Funding and scholarships
If you are employed as a doctoral researcher by the UvA, you can sometimes apply for an additional grant to carry out fieldwork abroad, for example. Once you have completed your doctoral programme, you may also be able to apply for a grant to pursue an academic career after graduation.
A wide range of different grant options is available. Some of the more popular scholarships are listed below. This list is in no way comprehensive. You are therefore advised to contact the coordinator of the Graduate School or research institute that covers your discipline. They will be able to advise you on the most relevant grant providers in your specialist field.
PhD-related fees
In some cases fees can be charged to external PhD candidates, external scholarship providers and/or funding parties. Examples are fees to help fund workspaces, research facilities, training and education. If this is the case, these fees and any exemptions will be mentioned on the webpages of the relevant faculty or research institute.
General grants
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Funding opportunities for PhDs
There is a variety of resources available depending on the support from either the Netherlands or your home country. The list below is not exhaustive and we encourage you to research your own funding options. You may also contact the Graduate School or research institute that covers your discipline. They will be able to advise you on the most relevant grant/scholarship providers in your specialist field. Once you have completed your PhD, you may also be able to apply for a grant to pursue an academic career after graduation. The Grants Office of IXA-GO at VU Amsterdam helps researchers find their way through the jungle of schemes and funds available for research funding. IXA-GO offers support in the search for and writing of research grants and provides administrative and legal support throughout the full cycle of research grants. Employees and PhD candidates of VU Amsterdam can also use the database "Research Connect" to search for subsidy possibilities.
Funding opportunities
General scholarship resources.
- Nuffic grant finder
Dutch grant/scholarship providers
- NWO PhDs in the Humanities
- NWO Doctoral Grant Teachers
European grant/scholarship providers
- Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- La Caixa Foundation , Spain
- Bolashak scholarship , Kazakhstan
US grant/scholarship providers
- Fullbright Scholarship
- Direct Financial Loan (Financial aid for US students)
Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin America grants/scholarship providers
Asia Pacific
- ASTAR Graduate Academy and National Science Scholarship at Agency for Science, Technology and Research , Singapore
- NESO , India
African continent
- Oppenheimer Memorial Trust
- FirstRand Dippenaar Scholarship
- NRF-Nuffic Programme , South Africa
Latin America
- Colfuturo , Colombia
- Conacyt , Mexico
China Scholarship Council
The China Scholarship Council (CSC) provides scholarships for outstanding Chinese master's students, recent graduates and young (academic) professionals who want to do either a full-time PhD programme or a part of their PhD programme at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
If you are a prospective CSC candidate this page will help you understand the application process and requirements for doing a PhD at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Eligibility
Who is eligible for the CSC Scholarship:
- Full PhD candidates: selected Chinese candidates can enrol as a PhD candidate at 6 of our 9 faculties at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. PLEASE NOTE that we are not accepting application for the Faculty of Science (BETA), Faculty of Dentistry (ACTA) or Faculty of Medicine (Amsterdam UMC). For a full PhD the scholarship covers a max. of 48 months of research. Upon the successful completion of all requirements of the trajectory and defense, candidates will be conferred a degree by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
- Visiting or joint PhD candidates: selected Chinese candidates can enrol as a PhD candidate at 6 of our 9 faculties at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. As a visiting or joint PhD candidate your stay at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam can be of a max. 24 months. Candidates are to return to their home institutions in China for their dissertation defense upon completion of their research visit at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Which faculty?
The eligible faculties for CSC candidates are listed below:
- Faculty of Humanities
- School of Business and Economics
- Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences
- Faculty of Social Sciences
- Faculty of Law
- Faculty of Religion and Theology
Application
The scholarship includes:
- Exemption from registration fee, tuition fee, research fee and other allowances as specified in the Memorandum of Understanding with the China Scholarship Council and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (link to the MoU)
- Living allowance of €1,350 per month (including health insurance)
- International airfare (China – Amsterdam)
The living allowances will be paid via CSC. Chinese Service Centre for Scholarly Exchange will book the tickets for the departure from Beijing, and the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands will book the return tickets.
Requirements
- Candidates are citizens and permanent residents of the People’s Republic of China at the time of application.
- Doctoral candidates must have a Master’s degree and be under the age of 35.
- Academic requirements are set by each faculty/department, however standard requirements for all PhD candidates are successful completion of a Masters degree and a good level of English: IELTS (academic): 6.5 overall - Most programmes do not accept subscores below 6.0. TOEFL Internet-based test: 92.
- In accordance with the CSC regulations, candidates must return to China upon completion of their research.
The current CSC scholarship allowance of €1,350 per month is lower than the Dutch income requirements to obtain a visa to the Netherlands. Please be aware that you will need to show proof of personal finances to cover the difference between your scholarship and the income requirements.
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has limited housing options available for all degree students and doctoral candidates. Once you have been accepted by the CSC, we will contact you on how to apply. You can find more information on housing here .
Immigration:
Once you have been selected as a CSC scholar at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam we will contact you regarding submitting your visa application. You can find more information about the process and requirements here .
How to apply?
Your first step is to identify a potential supervisor. All Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam professors can be found here . You can contact a supervisor based on their research expertise and how it aligns with your PhD research proposal. Each supervisor will conduct their own interviews and assessment of your candidacy. If you are successful in obtaining support from a supervisor, they will support your CSC application by providing a conditional offer letter. The letter is conditional upon receipt of a CSC scholarship. Once you have obtained the letter, the supervisor will contact the International Office who will issue a conditional offer letter from the institution (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). You can use both letters in your application to the CSC.
If you prefer that we help facilitate the contact to a professor, you may submit an application form and we will make contact on your behalf. Please note that your application form must include the following:
- Your Research Proposal
- The name of your preferred supervisor
Application timeline
Memorandum of Understanding
In 2019, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the China Scholarship Council (CSC) . Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the CSC collaborate to provide high quality research training to qualified students and postdoctoral fellows from Chinese universities. They prioritize support in the following areas of study: Environment, Medicine, Life- and Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Economics, Business, Law, International studies and Social Sciences.
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PhD Programmes
Do you have a Master's degree or similar? And would you like to continue your career into research? Then a doctoral degree may be your next step.
All information for both prospective and current PhD students can be found in the PhD Manual (pdf) .
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Utrecht University Heidelberglaan 8 3584 CS Utrecht The Netherlands Tel. +31 (0)30 253 35 50
Fees and funding
TU Delft offers you an excellent research and learning environment, inspiring supervision by leading scientists, and a highly valued Doctoral Education course programme. In order to support the costs of our PhD programmes, the university requires a contribution.
Tuition fees and bench fees
There are two types of costs: a tuition fee and a bench fee.
- Tuition fee A contribution to the cost of supporting and training you as a PhD candidate, and use general campus facilities: 11,000 euros per PhD programme at TU Delft.
- Bench fee An annual contribution to the costs incurred in the provision of workspaces and laboratories, based on the anticipated use of these facilities. This fee remains fixed during your PhD programme. Since these costs vary per candidate and research project, bench fees differ accordingly. The fee is charged to the institute you work for. If you are not funded by an institute, the costs will be charged to you.
At the start of the PhD programme (preferably before your first working day) agreements are recorded on:
- How the fees are calculated
- What they will amount to
- To whom they will be charged
It is at the faculty’s discretion to waive either or both fees.
PhD programmes can be funded in several ways:
- Regular PhD position You are employed on a four-year contract at your supervisor’s department. Depending on your research project, and the way this project is funded, you may be expected to also spend time on teaching or supervision activities.
- Own funding Scholarship or grant If there are no PhD positions available in your area of interest, you will have to find your own funding. This could be a scholarship or a grant. Sponsorship A sponsorship from your employer can also be a way of arranging your own funding. Employers sometimes provide financial support when their employees become part-time PhD candidates at TU Delft.
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