• Applicants must be Egyptian nationals. Applicants with dual nationality can apply except U.S. citizens and green card holders.
• Applicants must be mid-career professionals with 7 to 17 years of experience and at least the last two years must be in the same field of study/training they are applying for.
• Selection of applicants is contingent upon proof of academic excellence, community engagement, participation in conferences, and training certifications as applicable in addition to English language proficiency as mandated by the track of choice.
• Inclusion, diversity, and women empowerment are key principles for USAID Egyptian Pioneers. Therefore, we encourage females and persons with disabilities to apply for the available scholarships.

 

Employment Status and Institutional Approvals:

• Applicants from Government of Egypt entities (GOE) must be employed full-time on a permanent contract at the GOE entities that submitted the Expression of Interest form (EOI).
• Applicants from Government of Egypt entities (GOE) on annual contracts can only apply for short-term training in Egypt.
• Applicants must obtain the approval of their home department or institution to apply for the scholarship and provide one recommendation letter from one of their supervisors.
• Applicants must obtain security clearances and/or travel permits from their institutions as soon as they are accepted at a U.S. university.

 

Secondment Cases:

• In case of secondment, applicants can return either to the same institution at which they worked upon applying or their home institution. However, both institutions must be among the list of eligible GOE entities that signed the Expression of Interest form.
• Applicants must be committed to returning to work for the same institution at which they worked during the time of the application for at least two years upon completing the program. For seconded applicants, they can return to work for a total of two years in either institution.
• Applicants on secondment must submit two approval letters: one from their home institution and one from the institution in which they are seconded.

 

Choice of Academic/Training Programs:

• Applicants must choose an academic program/training topic/research topic that directly relates to the announced priority sectors and clearly articulate as to how their current jobs are related to the chosen sector. For more details on the application process for each track, please visit this .

 

Knowledge Transfer:

• Applicants must be committed to transferring the knowledge obtained from the degree or training program they received through USAID Egyptian Pioneers to other colleagues in the workplace. This can be done through one or more of the following approaches:
• Seminars
• Publications
• Training of Trainers (TOT)
• Developing a team of coworkers to collaborate in planning for and developing training modules, or participating in ToT activities.

 

Program Duration/ Deferral:

• Applicants are to abide by the dates/ time frame and duration set for the scholarship track they have applied to as clarified below:
• For master’s degree in Egypt, the program duration is up to two academic years. The selected study program must be between 27 and 36 credit hours.
• For master’s degree in the U.S., the program duration will be up to one academic year with a full-time load. For applicants from academic careers, the duration might be extended to a maximum of two years, however, this will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The selected study program should be between 27 and 33 credit hours.
• For Postdoctoral studies: Applicants must complete their research engagement within their study period of three months at a U.S. university. Applicants must complete research review and publishing-related work under the remote guidance of a U.S. mentor upon return to Egypt for a duration up to another three months.
• For short-term training in the U.S.: Capitalizing on the public-private sector engagement, the short-term training will be initiated in the U.S. and will run for 45 days followed by a collaborative phase including the participants of the short-term training in Egypt from GOE and Non-GOE entities. The training program in the U.S is structured differently from the phase conducted in Egypt. The overall training is implemented over a period of up to 6 months including the training in the U.S. and Egypt. The training phase in Egypt is designed to accommodate working professionals.
• For short-term training in Egypt, the Hospital Management and Operational Excellence Diploma provided for the Government of Egypt applicants to Short-term training in Egypt is conducted over a period of 9 months including two days of study per week. The training phase in Egypt is designed to accommodate working professionals.
• The program does not allow deferral of scholars to subsequent cohorts.
• For Master’s degree applicants in Egypt and the U.S. only: USAID Egyptian Pioneers reserves the right to consider deferral for the following semester under force majeure circumstances that occurred after selection and must be supported by strong justification and documentation. Such exceptional deferrals will also be subject to universities’ approval and admission processes.

 

Redirection to other USAID Egyptian Pioneers Tracks:

USAID Egyptian Pioneers reserves the right, during the screening, scoring, and the selection process to recommend applicants who applied for a specific track into another track that deems suitable for him/her as follows:

• Redirection of master’s degree in the U.S. may be towards the same track in Egypt.
• Redirection from master’s degree in the U.S. to master’s degree in Egypt track would be based on eligibility for admission criteria of the university including admission deadlines. Otherwise they would be redirected to short-term training in Egypt or the U.S.
• Redirection of short-term training in the U.S. may be towards the same track in Egypt.
• For applicants of postdoctoral studies in the U.S., they may be offered a redirect to short-term training in Egypt or the U.S.
• All applicants must note that they are eligible for only one opportunity of USAID Egyptian Pioneers tracks throughout its implementation duration. Applicants may choose to accept the redirection track or opt to reapply in the following cohorts with no guarantee of acceptance. It is worth noting that the priority sectors and study topics may change with every cohort.

 

For U.S. Tracks Applicants:

• While in the U.S., candidates cannot transfer to other universities or diverge from agreed-upon study plans.
• Applicants for universities in the U.S. need to confirm that, if selected, they would have to commit to traveling to the U.S. unaccompanied for the duration of the program. Applicants cannot bring any family members or dependents with them to the U.S.
  
• While at the U.S. university campus, applicants must have the ability to engage substantially with their mentor/professor and conduct high-quality research and studies independently.

 

Applicants accepted to programs provided in the U.S. will serve as mentors for the undergraduate scholars of USAID Egyptian Pioneers during the latter’s study abroad semester at the same university if applicable.