The government has launched the application window for the Samia Extended Scholarship Programme, a fully funded initiative aimed at nurturing top-performing form six science students for advanced studies in global centres of excellence.

Officially titled “Samia Extended Scholarship for Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Allied Sciences”, the programme targets recent form six graduates with strong academic backgrounds in science and advanced mathematics. It aims to build a new generation of Tanzanian experts in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Computational Science.

Launching the programme at the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) in Arusha, the minister for Education, Science and Technology, Prof Adolf Mkenda, said that 700 students from the 2025 form six cohort are eligible to apply.

“From these, the top 50 students—drawn from both mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar—will attend a 10-month intensive bootcamp at NM-AIST before enrolling at leading global universities,” said Prof Mkenda.

The remaining 650 students will pursue studies in specialized science and technology institutions within Tanzania.