DesignSingapore Scholarship

IMAGINE BIG. LEAD BY DESIGN.

The DesignSingapore Scholarship is for students and industry professionals who intend to pursue full-time design studies.

If you're a student or industry professional passionate about design and want to develop or further your design career through education, the DesignSingapore Scholarship supports you.

The DesignSingapore Scholarship is for individuals with creativity, drive and passion for design. The scholarship will groom designers and non-designers to become design leaders who will use strategy and innovation to make things better by design. Our scholarship holders may come from different fields of design, but they share one common trait – they are game changers and aspire to contribute to Singapore, and the design sector.

We are on a lookout for:

  • Students
  • Industry professionals
  • Non-designers with a strong desire to pursue a career in design

Application period: closed

The programme should be a full-time undergraduate or postgraduate design-related course (i.e. Bachelor's/Master's/PhD) at a reputable local or overseas institution.

The fields of study are wide-ranging, from classical areas of design such as Industrial & Product Design, Interior Design, Landscape Design and Visual Communication, to emerging design disciplines such as Circular Design, Design Strategy, Interaction Design, Service & Business Design and UI/UX Design.

Other fields of design study may be considered too.

Applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • Be a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident
  • Have completed National Service (for male applicants)
  • Have successfully gained admission to a full-time undergraduate or postgraduate* design-related course in a reputable Singapore or overseas institution

*For applicants who are applying for postgraduate studies, a minimum of three years of professional working experience would be advantageous.

  • Tuition fees
  • Annual living allowance
  • Pre-studies allowance
  • Travel allowance

The scholarship will develop you holistically in your design journey. Apart from supporting you in your studies, where you will develop your technical, creative and communications skills, you will also be introduced to the DesignSingapore Associates Network (DAN) for networking opportunities with like-minded design talents that will inspire you to push boundaries in your work.

You will be designated a DesignSingapore Associate once you have been awarded the scholarship. As a DesignSingapore Associate, you will be assigned to contribute to DesignSingapore Council (Dsg) projects and initiatives that will help you to gain new experiences, grow professionally and expand your portfolio.

During your study, you are encouraged to source for internships both locally or overseas to broaden horizons in your area of practice. Dsg may assist by facilitating introductions to companies we are in touch with.

Upon graduation, you will need to be employed in Singapore on a full-time basis in a design-related role with a Singapore-registered company.

  • The bond period depends on the sponsorship duration of your course, as well as whether your course is based locally or overseas
  • You may work for your preferred company in Singapore. Dsg may help facilitate introductions with companies we are in touch with
Scholarship Types Duration of Sponsorship Bond Period
Overseas Scholarship 3 – 4 years 5 years
< 3 years 3 years
Local Scholarship 3 – 4 years 3 years
< 3 years 2 years

Applicants will be assessed on:

  • Potential to contribute to Singapore's design sector
  • Potential for creativity and leadership
  • Achievements, recognition and experience in design and design thinking
  • Quality of portfolio/project case studies (originality of concepts, depth of development and exploration of ideas, competency in execution, technical ability, and range of work and skills)
  • Academic results and track record of co-curricular activities
  • Articulation and persuasion skills
  • Transdisciplinary design skills

Shortlisted applicants are required to attend up to two rounds of selection interviews in April and May, organised by the DesignSingapore Scholarship Secretariat.

Successful applicants will be informed about the outcome after all the interviews have been completed. All scholarship recipients must attend a DesignSingapore Scholarship signing session tentatively planned in July/August 2023.

Only shortlisted applicants will be notified. We reserve the right not to disclose the reasons for approving or rejecting any application, and to reject any incomplete or late application.

Complete and submit your online application here.

Please upload the following softcopy documents with your online application:

Mandatory Documents

  • Portfolio/project case studies*
  • Academic records and transcripts
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Letter of admission to institution
  • Information on the proposed course of study
  • Letter of recommendation from two referees specific to the application of this scholarship (Referees cannot be immediate relatives of the applicant)
*Applicants from non-design backgrounds and who do not have a design portfolio can submit project case studies. These case studies need to show examples of your design thinking process and outcomes.

Optional Documents

  • Records of co-curricular activities
  • Records of awards received

Incomplete applications will be rejected. To avoid missing documents, please label your documents following this format:

  • [Full name as shown in NRIC_Last four characters of NRIC number] Portfolio-Project Case Studies
  • [Full name as shown in NRIC_Last four characters of NRIC number] Academic Records and Transcripts
  • [Full name as shown in NRIC_Last four characters of NRIC number] Curriculum Vitae
  • [Full name as shown in NRIC_Last four characters of NRIC number] Letter of Admission to Institution
  • [Full name as shown in NRIC_Last four characters of NRIC number] Information on the Proposed Course of Study
  • [Full name as shown in NRIC_Last four characters of NRIC number] Letter of Recommendation 1
  • [Full name as shown in NRIC_Last four characters of NRIC number] Letter of Recommendation 2
  • [Full name as shown in NRIC_Last four characters of NRIC number] Record of Co-Curricular Activities (Optional)
  • [Full name as shown in NRIC_Last four characters of NRIC number] Record of Awards Received (Optional)

Dsg has been awarding the DesignSingapore Scholarship since 2005. You may access the list of scholars to date, as well as read some of their stories here.