Each year, Utrecht University in Netherlands offers the Utrecht Excellence Scholarships for international students to undertake Bachelors and Masters degree programmes.
Application Deadline: Before 31st January 2023 (23:59 CET).
Offered annually? Yes
Eligible Countries: International
To be taken at (country): Utrecht University, Netherlands
Accepted Subject Areas? 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:
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- 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
About Scholarship: The Utrecht Excellence Scholarship offers a number of graduate scholarship awards to highly talented prospective international students, with the opportunity to pursue a degree in a selected number of fields at Utrecht University. The scholarship programme is highly selective. Only candidates showing the highest achievement and promise may receive a scholarship. Selected students receive a scholarship for the duration of the degree programme, which is a maximum of two years for a Master’s degree. 
Type: Masters taught
Eligibility: To be eligible for the Utrecht Excellence Scholarships, candidate must
- Belong to the top 10% of your graduating class
- Hold a non-EU/EEA passport and not be eligible for support under the Dutch system of study grants and loans
- Have completed your secondary school and/or Bachelor degree outside the Netherlands
- Have applied for an international master’s programme with a start date of September 2023.
Selection Criteria: Eligible candidates are selected for a scholarship on the basis of the following criteria:
- Academic excellence and promise in the proposed field of study;
- The academic quality and results of preceding qualifications, as evidenced by proof of belonging to the top 10% of the class, grades, test scores, a writing sample, letters of recommendation;
- The quality and relevance of the motivation letter for the Master’s programme (academic content, intercultural and communication skills, personal motivation);
- The quality of the application for the Master’s programme itself (completeness, accuracy, consistency)
- Your application for a scholarship will only be processed if you have submitted an application for a Master’s programme as well.
Number of Scholarships: 20-25 scholarships
Scholarship Value: The Utrecht Excellence scholarships can be awarded as:
- tuition fees
or - tuition fees plus 11.000 euro living expenses
As the grant is not automatically a full scholarship, it may be necessary to find additional funding to be able to finance your studies and stay completely. Students requiring a residence permit in the Netherlands must prove to the IND (Immigration and Naturalisation Office) that they have sufficient financial means.
Duration of Scholarship: The scholarship is awarded for the duration of the degree programme, which is one or two years, depending on the degree programme. The scholarship will only be renewed for the second year if the student is making satisfactory progress towards the degree.
How to Apply: After submitting an application for the Master’s programme, non-EU/EEA students will have the option to submit an application for an Utrecht Excellence Scholarship from 1 November.
You will need to upload the following document:
- Proof of belonging to the top 10% of your graduating class:
an official document issued by your university that proves you are among the top 10% of your graduating class, such as a statement signed and stamped by your University, a reference letter, a class ranking certificate, etc.
Please note that students starting their programme in February are not eligible for the Utrecht Excellence Scholarships.
- Submit an application for a Master’s programme; if you do not do this first, your UES application will simply be deleted.
- After submitting an application for a Master’s programme, you can go to Osiris Online Application.
- Log in with your Osiris username and password.
- Click on the link ‘New application’.
- Answer the UES questions and upload the requested document(s).
- Submit your application.
You will not be informed whether you have been awarded the scholarship prior to the scholarship deadline and not before you have been (un)conditionally admitted to the programme.
Visit Scholarship webpage for Details
