The goals of the program: To encourage and enable outstanding graduates of academic colleges to transition to research master’s degree studies at one of the research universities in Israel.

The scholarship period: The scholarship is biennial and is given for two academic years.

The amount of the scholarship: NIS 40,880 a year for living expenses.

Number of scholarships: 12 scholarships are granted every year.

The goal of the program: This scholarship program is another layer in the multi-annual program to expand access to higher education in the Arab community. The Arab community constitutes 20% of the population of Israel but its representation in higher education is much lower, which is most extremely reflected in graduate degrees. The rate of members of the Arab community with research master’s degrees out of the total population in 2011-12 was 5%. One of the main goals of the multi-annual program is to increase the representation of the Arab community in higher education and graduate degrees in particular and thereby ultimately increase the number of academic faculty members from that community. The purpose of the scholarship program is to lay the groundwork for expanding the participation of members of the Arab community in the academic faculty in Israel by offering scholarships to graduates of universities and colleges who continue to pursue research master’s degrees at one of the universities in Israel.

The scholarship period: The scholarship is biennial and is given for two academic years.

The amount of the scholarship: NIS 40,880 a year for living expenses.

Number of scholarships: 30 scholarships are granted every year.

Goals of the program: Encouraging outstanding women students in the following subjects: electric and electronic engineering, computer engineering, software engineering, communications engineering, information system engineering, computer sciences, physics, mathematics, as well as structured programs with at least 60 credits from computer sciences, mathematics and statistics at an equivalent level of courses in double-major computer science degrees – to pursue master’s and doctoral studies while encouraging academic excellence, shortening the length of studies, and encouraging them to become part of the academic faculty in Israel in the future.

The scholarship period: The scholarship is biennial and is given for two academic years.

The amount of the scholarship: In the first class the scholarship will be NIS 60,880 a year, including NIS 40,880 a year from the PBC budget and NIS 20,000 a year to be paid to each scholar by the institution.

Number of scholarships: Up to 10 scholarships a year.

The purpose of the program: This scholarship program is another layer in the multi-annual program to expand access to higher education for students of Ethiopian origin. In the 2017-8 academic year, 370 students from Ethiopian backgrounds were enrolled in master’s degree programs in all higher education institutions, including 250 in PBC-funded institutions, of which 43 were in research master’s programs at universities.

The Ministry of Immigration in 2017-8 granted scholarships at the level of tuition (NIS 13,769) to 190 master’s degree students. Furthermore, since 2016-7 the Ministry of Science has offered 5 excellence scholarships of NIS 50,000 to master’s degree students, but to the best of our knowledge because of various barriers and a shortage of applications the rate of actualization of the scholarships has been low. In light of the recommendations of the steering committee for advancing academic excellence among students of Ethiopian origin, among other ways by encouraging advanced research degrees, it was decided to approve a program of excellence scholarships for research master’s degree students. The purpose of the program is to lay the groundwork for expanding the participation of the Ethiopian community in the academic faculty in Israel.

The scholarship period: The scholarship is for students in their second year of research master’s degrees who meet the criteria.

The amount of the scholarship: Excellence scholarships of NIS 41,000 for living expenses and tuition supplementation, to students from Ethiopian origins who meet the criteria.