How to apply for a scholarship — the process from start to answer

Three kinds of application — and only one of them is a "form"

Before deadlines: the scholarships open to you do not work the same way, and that changes what you can usefully do this week.

1. You apply directly. Marom (through Perach's system), the Students Authority (through gov.il), Perach, ISEF. There is a form, there is a deadline, you fill it in.

2. Your institution applies for you, and you cannot. The VATAT excellence scholarships for doctoral and post-doctoral researchers work this way. The CHE page says it outright: "Method of application: through the institutions only." There is no student form. Your address is your graduate-studies authority or the rector's office, and the deadline that binds you is the institution's own internal one — earlier than the 1 June published by CHE. If you are a doctoral student waiting for a form, you are waiting for something that will not arrive.

3. The institution decides alone. Dean of students' assistance, internal discounts and grants. There is no national cycle here at all; the address is your equal-opportunities unit or dean of students.

Source: VATAT doctoral excellence scholarship programme · verified September 2026.

The 2026-27 season calendar, as of 15 September 2026

Marom needs an explanation. The CHE page says registration "opens in September and closes in early November". Perach's page says it "will open during September 2026". And the registration system itself — the only one that accepts applications — displays today: "Marom registration is currently closed. Registration for the 5787 activity year will open on 28/02/27 at 08:00."

Three official pages, three answers. We do not know which is right and will not guess. What is certain: the form is closed, and there is no point trying this week. Who to ask: the Marom team at Perach, milga.marom@perach-il.org · 054-7731216.

If you need money for the year starting now

The practical conclusion of the table above: the Students Authority is the only track with a live deadline in the coming weeks. 1 October for continuing students is less than three weeks away.

And if you are a continuing student, note that this is not an automatic renewal. The page: "Every student must file a fresh online application at the start of each academic year or semester." A student funded for three years who forgets to apply in the fourth receives nothing.

What happens after you press "submit"

This is the part nobody describes, which is why people read silence as refusal and stop chasing it.

Marom, per Perach's page:

1. On completing registration a confirmation email arrives. Keep it — it is how you get back into the form to complete missing details, change things or add documents. Which means a partial submission is fixable, and that is a good reason to submit early even if a document is missing
2. Applications are ranked and scored
3. In December an eligibility or non-eligibility notice arrives by email
4. If refused — "in some cases the option to file an appeal will be given". Not always, and not automatically: if you are refused, ask explicitly whether an appeal exists in your case
5. The scholarship is paid in two instalments across the year — not one sum up front. Do not plan your cash flow around a single payment

The Students Authority: the application is filed afresh each year, and there is no retroactive assistance. If you stop studying you must notify them immediately. The page warns that failing to do so "may lead to a recorded debt and the cessation of all financial assistance from the ministry". That is not theoretical: it is money you already received, and it will be reclaimed.

Three mistakes that cost the whole application

Waiting for the website to update. The Authority's gov.il page referred readers to Marom using 2025-26 cycle dates ("opened 9/9/2025... until 11/11/25"). Perach's page has been written in the future tense since August. Official sites go stale quietly; the registration system is what governs.

Budgeting on a figure you read in the summer. Perach's own page announced that "from next year (5787) the Marom conditions will change for new applicants" and that the details "will be published in an orderly way". Until they are, the detailed conditions still shown there are last cycle's.

Assuming last year's eligibility carried over. At the Authority, continued assistance is conditional on an average of 60 or above and confirmation of normal progression, and there is no funding for a repeated year — neither for failure nor for a change of track. Someone who failed a course and stayed an extra year discovers this when the money does not arrive.

What to actually do today

1. If you are within 15 years of receiving oleh status — apply to the Students Authority. 1 October is close
2. If you have been in Israel more than 15 years or were born here — prepare the Marom file and ask Perach what the real date is
3. Either way — Perach is open, and from 2026-27 its volunteer hours can serve Marom too
4. If you are a doctoral student — contact your graduate-studies authority now, not in June

See also

• Marom vs the Students Authority vs VATAT — who qualifies for what
• Which documents you need, and how to prepare them
• Why applications are refused