Fully Funded Amsterdam Excellence Scholarship by the University of Amsterdam offers a prestigious new scholarship programme for exceptionally talented Master’s students from outside Europe.  Students who receive the AES for a two-year Master’s programme will be evaluated after one year of study. The scholarship will only be continued for the second year if the AES student has completed all courses of the first year on time and with a grade point average of 8.0.

Value of Scholarship

Full scholarship of €25,000, covering tuition and living expenses for one academic year. Scholarship recipients become part of a select community, taking part, for example, in extracurricular activities developed specially for them.

Eligibility

Students from any discipline who graduated in the top 10% of their class may apply. 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. The scholarship office should be notified as soon as possible of any change in nationality, type of residence permit, and/or possible studiefinanciering 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.
• 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

You can submit your application by completing the following steps:

1. Submit your application for the Master programme of your choice. Note that your application needs to be complete, so with all required documents including valid language test scores.
2. Receive your UvA student number and master application file number
3. Fill out and submit the application form for the Amsterdam Excellence Scholarship (you will need both your student number and your master application file number)