Deadline: 27-Apr-2026
The One Young World Sandoz Scholarship 2025 supports young leaders working to remove barriers to healthcare access and medicines in underserved communities. Five selected scholars will receive a fully funded opportunity to attend the One Young World Summit 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa (3–6 November 2025), including travel, accommodation, meals, Summit access, and participation in the Sandoz delegation.
Overview
The One Young World Sandoz Scholarship 2025 is a global opportunity for young changemakers in healthcare, public health, health equity, and access to medicines.
The scholarship is designed for early-stage leaders who are addressing systemic healthcare barriers in their communities, countries, or globally. It particularly supports young people creating practical or innovative solutions that improve healthcare access, reduce medicine inequality, and strengthen health systems.
Under this initiative, five outstanding young leaders will be selected to join the global Sandoz delegation at the One Young World Summit 2025.
Summit Dates and Location
- Event: One Young World Summit 2025
- Summit Dates: 3–6 November 2025
- Location: Cape Town, South Africa
- Accommodation Dates: 2–7 November 2025
This scholarship offers access not only to the Summit, but also to a global network of young leaders, social innovators, and health-focused changemakers.
What Is the Sandoz Scholarship About?
The scholarship supports young leaders who are working on healthcare equity and access to medicines.
Its main focus is on solutions that reduce barriers in healthcare systems, especially in underserved or remote communities.
Priority Areas
Applicants may be working on initiatives such as:
- Creating digital health or AI-powered healthcare tools to improve access in underserved areas
- Building supply-chain solutions for delivering medicines to remote communities
- Running health education, awareness, or training programs
- Advocating for health policy reforms that make healthcare and medicines more affordable
- Improving healthcare delivery for vulnerable or excluded populations
Key Concepts Explained
- Healthcare access: The ability of people to obtain needed medical services
- Access to medicines: Ensuring essential medicines are affordable, available, and reachable
- Health equity: Reducing unfair differences in healthcare outcomes or access
- Systemic barriers: Structural problems such as geography, poverty, weak supply chains, or policy gaps
- Early-stage leader: A young professional, founder, activist, or community leader at the beginning or growth stage of their impact journey
Who Should Apply?
This scholarship is ideal for young leaders in healthcare and social impact who are already taking action.
Strong applicants may include:
- Public health innovators
- Health-tech founders
- Social entrepreneurs
- Youth advocates
- Community health leaders
- NGO or nonprofit professionals
- Policy advocates working on healthcare affordability
- Digital health or AI-for-health innovators
This is especially relevant for applicants working in:
- Underserved communities
- Rural or remote healthcare settings
- Medicine distribution
- Health education and training
- Affordable healthcare policy
- Community-based health innovation
Scholarship Benefits
Selected scholars will receive a fully funded package to attend the One Young World Summit 2025.
What the Scholarship Covers
- Full access to the One Young World Summit 2025
- Hotel accommodation in Cape Town from 2–7 November 2025
- Economy-class travel to and from Cape Town
- Meals, including:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner on core Summit days
- Ground transportation between:
- Summit accommodation
- Summit venue
- Participation in Sandoz-hosted sessions
- A dedicated buddy system for networking and engagement
Why This Scholarship Matters
The One Young World Sandoz Scholarship is important because it connects emerging health leaders with a global platform focused on leadership, innovation, and systemic change.
It can help selected scholars:
- Gain global visibility for their healthcare work
- Connect with international health and social impact leaders
- Learn from other changemakers tackling healthcare inequality
- Strengthen partnerships and collaboration opportunities
- Expand the reach of their health innovation or advocacy work
- Join the Sandoz delegation, which adds sector-specific engagement
For applicants working on health access, medicines, AI in healthcare, or public health systems, this is a strong leadership and networking opportunity.
Who Is Eligible?
Applicants must meet the scholarship’s age and impact requirements.
Basic Eligibility Criteria
Applicants should:
- Be 18 to 30 years old
- Not be under 18 at the time of the Summit
- Show a strong commitment to positive change in healthcare systems
- Demonstrate leadership potential
- Have a clear understanding of healthcare challenges in their community, country, or globally
- Show proven experience in improving healthcare access or reducing disparities
Can Applicants Over 30 Apply?
Yes. Applicants over 30 may still be considered if they show:
- Exceptional impact
- Strong initiative
- Clear leadership
- Willingness to engage actively in the programme
This means the age range is preferred, but exceptional older candidates may still be eligible.
What Makes a Strong Applicant?
A strong candidate will usually show:
- A track record of healthcare-related impact
- Real work addressing inequalities in access to care or medicines
- Practical or innovative solutions
- Leadership in a project, initiative, organisation, or campaign
- Clear potential to scale or deepen their impact
- Readiness to engage in a global leadership setting
How the Scholarship Works
The scholarship selects five young leaders to join the Sandoz delegation at the One Young World Summit.
What Selected Scholars Can Expect
- Pre-Summit preparation
- Coordination for travel, logistics, and participation
- Travel to Cape Town
- Economy-class travel covered by the scholarship
- Summit participation
- Full access to One Young World Summit sessions and activities
- Sandoz delegation engagement
- Participation in Sandoz-hosted sessions and networking opportunities
- Buddy support
- A dedicated buddy system to support engagement and connections
- Post-Summit impact
- Scholars can use the network, visibility, and learning to strengthen their healthcare initiatives
How to Apply / What to Highlight
To be competitive, applicants should clearly show both leadership and healthcare impact.
What to Highlight in Your Application
- Your healthcare or health equity initiative
- The problem you are solving
- The community or population you serve
- Why the issue matters in your local or global context
- What action you have already taken
- What measurable results or progress you have achieved
- How your work improves access to medicines or healthcare
- Why attending One Young World will help you scale your impact
Best Application Strategy
- Describe the healthcare barrier clearly
- Example: medicine shortages, rural access gaps, affordability, low health awareness
- Explain your solution
- Show whether it is digital, policy-based, community-led, AI-enabled, educational, or logistical
- Prove impact
- Use numbers, outcomes, beneficiaries, pilots, or milestones
- Show leadership
- Explain your role, initiative, and decision-making influence
- Connect to the scholarship theme
- Make sure your work clearly fits healthcare access and systemic barriers
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Frequent Mistakes
- Giving a generic leadership story with no healthcare focus
- Failing to explain the systemic barrier
- Describing an idea only, without proof of action
- Not showing impact on underserved communities
- Ignoring the connection to access to medicines
- Writing vague statements without evidence or outcomes
Tips for a Stronger Application
- Be specific and measurable
- Use real examples from your work
- Focus on health equity and access
- Highlight both innovation and implementation
- Show why your work matters beyond one local activity
- Demonstrate future potential and scale
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is the One Young World Sandoz Scholarship 2025?
It is a fully funded scholarship for young leaders working to improve healthcare access, reduce medicine inequality, and tackle systemic barriers in healthcare.
2. How many scholars will be selected?
A total of five young leaders will be selected.
3. When and where is the One Young World Summit 2025?
The Summit will take place from 3–6 November 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa.
4. What does the scholarship cover?
It covers:
- Summit access
- Hotel accommodation from 2–7 November 2025
- Economy-class travel
- Meals on core Summit days
- Ground transportation
- Sandoz-hosted sessions
- A buddy system for support and networking
5. Who can apply?
Applicants should generally be 18–30 years old, with a proven track record in improving healthcare systems, access to care, or access to medicines.
6. Can applicants over 30 still be considered?
Yes. Applicants over 30 may be considered if they show exceptional impact and leadership.
7. What kinds of projects are most relevant?
Relevant work includes:
- Digital or AI healthcare tools
- Medicine supply-chain solutions
- Health education and training
- Policy advocacy for affordable healthcare
- Community-based healthcare access initiatives
Final Takeaway
The One Young World Sandoz Scholarship 2025 is a high-value, fully funded opportunity for young healthcare leaders who are already working to make healthcare and medicines more accessible, affordable, and equitable.
If you are building practical solutions in public health, digital health, health equity, community healthcare, or access to medicines, this scholarship offers global exposure, strong networking, and a powerful platform to grow your impact.
For more information, visit One Young World.
