Scholarships

If you need a visa for Brazil, the IAS will provide you with supporting documents for your visa application. This includes a letter of invitation specifically inviting you to the conference and a scholarship award letter showing the financial support you have been awarded to facilitate your attendance. However, please note that it is your responsibility to apply for the visa yourself and that we are not in a position to contact Consulates to enquire about individual cases.

Find information about applying for a Brazilian visa on the AIDS 2026 immigration page.

You may request a refund for incurred visa application fees (up to USD 80) if your scholarship includes travel support. To be reimbursed, you need to keep your official visa receipt showing your name on it. 

First, please make sure you have completed the travel and accommodation survey we sent to you via email. If you have already done so, please note that we have a high number of scholarship recipients requiring bookings (almost 700), and our travel agent will send your travel offer as soon as possible.

In the meantime, please check your inbox, including your spam folder, regularly. Please do not book anything on your own as we will not be able to reimburse you for any costs.

All scholarship recipients are required to secure comprehensive travel and health insurance that covers unexpected events, including medical emergencies, hospitalization, repatriation, trip cancellations and loss or theft of personal belongings. Proof of valid insurance is mandatory to participate in the AIDS 2026 Scholarship Programme.

If you do not already have travel health insurance, you must obtain coverage for the full duration of your trip at your own expense.

In May, we will follow up to request proof of your travel insurance, including a certificate of your travel insurance and a receipt with your name and the total amount paid if you didn’t already have one. As part of your scholarship, you will be eligible for a reimbursement of up to USD 80 for your travel insurance, which you will receive during the conference.

We have pre-reserved enough rooms for all our scholarship recipients who received accommodation support. You will soon receive an accommodation voucher with details of your accommodation.

Your award letter is ready for download in your conference profile. If any personal information in your letter is wrong, please change the information directly in your profile by clicking on your name in the upper-right corner and then on “User account”. Log out and back in and re-download your corrected award letter.

In-person scholarship recipients requiring an invitation letter from the IAS can download it directly once they have submitted their registration in the “Registration” section of their profile.

We have a limited number of in-person and virtual scholarships available for late-breaker abstract presenters. When submitting your late-breaker abstract, you will have the option of ticking a box in the abstract system to indicate that you require a scholarship for your conference participation. We will do our best to accommodate your request.

Recipients who have received a scholarship for in-person attendance but can no longer travel should notify the Scholarship team as soon as possible. The deadline to request a change from in-person to virtual attendance is 30 June.

If the presenting author changes, the scholarship is cancelled unless a request is made to transfer the grant to the new presenting author. The deadline to notify the Scholarship team and request a scholarship transfer is 30 June. 
If the submitter or presenter(s) withdraws an abstract from presentation, the scholarship is cancelled.

We have extended the early registration fee for all unsuccessful candidates for two weeks after the scholarship results are announced. To take advantage of this offer, please sign in to your AIDS 2026 profile and make sure that your personal details are complete and correct (by clicking on your name in the top right corner and then on “User account”). You will be able to register as a delegate in the “Registration” section. Please keep in mind that you must register by Thursday, 16 April, 23:59 CEST, to take advantage of this offer. 

You will also have the option of reserving hotel rooms in a variety of room and price categories in different hotels through your conference profile.

There may be various reasons why your scholarship application was not selected. Keep in mind that thousands of people apply and even very good applicants may not receive a scholarship.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of reasons for non-selection to help you prepare a stronger application next time:

• Incorrect letter of recommendation: Make sure that your letter follows the guidelines in our scholarship application guide.
• Use of AI or copied content: Applications completed with overuse of AI tools or using copied content may be rejected, as stated in the scholarship terms and conditions.
• Non-English application: Ensure that your application is in English only as this is a requirement.
• Not directly involved in the HIV field: Applicants who are not directly working, studying or volunteering in the HIV field may not be considered.

Competition is fierce each year, but addressing these areas can significantly improve your chances of success in future IAS scholarship applications.

This year, the AIDS 2026 Scholarship Programme received over 6,400 applications, and unfortunately, it has not been possible to support all eligible applicants.

To date, over 700 scholarships have been awarded. A small number of late‑breaker abstract scholarships will be offered in June.

Almost 60% of the total number of scholarship recipients are applicants whose work was selected for the conference, including abstract presenters, workshop facilitators and Global Village organizers.

Among recipients who have accepted their award so far:

• More than 34% are living with HIV.
• A significant proportion identify as members of key populations, LGBTQI+ or trans and gender‑diverse.
• Recipients come from 93 countries.
• Almost 46% are based in low‑ or lower‑income countries.

Please note that final scholarship data are usually published after the conference, so figures may change slightly over time.

Unfortunately, we are unable to consider late applications or statements of interest sent via email. Applications for scholarships closed on 27 January 2026. 

If you are unable to attend AIDS 2026, you could apply for IAS 2027 scholarships when applications open in mid-November 2026.

The AIDS 2026 Scholarship Programme and AIDS 2026 Media Scholarship Programme support participation only in AIDS 2026. For other opportunities offered by the IAS, please visit our website and/or sign up for our newsletter.