Best-selling author Sir Terry Pratchett has left an enduring legacy, a $100,000 scholarship to be awarded every second year to a student of the University of South Australia.

He died last March, aged 66, about eight years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Sir Terry was the author of more than 70 books and is remembered by many readers for the Discworld fantasy novel series.

University of South Australia Vice Chancellor Professor David Lloyd had a close relationship with the late author and said the university was humbled by his generosity.

"Terry and I, we went back quite a while now and we had a lot of conversations about education," he said.

"I found out about [the endowment] the day after Terry's birthday, just after he passed away.

"He left a letter to his business manager Rob Wilkins and in the letter there was the instruction to create the scholarship."

The recipients will be able to research a topic related to or inspired by Sir Terry's work.

Mr Lloyd said it was the largest student scholarship of its kind in UniSA's history.

"People have been amazed because it's a big endowment for us," he said.

"Sometimes scholarships are temporary, but this one will last forever."

The scholarship will let the successful candidates spend up to a year of their Masters studying at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland.