Amgen Scholars Program 2027: Eligibility, Stipend and Application Guide for Indian Students

What the Amgen Scholars Program Is and Who Funds It

The Amgen Scholars Program is a funded undergraduate summer research experience. Established in 2006, it now runs at 26 institutions across the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia and Canada. Scholars work full time on an independent research project under a faculty mentor for eight to ten weeks, then present that work at a regional symposium.

The money comes from the Amgen Foundation, with Amgen India funding the IIIT Hyderabad site. Harvard University provides direction and technical assistance to the global program. In October 2025 the Foundation renewed its commitment to extend the program through 2027, adding roughly 500 more places. More than 6,000 students from over 1,000 colleges and universities have taken part, and alumni now work in scientific fields across more than 40 countries.

Get My university Shortlist in 60 Secs

0%

Choose your dream country

Please select a country

UK

USA

Germany

Australia

Ireland

New Zealand

Canada

UAE

France

Sweden

Italy

Other

When do you want to study abroad?

Please select an option

Sep 2026 (Recommended)

Jan 2027

Sep 2027

2028 or later

What's your highest level of education?

Please select an option

Bachelor's

Master's

MBBS / MD

Diploma

12th Grade

10th Grade

What do you want to study?

Please select a course

Select your current city

Please select your city

 

Please Enter Your Name

 

IN +91 UAE +971 QA +974 SA +966 KW +965 OM +968 BH +973

Please Enter a Valid Number

 

Please Enter Your Email

How Leap will help you

Personalised University Shortlist

Express Applications with Quicker Admits

End-to-End Application Support

Continue

One thing to register early: every regional program lists an interest in pursuing a PhD as an eligibility criterion. This is not decorative.

Counselor insight: Students assume the screen here is marks. In practice the reference letters and the one-page statement carry more weight, because selection committees are looking for a student who will still be in a lab in five years. A 9.1 CGPA with a statement that talks about placements reads worse than an 8.2 with a specific research question.

Amgen Scholars Program Eligibility for Indian Students Depends on Your Region

Region is the first gate, and it is decided by where you are enrolled, not by your passport. Applications may be submitted in one region only, based on where you are currently enrolled and intend to take your undergraduate degree. An Indian student at an Indian college is an Asia-region applicant. That is the whole answer, and it rules several things out.

The US restriction is explicit on the host pages, not implied. UC Berkeley states that international students are ineligible and directs them to the international programs instead. Duke lists the same requirement: US citizens or US permanent residents, enrolled at accredited four-year US institutions, sophomore through non-graduating senior, cumulative GPA 3.2 or above.

For the Asia program, the criteria are:

• Enrolled at a college or university in Asia that awards a bachelor's degree. India is listed under Southern Asia in the eligible-countries list.
• At least one year of undergraduate study completed by the time the summer program begins.
• Not graduating before the program begins, and returning for at least one more semester or quarter afterwards.
• A strong record of academic performance.
• English evidence at TOEFL iBT 72, IELTS overall 5.5, or an equivalent, if English is not your first language.
• An interest in pursuing a PhD.

There is no citizenship requirement for the Asia program, and no minimum CGPA is published.

Counselor insight: The students who lose the most time on this are Indian students already at a US university on an F-1 visa. They see Harvard and Stanford on the host list, assume enrolment is what matters, and build an application. Enrolment is what decides your region, but the US program adds a citizenship condition on top of it. Those students are eligible for no region at all while they remain enrolled in the US.

Which Amgen Scholars Program Host Institutions Indian Students Can Apply To

Five hosts sit inside the Asia region: IIIT Hyderabad, the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, the National University of Singapore and Tsinghua University. Each runs its own application, and you may apply to as many as you want within Asia. Each Asia host takes at least 10 scholars, which puts the regional cohort at roughly 40 students a year.

The India site is new. Amgen announced the launch of the first Amgen Scholars Program in India at IIIT Hyderabad in July 2026, with an inaugural cohort of 10 scholars drawn from India, Vietnam, Qatar and Dubai. The commitment behind it runs for two years, through summer 2027. Its specifics differ from the other hosts in ways that matter to your application:

• The research focus is narrow: AI and machine learning applied to drug design and discovery, healthcare, cheminformatics, genomics and fundamental sciences.
• Mathematics must be one of the subjects in your undergraduate program. Prior coding experience is described as desirable.
• Ten seats, eight weeks, residential on campus.
• Any intellectual property from your research is assigned to IIIT Hyderabad.

Indian students do get selected at the other Asia hosts. The NUS 2025 cohort included a student from IIT Madras, and the 2023 cohort included a student from IIT Kharagpur. Kyoto restricts applications to students in the first three years of a science-related program. If Japan is your target, it is worth reading around the wider funding landscape in scholarships in Japan for Indian students, and if Singapore is, study in Singapore for Indian students covers what a longer stay costs.

Counselor insight: Applying to all five hosts is allowed but rarely works. Each application asks for a statement tied to a specific lab, and the ones that read as copied across five institutions get filtered fast. Two well-matched applications beat five generic ones, and the match should be on the lab's actual published work.

What the Amgen Scholars Program Pays Indian Students, in Rupees

The Amgen Scholars Program is funded rather than free: you are paid a stipend, and travel and housing are covered separately. Figures differ by host.

Two costs are yours. IIIT Hyderabad requires scholars to obtain travel insurance for the full program duration at their own expense, and to arrange their own visa where one is needed. Kyoto requires private health insurance plus enrolment in a university liability insurance scheme on arrival. Neither the Amgen Foundation nor the host provides health cover.

Exchange rate used: Rs.95.43 per USD, from the RBI reference rate on 11 August 2026. JPY and SGD figures are derived from cross rates at approximately Rs.0.62 per JPY and Rs.74.40 per SGD. Verify the current rate before finalising your budget.

For students thinking past one summer, scholarships in Singapore for Indian students covers the degree-length awards.

Counselor insight: The insurance line is where families get surprised. A two-month international travel and health policy for a student runs into a few thousand rupees, and it is a condition of joining, not an optional extra. Budget it in October along with passport renewal, because a passport with under six months of validity will stall your visa.

Amgen Scholars Program Documents Checklist for Indian Applicants

Every Asia host requires, at minimum, an official transcript, a letter of recommendation and a personal statement. In practice the document set looks like this.

That declaration route is the single most useful thing on this page for an Indian applicant. It is accepted in place of a test score at IIIT Hyderabad. If a host does insist on a test, exams required for Singapore universities sets out realistic band expectations, and our guide to letters of recommendation for PhD applications applies directly to what these committees want from a referee.

Counselor insight: The referee deadline is separate from yours and later, which reads as a buffer and functions as a trap. At IIIT Hyderabad the applicant portal closed on 1 February 2026 and the referee portal on 6 February. Applications sit incomplete because a professor missed an automated email in a spam folder. Ask in October, share the form link yourself, and follow up in person in January.

How to Apply to the Amgen Scholars Program: Step by Step

Each host runs its own portal, so this sequence repeats for every institution you apply to. There is no common application.

1. Create an account on each host portal separately. UTokyo uses TAO, Tsinghua and IIIT Hyderabad use their own forms, NUS uses an online application with a document upload email that follows. Register in November when portals open, not in January, because account verification emails go missing.
2. Complete personal and academic details in one sitting. Have your marksheets, CGPA, passport number and institute address open before you start. UTokyo permits no edits once you submit, so treat the submit button as final.
3. Upload your CV and statement as PDFs under 10 MB each. IIIT Hyderabad caps individual documents at 10 MB and asks for a statement of purpose of no more than one A4 page. Name files clearly. NUS specifies exact file naming in its checklist and treats missing or misnamed documents as an incomplete application.
4. Enter your referee details so the separate referee portal triggers. Your two referees receive an automated request and submit through their own form, on institutional letterhead, signed. Your name must match exactly across your form and theirs. At UTokyo the system will not let you finalise your application until both letters are in.
5. Submit before the applicant deadline. Late submissions are not accepted under any circumstances at UTokyo, and the other hosts operate the same rule. Aim to submit a week early, because portals slow under load on the final day.
6. Track the referee portal separately until it closes. The referee window is a few days after yours, not part of it. In the 2026 cycle IIIT Hyderabad closed applicant submissions on 1 February and referee submissions on 6 February. Check the status field on your application, and follow up with your professor in person if it still reads pending.

Counselor insight: Applying to two or three Asia hosts means two or three referee requests landing in the same professor's inbox, each needing a separate upload. Tell your referees the full number upfront and in one message. Professors who agree to one letter and then discover they have three forms to fill in late January are the reason applications go incomplete.

Amgen Scholars Program 2027 Timeline Mapped to the Indian Academic Year

The 2027 dates are not published yet. What follows is the confirmed 2026 cycle, which is the pattern to plan against. Asia deadlines fall in early February with decisions by early April every year.

Counselor insight: The clash nobody plans for is the August symposium against the start of the odd semester. Indian institutes vary on whether this counts as authorised absence. Get written permission from your head of department in April, right after you are selected, not in July.

3 Takeaways on Amgen Scholars Program

Three things to act on:

1. Confirm your region before you write a word. If you are enrolled in India, you are an Asia applicant with five host institutions available, and the US program is closed to you regardless of profile.
2. Work backwards from an early-February deadline. Ask two referees in October, request an institution-issued transcript in November, and draft your one-page statement before end-semester exams start.
3. Apply only if you will still have a semester left after August and can write honestly about wanting a PhD. Both are hard screens in the Amgen Scholars Program, and neither is negotiable.

Verified by: LeapScholar's Asia and research-admissions counseling team, with hands-on experience guiding Indian students through funded summer research and PhD applications.

Have questions about the Amgen Scholars Program? Book a free session with a LeapScholar counselor.

Frequently Asked Questions About Amgen Scholars Program