Mastercard Foundation Graduate Online Scholarship at the University of Edinburgh

Nurturing climate leaders

All Mastercard Foundation Scholars at the University of Edinburgh will participate in a Climate Leadership Programme.

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program aims to make a meaningful impact in addressing the climate crisis.

Our Program is dedicated to nurturing a community of talented, entrepreneurial, and compassionate leaders from across Sub-Saharan Africa.

We empower young people with the necessary knowledge, skills, and networks to drive sustainable transitions by offering a range of exceptional sustainability-focused postgraduate opportunities through the Program at the University of Edinburgh.

Applying for an online learning scholarship

We invite exceptional young people with great academic and leadership experience who have overcome barriers to their education and are diligently committed to pursuing their studies to apply for an Online Scholarship at the University of Edinburgh.

Online studies are an excellent way to earn a qualification for those who would like to continue working and prefer to study in their local context.

Online qualifications through the University of Edinburgh are equivalent to degrees taught on campus.

Applicants can apply for either:

• Online Masters (part-time up to 3 years. However, MSc Circular Economy and MSc Sustainable Lands and Cities must be studied over 2 years part-time) OR
• Online Post-graduate Diploma (part-time up to 2 years)

Online Masters

Masters programmes normally aim at those who have completed an undergraduate degree and want to develop more specialised knowledge in the same subject or similar career area.

Applicants who already have a postgraduate qualification are not able to apply for the online Masters.

Online postgraduate diploma

Postgraduate diplomas are aimed at those who are considering a potential change in their careers and tend to be more vocational.

Candidates with either an undergraduate or Master’s degree from a Sub-Saharan African university are equally able to apply (provided they will graduate from either degree and provide their degree certificates and transcripts by the application deadline)

We offer scholarships for the following online degree programmes ONLY:

International Development (Masters route only)

The programme engages with the most pressing issues and challenges confronting people, communities and institutions including climate change and sustainability. Environmental change, climatic change, clashing beliefs and concurrent economic overconsumption and stagnation require new ways of thinking about development and global governance.

Students will get an opportunity to engage, explore and analyse various processes that have led to climate change through examining the history of international development for instance.

How are development challenges defined and turned into practical strategies and who’s interests are served and who is excluded? Students will be able to take courses that grapple with questions like; are those escaping natural disasters helpful or hurtful, how do climate-induced displacement intertwine with migration and mobility policy?

Ultimately, the programme builds and strengthens critical skills for analysing these development processes and inequities, exploring development issues in a range of different social, historical and political contexts.

The online MSc International Development program enabled me to balance full-time work while pursuing my masters degree. I especially valued the flexibility in course design, which allowed me to apply theoretical knowledge in International Development to areas of personal interest, such as the role of faith-based organisations in Kenya, mental health, education, and community engagement. The courses ultimately inspired me to explore the social and economic impact of the social networks formed by Kenyan students in Canada. Completing the program enhanced my research and analytical skills and gave me a unique perspective on development challenges across different regions. 

Ahmed Hussein – 2024 Scholar 

Global Food Security and Nutrition (Masters or Diploma)

Food security is concerned with the availability, access, and utilisation of safe, nutritious and sustainable food to all, especially vulnerable groups within society.  

The Global Food Security and Nutrition programme provides opportunity for students to develop a knowledge and understanding of different food production systems and their ability to meet the food and nutritional needs of the growing Global Population, in the context of climate change, limited resources and sustainable development.  

Students get to explore the interconnection and interrelationship of different food systems, the environment, biodiversity and climate change, human and planetary health with consideration to the potential of different solutions that address the challenges that exist.

Global Challenges (Masters or Diploma)

Global Challenges program is directly related to sustainability and climate change through its emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach, addressing root causes, understanding irreversible changes from human activity, recognising inequality and social justice, connecting health and the environment, acknowledging the impacts of climate change and natural disasters, and considering overpopulation and poverty—all of which are key components of the sustainability and climate change agenda.

Carbon Management (Masters route only)

The aim of the Carbon Management (online) MSc is to give students the skills to understand and tackle climate change. The programme will be renamed MSc Climate Change Management in 2025/26. This rename will not change the courses’ structure. The content will stay the same.

We draw widely on the latest research in several climate change related fields including from an economic, ecological, business and energy perspective. New approaches for adapting to a warmer world and managing resources sustainably will be examined with an emphasis on interdisciplinary analysis.

Students will develop the skills and knowledge to engage critically with climate change discussions and challenges to help transition toward a resilient, low-carbon future.

One Health (Masters or Diploma)

One Health sits at the interface between human, animal and ecosystem health. As such, it is a fast-evolving subject area, well suited to preparing professionals looking to address the wide range of intractable and complex health challenges of the 21st Century.

Through the programme, you will develop a range of the essential One Health competencies essential for working across disciplines.

The interactions between climate change, loss of biodiversity, disease emergence and other key issues affecting health and sustainability are discussed throughout the programme, making graduates very well placed to work in these fields.

Circular Economy (Masters or Diploma)

The circular economy has an emphasis on resource efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, waste reduction, sustainable consumption and production, integration of renewable energy, closing material loops, and promoting long-term resilience—all crucial aspects of addressing the sustainability and climate challenges we face.

Sustainable Lands and Cities (Masters or Diploma)

The climate emergency brings an urgent awareness of the inter-relationships between land and human development. The pervasive exploitation of natural systems means populations face fundamental challenges for their future. Sustainable Lands and Cities brings together people who are committed to creating, shaping, and conserving sustainable communities.

Social Justice and Community Action (Masters or Diploma)

Climate change poses an existential threat to humanity, from which no one is immune.

The Social Justice and Community Action programme positions climate change as a social injustice, explores the emerging discourse of climate justice, and the convergence of action on climate, sustainable development, and social justice.

To do this work, students connect climate justice to ideas of liberty, equality, citizenship, and democracy, and to real world practice contexts located in grassroots activism, sustainable community development, public policy development and implementation, and organisational management.

Apply for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program before applying to the University

If you are applying exclusively for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program scholarship, you should only apply to the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program. Once you have received a scholarship offer in March 2025, you can then proceed to apply to your chosen study programme at the University of Edinburgh through the University’s admissions process. If you are considering other scholarships, only then should you apply to the University as well.

Candidates eligibility

You must meet the eligibility criteria to apply:

• Applicants must qualify academically for admission to the University of Edinburgh for a relevant degree programme listed. You will generally need to have achieved the equivalent of a UK Second Class (Upper) Bachelor’s (Hons) degree or higher. Find out more about the postgraduate entry requirements for your country:

Postgraduate entry requirements

We particularly welcome applications from female Scholars, Scholars from refugee and displaced backgrounds, and Scholars with disabilities (see FAQs below for further information) 

Applicants will have faced significant barriers to education (social, financial, personal, practical or health-related).

Applicants must have graduated from an undergraduate study and must have a degree certificate and official final transcript to upload alongside their application by 8 November 2024.

Applicants must be residents and citizens or hold refugee status in a Sub-Saharan African country.

Applicants must have faced barriers to education and early career

Applicants must demonstrate a track record of leadership and service within their community.

Applicants must demonstrate experience, or at least ambition, in making a meaningful impact in addressing the climate crisis.

Applicants must be 35 or under the year the programme commences. Therefore, for the 2025/26 academic year, we accept applications from those born on or after 1 January 1990. Anyone born in 1989 and prior is not eligible. 

If applying for the online Masters programme: Applicants should not have previously completed a postgraduate degree and should not be enrolled (or applying to enrol) at a separate university.

If applying for the online Postgraduate Diploma: Applicants can either have an undergraduate or Masters degree from a Sub-Saharan African university (provided they will graduate from either degree by 8 November 2024). If you have a Masters degree, our admissions team will review your first degree (undergraduate) to meet the postgraduate diploma entry requirement. The Program will review your Masters degree transcripts to confirm your university’s graduation date and location. 

What the online scholarship provides:

• Covers full approved tuition fees: scholars will not pay for any part of the tuition fees.
• Academic stipend to allow for access to high-quality internet, and laptop.
• The opportunity to attend an in-person gathering.
• Participation in activities as part of the wider Climate Leadership Programme at the University of Edinburgh, including regular online workshops, online coaching and support.
• A dedicated Online Coordinator
• Additional support is offered to Scholars with disabilities based on an assessment of needs.

How to apply

You must qualify academically for admission to the University of Edinburgh. We require that applicants apply for this Program before applying to the University. 

The Program will not accept applications submitted outside the online application system.

Please review our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section, below, for further details.

We also encourage you to utilise the Application Guidance, which is found under the tab ‘Pages’, on your applicant portal.

If you have any queries regarding the Mastercard Foundation Scholarships, which are not answered in the FAQs, please contact us at: [email protected]

Applications for 2025/26 will open on 1 October 2024 at 10.00 am and close on 8 November 2024 at 5.00 pm UK time. 

Selection process

The selection process for applications is based on the following criteria:

• Academic merit of the candidate that qualifies for admissions to the University of Edinburgh 
• Track record as a transformative leader and service within their community
• Quality of application in line with the Program’s theme of climate justice.
• Potential impact on the development of the applicant’s home country.
• Applicants who have faced  significant barriers to education (social, financial, personal, practical or health related).