Scholarships

To apply, eligible candidates will have to answer questions about their organization/institution, experience in the HIV field, motivation to attend the conference, and community benefits of attending.

You will have to upload a letter of recommendation. The letter must:

• Be written in English by a manager or colleague who is familiar with your work, volunteer experience or studies in HIV and can be your referee
• Include a letterhead of your referee's organization, company or institution
• Be dated within two months of your application submission and signed (original or digital signature) by your referee
• Explicitly reference you and support your scholarship application for IAS 2025, explaining why you would be a good candidate for the scholarship

Please ensure that the uploaded documents are fully legible and can be opened correctly. If we are unable to view or open your documents or if the document does not meet any of the above requirements, your application will be considered invalid.

Your application will also be considered invalid if it is plagiarized or written with overuse of AI. Your application must represent your own work.

In the application form, you will be able to indicate your preferred attendance type and request different types of financial support.

We accept applications submitted through the conference account only; we will not accept applications sent via email or regular mail. You can create an account from 20 November 2024 if you do not already have an IAS profile. Please note that we will use the email address you use for your account for all communication, and you cannot change it later. Once logged in, go to the scholarship section and follow the instructions to create your application.

Once you've submitted your application, you won't be able to submit another if you decide to cancel it.

Applications will be accepted until 22 January 2025, 23:59 Central European Time (CET).

Yes. A limited number of scholarships will be awarded to media representatives. To apply, complete the media scholarship application form through your conference profile. Learn more about the IAS Media Scholarship Programme in the FAQs.

The deadline for media scholarship applications is also 22 January 2025. Please note that you can apply for either the IAS 2025 Conference Scholarship or the Media Scholarship, not both.

Yes. After submitting your abstract, you may apply separately for a scholarship. The system will automatically link your submission(s) to your scholarship application. On the last page of the scholarship application form, you will find a list of your submissions for which you are the presenter. Please note that only the abstract presenter (maximum of one person) will be considered for a scholarship.

Each person must apply for their scholarship independently, using the same email address provided in their submission.

Yes. You can apply for the scholarship if you are 18 years old on 13 July 2025 and working, volunteering or studying in the area of HIV. Everyone is encouraged to put together a strong application, whether or not they belong to a priority group, as scholarships are limited and the process is highly competitive.

Towards the end of the online application, there is a “Financial support” page where you can select your preferred type of attendance (in person or virtual). If you choose virtual attendance, you will automatically receive virtual registration only.

For in-person attendance, you may request up to four types of financial support (registration, travel support, accommodation, daily living allowance) by ticking the relevant boxes on the form. Please request the financial support you realistically need as once you have submitted your application, you cannot make changes to this section, aside from switching a scholarship to virtual.

We do our best to accommodate all requests, but please note that full scholarships are limited and not guaranteed.

Please note that the conference format has changed. IAS 2025 does not provide access to all conference sessions streamed live. All conference sessions can be accessed virtually, on demand, until 19 August 2025. After 19 August, on-demand content is accessible to all delegates and IAS Members dependent on speaker consent.  We will not cover accessibility costs (such as internet data reimbursement and SIM cards) for virtual participation.

No. Please do not register before you receive the result of your application. If you are selected, we will not be able to reimburse you for any costs you have incurred prior to receiving a scholarship. But don’t worry – even if your application is unsuccessful, you will have the option of registering for the conference at a reduced rate. We extend the early fee to all unsuccessful candidates for two weeks after the scholarship results are announced.

Please familiarize yourself with the Rwandan government’s immigration policies before you travel. People of many nationalities, including African Union member states, can obtain visas upon arrival at the airport for free. People of other nationalities can obtain visas upon arrival at the airport for a fee of USD 50 for a single-entry visa. We will reimburse in-person scholarship recipients up to USD 50 if they need to pay for their visa, so please keep your receipt.

We do not recommend that you book anything as a backup as we cannot reimburse you for any costs. If your application is successful and you are awarded the travel or accommodation support that you requested, we will organize it for you. We work directly with a travel agent to book your flights and have pre-reserved hotel rooms for scholarship recipients. If your application is unsuccessful, you will have the option of reserving hotel rooms at a reduced rate through your conference profile.

The IAS 2025 Scholarship Programme supports attendance at IAS 2025. To see other opportunities offered by the IAS, please visit our website.

Yes. You can save a draft of your application form to complete any time before 22 January 2025, 23:59 CET.

Applications must be completed and submitted by 22 January 2025, 23:59 CET. We will not accept applications after this deadline.

We will email notifications to applicants in early April 2025.

For enquiries, please reach out to the Scholarship team at scholarships@ias2025.org. Please note that due to the high volume of requests, we can guarantee responses only to questions that have not been addressed on the IAS website. Thank you for understanding.

We cannot provide advice on individual applications, but we have prepared a guide on how to submit effective scholarship applications. Please read it to get tips for your application and insight into the scholarship selection process.

Please contact our IT helpdesk at profile.query.email@iasociety.org for help.