The ICANN Fellowship Program pays for selected people to attend an ICANN Public Meeting, the gatherings where the rules for domain names and the Internet’s address system get debated. If you came here looking for the ICANN88 fellowship in Portugal, the application round for it closed on 21 August 2026. ICANN88 is a Community Forum in Lisbon from 13 to 18 March 2027, and ICANN says it will announce the selected fellows on 10 November 2026.
The next open window is for ICANN89, a Policy Forum in Vancouver, Canada (14 to 17 June 2027). Applications run from 5 November to 5 December 2026 at 23:59 UTC, but that round is open only to people who have already been ICANN Fellows. This guide covers who can apply for the ICANN Fellowship Program, what it pays for, the meeting calendar, and how to prepare an application that gets past the selection committee.
What the ICANN Fellowship Program is
ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) coordinates the Domain Name System, the system that turns a name like scholardemia.com.ng into a numeric address computers can find. Its policies are made by a “multistakeholder” community of governments, businesses, technical people, civil society and ordinary Internet users, who meet three times a year at ICANN Public Meetings.
The fellowship exists to bring people from underserved and underrepresented communities into that room. It is not a degree scholarship and it does not pay tuition. It gets you to one meeting, pairs you with a mentor, and trains you before, during and after the meeting so you can keep taking part once you go home.
ICANN Fellowship Program meeting calendar and deadlines
Each meeting has its own application round. These are the rounds ICANN currently lists, checked against its fellowship page and its 21 July 2026 announcement:
| Meeting | Place and dates | Application window | Fellows announced | Who can apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ICANN87 Annual General Meeting | Bali, Indonesia, 17 to 22 October 2026 | Closed | 18 June 2026 | New and returning applicants |
| ICANN88 Community Forum | Lisbon, Portugal, 13 to 18 March 2027 | 21 July to 21 August 2026 (23:59 UTC), closed | 10 November 2026 | New and returning applicants |
| ICANN89 Policy Forum | Vancouver, Canada, 14 to 17 June 2027 | 5 November to 5 December 2026 (23:59 UTC) | 14 February 2027 | Former ICANN Fellows only |
For a first-time applicant who missed ICANN88, the deadline is 21 August 2027, one year after the ICANN88 round closed (based on this year’s date; confirm on the official page when the call opens). The round for a March meeting has opened in July, so have your application ready by then.
Deadline note
If you applied for ICANN88, results come out on 10 November 2026 on the ICANN website. If you are a past fellow, the ICANN89 Vancouver round closes on 5 December 2026 at 23:59 UTC. Convert that to your own time zone before the last day.
Who can apply
The fellowship is open to candidates from all regions and sectors. You do not need to be a student or hold a particular degree. ICANN’s published requirements are:
- Age: at least 21 years old when you submit the application.
- Interest: you are interested in, or already involved in, ICANN’s work on policy, Domain Name System operations, or the security and stability of the Internet.
- ICANN Learn: you have completed the mandatory ICANN Learn course or courses. ICANN lists the specific courses in its fellowship FAQ.
- No other ICANN travel support: you are not involved in another ICANN-supported travel programme at the time of selection.
- Past fellowships: you have received no more than two previous fellowships. Second and third time fellows must show they are involved in one of the ICANN communities.
- Policy Forum rounds: for a Policy Forum such as ICANN89, you must be a former ICANN Fellow.
People who typically apply include university students in law, computing or policy, young ICT professionals, people working for registries and registrars, civil servants who handle telecoms or digital policy, researchers, and digital rights activists. ICANN says the aim is to bring in people from underserved and underrepresented communities, so applicants from developing regions are part of the target group.
What the fellowship covers
ICANN describes the support in fairly general terms. Selected fellows get:
- travel assistance to attend the ICANN Public Meeting
- an assigned mentor from the ICANN community
- training before, during and after the meeting
- a place in the fellowship alumni network
Some websites list exact dollar amounts for a daily stipend and visa refunds. ICANN’s own fellowship page does not publish those figures, so I have left them out. The exact travel package is set out in the offer letter you receive if you are selected. If a meeting is moved online, ICANN runs the fellowship online too.
Returning fellows can also be considered for the Tarek Kamel Fellowship Recognition, and a selected fellow from the African region with a technical background may be considered for the Paul Muchene Fellow Award.
What you must do if you are selected
The fellowship comes with obligations, and the selection committee looks for people who will meet them. Fellows must:
- take part in the mentoring programme
- complete further ICANN Learn courses
- attend the Public Meeting and the required activities, including the fellowship sessions
- network with alumni and community members
- fill in the post-meeting survey
How to apply for the ICANN Fellowship Program
- Create an ICANN Account: the application portal needs one. Do this days before the window opens, because account verification emails sometimes land in spam.
- Finish the ICANN Learn course(s): the fellowship FAQ names the mandatory courses. Use the same email address for ICANN Learn and your application so the completion record matches.
- Read the selection criteria: ICANN publishes the criteria the Fellowship Selection Committee uses. Write your answers against them.
- Pick the community you want to join: ICANN has several groups, such as the At-Large community for Internet users, the Governmental Advisory Committee, and the Generic Names Supporting Organization. Naming one and explaining why gives the committee something concrete.
- Submit in the portal before 23:59 UTC: the deadline is in UTC, not your local time. Late applications are not considered.
- Watch for results: selected fellows are announced on the ICANN website on the date shown in the table above.
- Start your visa early if selected: Lisbon is in the Schengen area and Vancouver needs a Canadian visa or eTA depending on your passport. Book the appointment as soon as you receive your offer.
How to make your application stronger
The committee is choosing people it expects to stay involved. Applications that only say “I am passionate about the Internet” do badly. What tends to work is evidence:
- Name something you have already done: a local Internet Governance Forum you attended, a policy comment you wrote, a campus tech club you run, or work you do for a registrar or ISP.
- Name an ICANN issue you care about, such as DNS abuse, universal acceptance of non-Latin domain names, or registration data, and say why it matters where you live.
- Say what you will do after the meeting. A plan to brief your organisation, join a working group, or run a session for students shows the committee its money will keep working.
If someone senior in your field knows your work, a short reference can help where the form allows one. Our guide to recommendation letters for scholarships covers how to ask for one. If you prefer a funded degree rather than a conference, look at fully funded programmes such as the Schwarzman Scholars master’s at Tsinghua University.
ICANN Fellowship Program FAQs
Is the ICANN fellowship fully funded?
ICANN provides travel assistance to attend the meeting, plus mentoring and training. It does not publish a fixed cash amount, so the exact travel package is confirmed only in your offer.
Can I apply for the ICANN fellowship as a student with no work experience?
Yes, if you are at least 21, have finished the required ICANN Learn courses, and can show a real interest in ICANN’s work. There is no degree or work experience rule.
When will ICANN88 fellowship results be announced?
ICANN says the selected ICANN88 fellows will be announced on its website on 10 November 2026.
Can first-time applicants apply for ICANN89 in Vancouver?
No. ICANN89 is a Policy Forum, and only former ICANN Fellows can apply for Policy Forum rounds. First-time applicants should wait for the next Community Forum or Annual General Meeting round.
Sources and updates
Meeting dates, application windows, announcement dates, eligibility rules and fellow obligations come from ICANN’s Fellowship Program page and its announcement of 21 July 2026 that the ICANN88 round was open. Checked on 24 October 2026. I will update this page when ICANN publishes the ICANN90 round.
I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.
