Utrecht Excellence Scholarships, Netherlands

The Utrecht Excellence Scholarship offers a number of highly talented prospective students the opportunity to pursue a degree in a selected number of fields at Utrecht University:

International Bachelor’s programmes:

• Economics and Business Economics
• Liberal Arts & Sciences at University College Utrecht

International Master’s programmes offered by the following Graduate Schools:

• Graduate School of Geosciences
• Graduate School of Humanities
• Graduate School of Law, Economics and Governance
• Graduate School of Life Sciences
• Graduate School of Natural Sciences
• Graduate School of Social and Behavioural Sciences

The scholarship programme is highly selective. Only candidates showing the highest achievement and promise may receive a scholarship.

Scholarship value

Selected students receive a scholarship for the duration of the degree programme, which is a maximum of two years for a Master's degree and three years for a Bachelor’s degree. Approximately 55 scholarships are awarded each year. The scholarship will only be renewed for the second (and third) year if the student is making satisfactory progress towards the degree.

Selected students are awarded a scholarship up to 28350 euro per year. Students should be aware that the grant is not necessarily a full scholarship, and that it may be necessary to find additional funding to be able to finance study and stay completely.

Eligibility criteria

The applicant must meet the eligibility criteria in order to be considered for this scholarship. The applicant should:

1. Not have the Dutch or an EU/EEA nationality;
2. Hold a non-Dutch secondary school diploma;
3. Have been admitted to an International Master’s programme within one of the Graduate Schools mentioned above, the Bachelor’s programme in Economics and Business Economics or to University College Utrecht;
4. Hold a relevant Bachelor’s degree (for a Master’s programme) or secondary school diploma (for a Bachelor’s programme), or an equivalent thereof;
5. Be able to comply with the conditions to obtain a Dutch visa; 

Failure to meet one or more of these criteria automatically means the student is not eligible for this scholarship.

Selection criteria

Eligible candidates are selected for a scholarship on the basis of the following criteria:

1. Their academic excellence and promise in the proposed field of study;
2. The academic quality and results of the preceding education, as evidenced, for example, by grades, test scores, publications, letters of recommendation;
3. The quality and relevance of the motivation letter (academic content, intercultural and communication skills, personal motivation);
4. The quality and feasibility of the financial plan in the application;
5. The quality of the application itself (completeness, accuracy, consistency).

Application

It is not possible to apply for the scholarship, but the selection committees review the application files for possible nominees.

Prospective Bachelor's students in Economics and Business Economics who wish to be considered for the scholarship should apply for admission before 1 April. Prospective Master's students who wish to be considered for the scholarship should apply for admission before 1 December.

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