LPDP Scholarship Officially Opens, Check the Priority Fields of Study

Registration for the second phase of the 2026 Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) scholarship officially opened on Tuesday (30/06/2026). LPDP is targeting at least 80% of scholarship recipients to come from the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) as well as fields related to strategic industries.

LPDP President Director Yon Arsal stated that this policy direction aligns with the need to strengthen human resources to support the ‘Indonesia Emas 2045’ target. “We are continuously increasing our focus on STEM. In 2025, it was between 66 to 69 per cent; in 2026, it is at 74 per cent. We will attempt to reach at least 80 per cent in STEM and STEM-related fields,” Yon said during an LPDP media briefing at the Djuanda Building, Ministry of Finance, Jakarta, on Monday (29/06/2026).

Yon explained that STEM fields are the focus because Indonesia requires talent capable of supporting economic transformation, technological mastery, and the development of national strategic industries. The priority STEM fields for LPDP include food, energy, defence, digitalisation—including artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors—health, downstreaming, maritime, advanced manufacturing and materials, as well as entrepreneurship and creative industries.

In addition to pure STEM, Yon noted that the fund also supports STEM-related fields, which are non-STEM disciplines that directly support strategic industries, such as business, economics, law, and public policy.

Meanwhile, a maximum of 20% of scholarship recipients will be directed towards the SHARE fields, namely Social, Humanities, Arts for People, Religious Studies, and Economics. These fields are maintained to support social, cultural, educational, religious, economic, and public policy development.

LPDP Scholarship Director Dwi Larso stated that starting from 2022, applicants will no longer be categorised solely by general, affirmative, or civil servant/military/police labels. Applicants are now directed to choose programmes according to the nation’s needs, particularly STEM, strategic industries, STEM-related, SHARE, or other schemes such as co-funding and acceleration.

“The nation has stated that we need STEM to support eight strategic industries, including creative industries and STEM-related fields. Therefore, every applicant must choose between the STEM menu or the SHARE menu, as this is what the nation requires,” said Dwi.

Dwi added that the target of at least 80% for STEM and STEM-related fields was already evident in the first selection phase of 2026. Out of a total of 32,794 applicants in phase I, approximately 86%, or 28,000 applicants, applied in STEM fields.

Registration for the second phase of the 2026 LPDP Scholarship is open from 30 June to 31 July 2026. The available programmes include the Strategic Industry STEM Scholarship, the SHARE Scholarship, the Acceleration Scholarship at leading universities, the Sports Scholarship, and the National Research and Innovation Talent Scholarship via the Doctor by Research pathway.