Leiden University Excellence Scholarship for excellent students joining a full-time Leiden University Master’s degree programme – with the exception of LLM (non-advanced) and MSc programmes at Leiden Law School.

Leiden University Excellence Scholarship for 2024/2025 academic section offers funding for Masters programs for international students yearly.

Applicants are invited from non-EU/EEA countries to apply to further their education by applying for a Masters degree at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Below are more details about this masters scholarship.

Summary of Scholarship

• Level of Study: Masters
• Institution(s): Leiden University
• Study in: Netherlands
• Language of study: English
• Courses Offered: All Masters programs in the following Faculties: Humanities, Archaeology, Medicine/LUMC, Law, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Governance and Global Affairs, Science, African Studies Centre, International Institute for Asian Studies.
• Program Period: The maximum study period for a 1-year program is 12 months. The maximum study period for a 2-year program is 24 months.
• Deadline: 1 Feb 2024 for programmes starting 1 Sept 2024

 

Scholarship Coverage

Leiden University Excellence Scholarship (LexS) provides the recipient with the following benefits:

• € 15,000 of the tuition fee
• € 10,000 of the tuition fee
• Total tuition fee minus the statutory tuition fee

Eligibility Criteria

To qualify for a Leiden University Excellence Scholarship 2024/ 2025 academic section, candidates must fulfill all of the following requirements below:

1. Study programme requirements

Applicants for all Master’s programme at Leiden University, with the exception of :

• Leiden Law School’s LLM (non-advanced) and MSc programmes.
• Study programmes starting in February at the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Sciences and Leiden Law School.

2. Nationality requirements

Applicants must have non-EEA/non-EFTA passport, and may not be eligible for student finance via the Dutch government (Studiefinanciering) – with the exceptions of students applying for the programmes listed below for which no nationality restrictions apply:

• All LLM Advanced Studies programmes
• MSc in International Relations and Diplomacy

EEA/EFTA: All EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland

Additional note for UK students

As the UK is now a non-EEA country, students from the UK are now eligible to apply for the scholarship. Note: this does not apply to applicants who were already living in The Netherlands and registered in their Dutch municipality’s BRP before 1 January 2021. 

3. Academic requirements

Students must have achieved excellent academic results in their previous study programme(s), which must be relevant to the Master’s programme for which they are applying. As an indication, the student is amongst the top 10% of graduates in his/her previous study programme. 

Obligations

Students who are granted a scholarship must comply with, and confirm in writing, their agreement with the Terms and conditions attached to the scholarship prior to the awarding of the scholarship.

Exclusions

• Scholarships cannot be awarded to applicants who have already obtained a Leiden University Master’s degree, with the exception of students applying for a Master programme for which a specified previous Master programme or work experience is mandatory (e.g. LLM Advanced Studies programmes).
• Scholarships cannot be awarded to students who will follow: 
  • an LLM (non-advanced) or MSc programme at Leiden Law School, or
  • a study programme starting in February at the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Sciences or Leiden Law School.
• Scholarships cannot be awarded to students who do not meet the nationality requirements stated above.
• It is not possible to combine this scholarship with another full scholarship from an external provider. Students are obliged to notify the scholarships department if they receive a full scholarship from another source.  In some circumstances, this scholarship may be combined with a partial scholarship from an external provider. You can contact the Scholarships Team for further details.  

How to Apply

Please follow the instructions to apply for this Leiden University Excellence Scholarship for 2024/2025 academic section

1. Apply online for admission to a Master’s programme at Leiden University and pay the application fee if applicable. 
   • Note: it can take up to 2 days to create/submit an application for admission, so start your application well before the deadline. 
2. After submitting your application for admission, return to the apply screen in your online application and click on Scholarships. If you are eligible to apply for the scholarship, it will now be visible in the scholarships section.
   • Note: if you cannot see the Leiden University Excellence Masters Scholarship in your scholarships section, you have either not yet submitted your application for admission or are not eligible for it.
3. Indicate that want to apply for the scholarship then upload your motivation letter. This must be a PDF file of max. 500 words, in which you explain why you would like to be considered for the award.
4. Submit your scholarship application before the deadline. Please be aware that after submitting your scholarship application, you cannot make changes to it either online or by sending additional items by email.
5. If you are applying for more than one study programme and wish to apply for a scholarship for each, you must submit a seperate application and motivation letter within each separate online application for admission.

To learn more about this scholarship click on this link