The Umid Foundation was set up by President Islam Karimov in 1997. From 1997 – 2002, scholarships from the foundation enabled over 800 young people from Uzbekistan to study at universities in the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, USA, France and Japan.

In January 2017, exactly 20 years after the launch of the Umid Foundation, the Karimov Foundation unveiled its scholarship programme, which enables young people from Uzbekistan to pursue their postgraduate studies at some of the best overseas universities.

Under the Karimov Foundation’s 2017-19 scholarship programmes 32 young Uzbeks have received an opportunity to study at some of the leading European universities.