2026 McDonald Fellowships open for application

McDonald Fellowship Recipients 2020-2024

Applications open!

We are pleased to announce that the MSIF McDonald Fellowships are now open for application. Applications are open until 1 December 2025.  

The McDonald Fellowship is a two-year fellowship that enables young researchers from low- and middle-income countries to work in a research institution outside their own country. The fellows learn new skills and techniques, with a view to returning to their own country to establish an MS research programme involving the application of the techniques they have learned. 

Each of the two fellowships will consist of 55,000.00 EUR paid annually to the host institution. 

Who can apply?

Applicants must be from a low- or middle-income country, be educated to post graduate level, and be focusing their research on an area relevant to MS. Before applying, candidates need to have identified a suitable project and host supervisor at an institution outside of their own country.

Full eligibility criteria can be found here. 

Applications are open until 1 December 2025. Learn more and apply here. 

Our Fellows

Since the launch of the McDonald fellowships in 2007, MSIF and our partners ECTRIMS and FRANCESEP have awarded more than 30 fellowships to researchers from countries across the globe including Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Iran, Malawi, Mongolia, South Africa, and many more. Spending two-years training in a centre of excellence in MS research before taking their learnings back to their home country.  

Fellows have attended and shared research at key conferences including ECTRIMS, the European Academy of Neurology and the Tykeson Fellows Conference.  

Meet our past fellows and learn more about their projects here: McDonald Fellowship recipients 2013 – 2025

Our Sponsors 

The McDonald fellowships are made possible by the support of our sponsors, FRANCESEP and ECTRIMS.  

We are extremely grateful to them for their continued partnership. 

Any questions? 

Please contact the team using the contact us form, selecting ‘Research grants and awards’, or reach out at research@msif.org