USA Scholarships
NPGH Global Health Fellowship 2027 - $67,824 Stipend
The NPGH Global Health Fellowship 2027 buys you a year to do nothing but research, in the country where the health problem actually is. Formally it is the NPGH LEADERs LAUNCH Fellowship, a 12-month clinical research training programme funded by the National Institutes of Health through the Fogarty International Center and run by a consortium built around the Universities of Washington, Michigan, Minnesota, Hawaii and Indiana University, with partner sites in Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Cameroon, Peru, Thailand, Nepal and India. The money is real: postdoctoral Fellows draw a living stipend of $67,824 for the year plus $10,000 in research funds, and predoctoral Scholars draw $28,224 plus $7,500. Health insurance for US trainees, flights to and from the site and travel to the NIH orientation in Bethesda are all covered on top. What you are signing up for is 40 hours a week of research at the site for 12 months, with outside clinical duties off the table. Applications for the 2027-2028 year close 15 September 2026 at 5pm Pacific, decisions land by February 2027, and fellowships start on 1 July 2027.
What is the NPGH Global Health Fellowship 2027?
The NPGH Global Health Fellowship 2027 is what happens when the NIH decides that the way to build global health researchers is to pay them properly and send them somewhere for a full year. Formally it is the NPGH LEADERs LAUNCH Fellowship, funded through the Fogarty International Center along with the NIH offices for AIDS Research and Research on Women's Health, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. The Northern Pacific consortium behind it ties the Universities of Washington, Michigan, Minnesota and Hawaii and Indiana University to partner institutions in Kenya, Cameroon, Uganda, Ghana, Peru, Thailand, Nepal and India, relationships the consortium counts at 242 years of collaboration between them.
What makes it different from a travel grant is the structure wrapped around the money. You are paired with a mentor team on both ends, one at your US consortium university and one at your research site, and that relationship is meant to outlast the fellowship rather than end with it. Alongside the research you work through a 12-month core competency curriculum built specifically for the programme, aimed at turning you into someone who can write grants, mentor other people and run a research group. Research themes across the consortium stretch from HIV, TB, malaria and the herpesviruses through cancer, cardiovascular and pulmonary disease, child development, mental health, women's health, genetics and nutrition, and out into lead toxicity, slum upgrading, tobacco, trauma, oral health, nursing, policy and implementation science. If your question sits anywhere near health in a low-resource setting, the consortium probably has someone who works on it.
The calendar for the 2027-2028 year is fixed and public. The application opened in May 2026, an informational webinar ran in June with slides and a recording still posted, and everything is due on 15 September 2026 at 5pm Pacific, including both recommendation letters. Review runs September through November, interviews for the shortlist happen between late September and mid October 2026, and every applicant hears by February 2027 whether they are in. Fellowships begin on 1 July 2027 with an orientation at the NIH campus in Bethesda. One honest caveat the consortium prints itself: awards for 2027-2028 are contingent on continued funding of the Fogarty LAUNCH programme and the NPGH LEADERs consortium.
A few things decide most applications. Start on mentors immediately, because both of them must read and endorse the application before it goes in, and recruiting a site mentor in Kathmandu or Kumasi from a standing start in August does not work; the consortium will help match you if you email [email protected] four to six weeks out with your CV and a proposal synopsis. Price your fieldwork against the cap that applies to you, $7,500 for US predocs and $10,000 for postdocs, rather than writing a method you cannot fund. And take the commitment seriously before you apply: 40 hours a week of research at the site for 12 months, limited travel away from it, and no outside clinical duties at all, which for practising clinicians is the real cost of the year. For related routes, the Fulbright US Student Program 2027 guide covers the programme that runs the sibling Fulbright-Fogarty award, the Cornell Atkinson Postdoctoral Fellowship 2027 guide covers funded postdoctoral research on sustainability and health, and the AERC World Bank Visiting Scholars 2026 guide covers a research residency aimed at African scholars. The official page is the NPGH LEADERs application page.
Eligibility
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✓Citizenship in one of nine countriesYou must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States, Cameroon, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nepal, Peru, Thailand or Uganda. US applicants can be affiliated with any US institution. Applicants from the eight partner countries can only apply if they are affiliated with one of the consortium's approved international partner sites.
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✓A doctoral or terminal degree, finished or in progressPostdoctoral applicants need a doctoral or terminal degree such as a PhD, MD, DDS, DVM, DrPH or PharmD completed within the last six years, or completed and followed by a T32 fellowship, residency or an advanced degree like an MPH. Getting the degree by July 2027 also counts. Predoctoral applicants must be enrolled in a doctoral or terminal degree programme with at least one year of study done.
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✓Two mentors who have read and endorsed your applicationOne must sit at a consortium university in the US: Michigan, Minnesota, Washington, Indiana or Hawaii. The other must sit at an approved international partner site. Both have to review and endorse the application before you submit, which is why mentor hunting is the step people start too late.
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✓A research project at an approved siteThe proposal has to be for work carried out at one of the consortium's approved international partner sites. You can build on a previous trainee project or design your own with your mentors, but a project sited somewhere the consortium does not work is not eligible however good it is.
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✓Twelve months full-time, no clinical moonlightingYou commit to 40 hours a week of research for 12 months at the international site, starting July 2027, with limited travel away from it. Outside clinical duties are not allowed during the fellowship. Clinicians used to keeping a foot in practice need to plan around that.
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✓Not on a tenure trackThe consortium states plainly that it cannot consider applications from postdoctoral applicants who are already on a tenure track. The award is built for people still early enough to be redirected by a year abroad, not for faculty topping up a research portfolio.
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✓One consortium onlyFogarty LAUNCH runs through several consortia covering different countries, and you may apply to only one of them in a given cycle. Pick based on where your research question lives and where your mentors are, then commit, because a hedged application to two is not permitted.
Benefits
- Living stipend $67,824 for 12 months, set on the PGY scale
- Research funds $10,000
- Health insurance Covered for US trainees
- Travel to and from the site Covered for US trainees
- NIH orientation in Bethesda Attendance and travel costs covered, July
- Mentor team US and site mentors, during the year and after
- Core competency curriculum 12 months, built for this programme
- Outside clinical work Not permitted during the fellowship year
- Living stipend $28,224 for 12 months, set on the PGY scale
- Research funds $7,500
- Health insurance Covered for US trainees
- Travel to and from the site Covered for US trainees
- NIH orientation in Bethesda Attendance and travel costs covered, July
- Curriculum and mentoring The same 12-month package as Fellows
- Extra document Unofficial transcripts go in with the application
- Tuition or degree fees Not covered, your programme keeps billing
- Living stipend Set against local cost of living at your site
- Research funds $10,000 for postdocs, $7,500 for predocs
- Short-term training in the US 1 to 3 months at your US mentor's university
- Travel to the US for that training Covered
- NIH orientation in Bethesda Attendance and travel costs covered
- Institutional affiliation Must already be at an approved partner site
- Health insurance Listed as a benefit for US trainees only
- A published stipend figure Not stated, since it varies country by country
Document checklist
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✓The online application formEverything is submitted online, and the consortium publishes PDF previews of the form and the essay prompts so you can draft offline first. Nothing is accepted on paper or by email except the recommendation letters.
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✓Five short essays, 500 words eachCareer goals, what you expect to gain from the programme, your ideal mentorship environment, your potential mentorship team, and your previous experience in resource-poor settings. Five hundred words each is tight, so answer the question asked rather than reusing a general personal statement.
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✓Research plan, 1,500 wordsThe core of the application. Your proposed US and site mentors must both review it before you submit. The consortium points applicants at a published guide on writing a global health research proposal, which is worth reading before you draft rather than after.
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✓NIH biosketchThe standard NIH format, and the consortium flags that the biosketch requirements changed recently, so build from the current template rather than an old one you have lying around. Get the personal statement section pointed at this specific project.
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✓A tentative study budgetResearch funding is capped at $7,500 for US predoctoral applicants and $10,000 for postdoctoral applicants from the US and the partner countries. Build the budget to the cap that applies to you. A proposal whose method needs more money than your cap allows reads as unplanned.
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✓Two letters of recommendationOne from your primary research site mentor at an approved international site, one from your primary US mentor at a consortium university. A third is optional and no more are accepted. Letters go to [email protected] or into the form, and must arrive by 15 September.
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✓Unofficial transcriptsPredoctoral applicants only. Unofficial copies are fine, so this is one document you do not need to chase a registrar for. Postdoctoral applicants skip it entirely.
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✓A photograph of yourselfShared with the external review committee alongside your file. An unusual ask, but a required field, so have a plain headshot ready rather than cropping something at the last minute.
How to apply
Deadline and timeline
FAQ
What is the NPGH Global Health Fellowship?
NPGH stands for Northern Pacific Global Health, one of the consortia inside the NIH Fogarty International Center LAUNCH programme. The full name is the NPGH LEADERs LAUNCH Fellowship, and it funds 12 months of full-time clinical and public health research at a partner site in Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Cameroon, Peru, Thailand, Nepal or India. The US side is built around the Universities of Washington, Michigan, Minnesota and Hawaii plus Indiana University, and the whole thing runs on NIH research training grant D43 TW009345.
How much does the NPGH Fogarty fellowship pay?
Postdoctoral Fellows from the US receive a living stipend of $67,824 for the 12 months, set against the PGY scale, plus $10,000 in research funds. Predoctoral Scholars from the US receive $28,224 plus $7,500 in research funds. Trainees from partner countries get a stipend calibrated to local cost of living, with the same research fund amounts. On top of the stipend, US trainees get health insurance and flights to and from the site, and everyone gets travel to the NIH orientation in Bethesda.
When is the NPGH fellowship deadline for 2027?
Applications for the 2027-2028 programme year close on 15 September 2026 at 5pm Pacific Daylight Time, and both recommendation letters have to be in by the same date. The form opened in May 2026. Review runs from September to November, interviews happen between late September and mid October 2026, and all applicants are told the outcome by February 2027. The fellowship itself starts on 1 July 2027.
Who can apply for the NPGH LEADERs fellowship?
You must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States, Cameroon, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nepal, Peru, Thailand or Uganda. US applicants can come from any US institution, but applicants from the eight partner countries must already be affiliated with one of the approved international partner sites. Beyond citizenship you need a doctoral or terminal degree finished within the last six years, or one you will hold by July 2027, or enrolment in such a programme with at least a year completed. Postdoctoral applicants on a tenure track are not eligible.
Do you need to find your own mentors for a Fogarty fellowship?
Yes, and it is the part that takes longest. You need one mentor at a consortium university in the US and one at an approved international partner site, and both must review and endorse your application before you submit it. The consortium runs a searchable mentor database, though your mentors do not have to be listed in it. If you cannot find one through your own network, email [email protected] four to six weeks before the deadline with your CV, a synopsis of your proposal and any mentor already committed.
What is the difference between a Fogarty Fellow and a Fogarty Scholar?
Fellows are postdoctoral: people who already hold a doctoral or terminal degree, or will by the July start. Scholars are predoctoral, still enrolled in a doctoral or terminal degree programme with at least a year behind them. The training year is the same for both, but the money differs sharply. Fellows draw $67,824 and $10,000 in research funds against a Scholar's $28,224 and $7,500, and Scholars additionally submit unofficial transcripts with the application.
Can you apply to more than one Fogarty LAUNCH consortium?
No. Applicants may apply to only one Fogarty LAUNCH consortium in a cycle. The consortia cover different sets of countries, so the practical way to choose is to work backwards from where your research question lives and which mentors you can actually recruit. The Fogarty International Center publishes a list of all the consortia and the countries each one covers.
How does the Fulbright-Fogarty fellowship relate to NPGH?
The Fulbright-Fogarty Fellowship in Public Health is a separate route run jointly with the Fulbright US Student Program, open to US medical and graduate students. Eligibility, the deadline and the award notification are all handled by Fulbright, not by NPGH. Awardees are then placed into one of the LAUNCH consortia based on their site and mentors, and those working in Ghana, Nepal, Peru, Thailand or Uganda may land with NPGH. If you expect that, the consortium asks you to contact its staff well before the Fulbright deadline.
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