İsmail Serhat Oğuz Scholarship

Benefits & funding

• The university publishes no amount, no payment period and no benefit table for this named award. The points below describe the graduate funding context it sits inside.
• Almost all students admitted to Sabancı University academic graduate programs receive full exemption from annual tuition fees; professional graduate programs are excluded from that statement.
• The Graduate School of Social Sciences states that all its graduate students receive a tuition waiver scholarship, and that the large majority also receive housing and transportation support and a monthly stipend.
• For scale, the separately published Full Scholarship terms for 2026–2027 are 43,500 TL a month for 10 months at master’s level and 67,500 TL a month for 12 months at doctoral level, rising to 75,000 TL a month after the PhD qualifying exam, alongside a free dormitory room, 10,000 TL transportation support, private health insurance, a laptop and limited conference support. Those figures belong to the Full Scholarship, not to this named award.
• Graduate awards are paid from the university budget and from the funds of ongoing research projects.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be seeking admission to a graduate program in the Graduate School of Social Sciences: master’s study in Cultural Studies, Economics, History, Political Science, Psychology, or Visual Arts and Visual Communication Design; doctoral study in Economics, Experimental Psychology, History, Political Science or Social Psychology.
• Master’s entry requires an undergraduate degree completed by the registration date, so final-year students may apply.
• Doctoral entry accepts either a bachelor’s or a master’s degree. The History PhD requires a master’s degree, and applicants entering a PhD with a bachelor’s degree need a grade average of at least 3.00 out of 4.00.
• Graduate entrance exam minimums for master’s entry are ALES or e-ALES 55, GRE quantitative 149, or GAT 55; Political Science sets 70, 155 and 70. For doctoral entry, holders of a master’s degree need ALES 55, GRE quantitative 149 or GAT 55, and holders of a bachelor’s degree need ALES 80, GRE quantitative 160 or GAT 80.
• English proficiency minimums are TOEFL iBT 87, PTE Academic 73, YDS, e-YDS, YÖKDİL or e-YÖKDİL 73, CAE grade B, CPE grade C, or e-TEP 64. PhD applicants must also document proficiency in a language other than their native language.
• Applicants who studied abroad are admitted only once the Turkish Higher Education Council recognises their last institution and course of study.
• No nationality, residency, age, gender or work-experience requirement is published for this award.

Application process

1. 1
   Choose a master’s or doctoral program in the Graduate School of Social Sciences and read the requirements published for that program.
2. 2
   Create an account in the graduate admission portal at https://admission.sabanciuniv.edu/?ts=new.
3. 3
   Complete the online application and upload the documents the program lists, which may include an official transcript, two recommendation letters, a passport photograph, a statement of purpose, a sample of written work of up to 30 pages, a research plan of at least 1,000 words for master’s entry or 1,500 words for doctoral entry, a CV, graduate entrance exam results and proof of English.
4. 4
   Submit before the program deadline. There is no separate scholarship application.
5. 5
   The admission jury reviews academic merit and recommends a scholarship; the board of the graduate school takes the final decision.

Program timeline

1. Early application deadline for the Economics master’s and doctoral programs

   Mar 27, 2026

2. Final application deadline for all Graduate School of Social Sciences programs for the Fall 2026–2027 term

   Jun 8, 2026

3. 2026-09

   The published 2026–2027 scholarship terms take effect for the new academic year