Summary

Syria’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Hungarian Embassy in Damascus signed a cooperation agreement on Feb. 26 granting 250 scholarships for undergraduate, master’s and doctoral study. The deal was signed at the ministry’s headquarters by Higher Education Minister Marwan Halabi and Hungarian chargé d’affaires Soós István Gyula. The Hungarian government will provide tuition waivers, accommodation support and monthly stipends for selected students for the 2026–2027 academic year, covering fields such as medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, engineering, agriculture, veterinary medicine, economics, sciences, health sciences, nursing, fine arts, physical education, tourism and music education.

More than 800 students applied after an online registration opened in December; 250 will be chosen based on academic performance and eligibility criteria. Halabi described the agreement as the first official academic cooperation between the two countries following Syria’s liberation and said it could expand to joint scientific research, expert exchanges, visits by Hungarian professors and cooperation on quality assurance and accreditation. Gyula said the move aims to provide broad support to Syrian youth through continued academic partnerships and exchanges, as reported by SANA