Most English-language guides to Estonian funding are written from other guides, not from the funder's own pages. That is why the same three schemes keep appearing on "top scholarships in Estonia" lists years after they stopped taking applications — and why a plan built on them fails at the moment it matters, when you finally open the official page and find nothing to apply to.
This is a reconciliation, not another list. Take whatever list you are working from and check it against these four points.
Dora Plus: closed, and not coming back in that form
Dora Plus is the single most-repeated dead entry. It ran as a fixed-period programme: 1 August 2015 to 31 May 2023, a €22.5 million budget of which 87% came from the European Regional Development Fund (Harno, checked 2026-08-14). It ended with its funding period. There is no 2026/2027 round.
The amounts still circulating for it — the monthly master's and PhD mobility rates, plus a travel allowance — belong to a programme that closed. If they are in your budget spreadsheet, take them out.
The doctoral supplement of €660 + €400: real, but not for new entrants
This one is more subtle, because the figures are correct and still printed on university pages. They belong to a transitional arrangement for students admitted before 2021/2022. If you are applying now, you cannot enter that scheme — it is being paid out to a closing cohort, not opened to a new one.
The Estonian government scholarship: alive, and eligibility is a closed list
This is the one that is real. Its formal name is the Scholarship for Degree and Exchange Study in Estonia, administered by Harno, the Education and Youth Board. For 2026/2027: €350/month for degree studies at bachelor's and master's level, €660/month for doctoral studies (Harno, checked 2026-08-14). It also covers exchange periods of at least 30 days; degree students are paid for 12 months a year, except in the final nominal year, when it is 10.
The part guides get wrong is who may apply. Eligibility is a list of countries published for each round, not a region — and the shorthand "covers the CIS and Central Asia" is false in both directions. For the 2026/2027 round, of the countries our readers most often write from:
- Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan — on the list.
- Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan — not on the list, despite the "Central Asia" phrasing you will see elsewhere.
- Russia, Belarus — Harno states applications from citizens of these countries are not accepted in this round.
The list is republished each round and can change, so read it on Harno's own page for the year you are applying in — including if you saw your country named here.
What is worth more than all three: an Estonian doctorate is a job
Here is the fact that the copied guides bury, and it is the reason this article is worth your time.
Since the 2022 reform, a doctoral researcher in Estonia is normally employed by the university as a junior research fellow (nooremteadur) on a fixed-term employment contract: from €2,100/month gross at full workload, national health insurance, paid leave, and no tuition fee on the full-time form (University of Tartu, 2026 rates, checked 2026-08-14). At least 80% of working time goes to research; the normative period is four years.
That is not a scholarship topped up to cover living costs. It is a salary, larger than every figure above it in this article, and — because the contract is signed before you arrive — it is income you can show for a residence permit rather than money you have to freeze in an account.
The caveat is not optional, so read it before you rearrange your plans. A contract does not follow automatically from admission. Tartu's own wording: "In most cases, the admitted doctoral researchers are employed as junior research fellows at the university", and separately, "In some cases, the doctoral researcher's position is offered without an employment contract — please refer to the specific open call for details" (UT open calls, checked 2026-08-14). You are competing for a specific advertised position, under a named supervisor, on a funded project, with a fixed number of places and a short application window — in the May 2026 round, 1–15 May.
So the honest sentence is "a doctoral position in Estonia is paid as work", not "a doctorate in Estonia solves your finances".
Three numbers that get mixed up
| Amount | What it actually is | Who it applies to |
|---|---|---|
| €2,100/month gross (2026) | salary on a junior research fellow employment contract | whoever wins a specific advertised position |
| €660/month (2026/2027) | Harno state scholarship, doctoral rate | citizens of the countries on that round's list |
| €660 + €400/month | doctoral allowance and performance stipend | admitted before 2021/2022 only — closed to new entrants |
How to check any Estonian funding claim in five minutes
- Open the funder's own page, not an aggregator: harno.ee for state schemes, the university's own site for its awards.
- Find the academic year on the page. No year printed means no usable figure.
- Find the country list and read it for your citizenship specifically — not for your region.
- Find the application window. A scheme with no open window is history, however good the description reads.
Checked 2026-08-14. Funding rounds turn over annually, so this page carries its check date on purpose and is re-verified against the primary sources every quarter. If you are reading it long after that date, run step 1 to 4 yourself — that is the same thing we do.