, say how you will get access. Recommenders should be people who taught you at master's level or supervised your dissertation; give them your draft proposal and your CV at least three weeks before the deadline, and follow up politely rather than assuming the letter has been sent.
Several awards on this page are tied to a supervisor or research group, which means the programme application and the funding application often share a single deadline. Approach a potential supervisor by email before you submit, with a two-paragraph summary of your proposed topic and a note on what funding you intend to apply for.
6 of the 7 awards carry a stated deadline, and all 6 of those are still open at the time of writing. One award is undated. Six of the awards recur annually, so a deadline you miss this cycle will usually return in the next one.
The busiest months across the collection are April, October and September, with one award closing in each. The soonest deadlines to plan around are:
Note that the Stanford deadline falls in October, which is closer than it looks once you count the weeks needed for transcripts, referee letters and a test score. Other awards on the page include the Harvard University Scholarships 2027 (Fully Funded), which closes 20 September.
Where the listings state a period of support, the figures vary: one award runs for 2 years, one for a maximum of 3 years, and one for 3 academic years. The Knight-Hennessy Scholars programme is described as funding up to the first term of study. These differences matter for planning, because a three-year package in a country with a four-year doctoral programme leaves a funding gap you will need to cover from another source.
Only one award on the page states how many places it offers: the Monash University – Museums Victoria PhD Research Scholarship names 2 awards per year. For the rest, the number of places is not given, so do not read silence as either a large or a small intake.
Start with the four awards where Nigerian eligibility is clear, and read each one in full before you shortlist. Confirm three things on the award's own page: whether the funding covers tuition as well as living costs, whether your master's qualification meets the entry bar, and whether an English test is required or can be waived.
Then work backwards from the deadline. A realistic doctoral application from Nigeria needs transcripts requested early, referees briefed weeks in advance, a research proposal drafted and redrafted, and a supervisor contacted before submission. If a deadline is under two months away and your proposal is not written, the next cycle is the more honest target — six of these awards recur, so the door does not close permanently.
Finally, treat the funding labels on this page as a starting point, not a contract. Where an award does not state its funding or its eligibility, the only reliable answer comes from the university or funder itself. Write to them, keep the reply, and build your application around what they confirm in writing.
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