USAID Egyptian Pioneers is a scholarship program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the American University in Cairo (AUC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHESR). The Program aims to build a more inclusive and capable workforce that elevates sectors critical to Egypt’s economic growth through providing scholarships to professionals working in the Government of Egypt (GOE) Institutions. These capacity building opportunities and scholarships offered to calibers who are interested in pursuing master’s degree, postdoctoral studies, and short-term training opportunities in Egypt or the U.S.

Through a nine-year cooperative agreement, the American University in Cairo (AUC) will administer the program in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHESR).

Two of the key results under USAID Egyptian Pioneers are:

Result 1 (GOE): Egyptian ministries and other government institutions at the forefront of Egypt’s strategic development will have greater leadership and technical capacity to develop and implement policies and practices that advance national priorities.

Result 2 (non-GOE): Emerging leaders in non-GOE entities will modernize their knowledge, skills, and practice to tackle Egypt’s evolving public and private sector challenges and advance Egypt’s regional and international competitiveness.

Available Programs & Tracks:

Priority & Enabling Sectors

On an annual basis, USAID/Egypt leads a participatory process with USAID Egyptian Pioneers, other USAID/Egypt activities, and the GOE to review and update priority sectors and sub-sectors. This process informs parameters for the cycles of scholarships under USAID Egyptian Pioneers. The first cohort for USAID Egyptian Pioneers had a sectoral focus on climate change-related fields which was pertinent to the criticality of the issue and underscored the significance of Egypt hosting COP27 at the time in 2022.

For Cohort 2, upon discussions between project partners, it has been decided that climate change and technology would be enabling sectors to the following sectors, in order of priority:

(1) Tourism, Culture, and Heritage

(2) Industry and Manufacturing

(3) Trade, Logistics, and Supply Chains

(4) Public Health with a focus on hospital management.

These sectors are aligned with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHESR) National Strategy on Higher Education and Scientific Research and complement projects of USAID Egypt.

N.B: Applicants must choose topics that are aligned with their entities' priorities.

Application Timeline:

For more details on the application timeline, please refer to the following infographic:

Applications for employees of Government of Egypt entities for Cohort Two are now closed (Academic year 2025/2026).

The Expression of Interest form for the Non-Government of Egypt Entities (Non-GOE) is availbale now until December 15th, 2024

You can submit it now through this link: https://forms.gle/4CBt78WkF6GuAkwM9