All You Need to Know About Ph.D. Scholarships For 2022-23 Under US-Pak Knowledge Corridor

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has invited applications from Pakistani and AJK nationals for Ph.D. scholarships for the academic year 2022-23 in top-ranked US universities under its “US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor” initiative.

In 2015, the US and Pakistan governments decided to launch this initiative with the aim of enabling 10,000 Pakistani Ph.D. aspirants to study at top-ranked US universities in the next 10 years.

Phase-1 of the US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor was approved in 2017 and revised in 2020 which envisions to award 1,000 Ph.D. scholarships to outstanding Pakistani students in US universities.

Ad Powered By Advergic
  Loading ad . . . 
 Ad - Continue scrolling to read

Here is all you need to know about phase-1 of the initiative.

Eligibility Criteria

To apply for scholarships under the US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor, the applicants must:

Be Pakistani or AJK nationals.
Be aged 35 years or less. However, regular faculty members of public sector universities/government colleges and researchers of approved/registered R&D organizations are entitled to a 5-year relaxation in the upper age limit.
Possess minimum 4 years bachelor’s degree (BS/BSc/BE (16 years formal education)).
Have a maximum of two 2^nd divisions and no 3^rd division in the entire academic career. However, scholarships under the category-I and –II require applicants to have a maximum of just one 2^nd division in the entire academic career.
Not be availing any other scholarship.
Not possess a Ph.D. degree.

Scholarship Categories

There are three categories of scholarships under the US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor which are:

Category-I

Scholarships under this category will be awarded to applicants who have:

Secured admission in a US university that is included in the ranking of top 50 QS World Universities.
A valid GRE-General with a minimum total score of 300 or HAT with a minimum of 60% score.

Category-II

Scholarships under this category will be awarded to applicants who have:

Secured admission in a US university that is included in the ranking of top 300 QS World Universities.
A valid GRE-General with a minimum total score of 300 or HAT with a minimum of 60% score.

Category-III

Scholarships under this category will be awarded to applicants who will secure admission along with a complete tuition waiver for the entire scholarship period in a designated US university.

Benefits

Each category of scholarship under the US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor offers different benefits. The benefits offered by each category are following.

Category-I

Scholarships under this category will be fully funded. However, candidates will receive a stipend of $19,200 per annum and a health insurance coverage of $2,000 per annum. They will not be entitled to any initial settlement allowance.

Category-II

Candidates will receive the following benefits under this category:

A stipend of $19,200 per annum.
Health insurance coverage of $2,000 per annum.
Tuition and fee of up to $12,000 per annum.
Return air ticket worth Rs. 250,000 once for the entire study period.

Category-III

Candidates will receive the following benefits under this category:

Initial settlement of $5,000 once in the entire study period.
A stipend of $19,200 per annum.
Health insurance coverage of $2,000 per annum.
Return air ticket worth Rs. 250,000 once in the entire study period.

How to Apply

Ph.D. aspirants can apply for the scholarships under the US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor at HEC’s Scholarship Portal. Applications sent to the HEC through any other means will not be entertained and will be rejected straight away.

Deadline

Applicants can apply for the scholarships under the US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor before 28 February 2022.

Other Important Things to Know

Successful Ph.D. candidates will be required to show a willingness to serve in Pakistan after completing their degree.

The scholarships under the US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor will be offered for a maximum period of 5 years.

Applicants are not required to submit HEC-attested required documents at the time of submitting their applications. Only those shortlisted by HEC will be asked to submit HEC-attested required documents later.

Misstatement or misrepresentation of information in the application form can result in disqualification or cancellation of the scholarship grant at any stage during the study.

Read more about the US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor Ph.D. Scholarship Program at HEC’s official website.