A prestigious new scholarship programme has recently been launched targeting exceptionally talented Master’s students from outside Europe. The Amsterdam Excellence Scholarship (AES) is a full scholarship of €25,000, covering tuition and living expenses for one academic year. There is the possibility of an extension for a second year for two-year Master’s programmes. The UvA will award up to 15 of these scholarships annually.

Requirements, criteria and conditions

Requirements for eligibility

Candidates wishing to apply for an AES scholarship must meet the following requirements:

Hold a non-EU/EEA passport and not be eligible for support under studiefinanciering, the Dutch system of study grants and loans (for more information, consult the DUO website). The scholarship office should be notified as soon as possible of any change in nationality, type of residence permit, and/or possiblestudiefinanciering support throughout the academic year.
Be (provisionally) admitted to an English-taught Master’s degree programme at the University of Amsterdam which is registered in the Central Register of Higher Education Programmes (CROHO). You can apply for the Master's programme and the AES scholarship simultaneously. Your Master's application will be assessed before the AES deadline. In your application, clearly indicate that you are applying for the AES scholarship.
For more information about general application requirements, please consult the individual programme descriptions at www.uva.nl/education for Master’s study programmes taught in English.
Be (provisionally) admitted to a Master's programme at the UvA for the first time. An AES will not be awarded to candidates who are admitted for a second Master's programme at the UvA.
Be able to comply with Dutch visa regulations as indicated by the Dutch Immigration Service (IND).
Be enrolled at the UvA as a full-time student for the academic year and the programme for which the scholarship is awarded. Scholarship continuation is not guaranteed when a candidate changes his or her Master’s programme.
The candidate should not receive another scholarship for the same period of study as the AES. Notify the UvA if you have been awarded and accepted another scholarship.

Selection criteria

Eligible candidates are selected for a scholarship on the basis of their academic excellence and promise in the proposed field, as evidenced by:

the candidate’s academic record. Students from any discipline belonging to the top 10% of graduates from their class can apply;

the academic quality of the educational institute where the undergraduate (or graduate) programme has been obtained;

a letter of recommendation by a dean, teacher or academic supervisor;
the quality of the letter of motivation (maximum 500 words) in which the candidate explains the reasons for choosing the specific Master’s programme (broader context, relevance for future career);
a description of extracurricular activities such as participation in student committees, international experience, sports or music at a high level or volunteer work;
proof of English proficiency (IELS/TOEFL) :TOEFL (internet-based) - overall score of 100 (with a minimum score of 22 in each of the different components), IELTS (academic) - overall score of 7.0 (with a minimum score of 7.0 in each of the four components);
the quality of the application as a whole (completeness, accuracy, consistency).

How to apply

Applications for the Amsterdam Excellence Scholarship (AES) are made through the admissions office of the faculties and graduate schools. As long as you meet all the requirements, you can apply for the AES at the same time as you register for your programme.

Application deadline

Applications will be accepted until 15 January 2015.

Faculties and graduate schools offering AES

Click on the links below for detailed information about the application procedure.

Amsterdam Law School

Economics and Business

Faculty of Science

Graduate School of Child Development and Education

Graduate School of Communication

Graduate School of Humanities

Graduate School of Psychology

Graduate School of Social Sciences

Scholarship recipients selected for 2015-2016

For the academic year 2015-2016, fifteen students were selected by the Executive Board and the faculty deans to receive the Amsterdam Excellence Scholarship. The award went to five women and six men from 11 different countries. The selected students were among the very best applicants from non-EU/EEA countries to the UvA’s Master's programmes.

Amsterdam University Fully Funded Master Scholarships, Netherlands

Deadline:

January 15, 2016

Disciplines:

Business, Communication and Information Sciences, Education, Humanities, Law, Psychology, Science, Social Sciences