Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ

Funding opportunities

• General scholarship resources

• Dutch grant/scholarship providers

• European grant/scholarship providers

  • , Spain
  • , Kazakhstan

• US grant/scholarship providers

• Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin America grants/scholarship providers

  Asia Pacific

  • , Singapore

  African continent

  Latin America

  • , Colombia
  • , 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 Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ.

  If you are a prospective CSC candidate this page will help you understand the application process and requirements for doing a PhD at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ.

  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 Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ. PLEASE NOTE that we are not accepting application for the Faculty of Science (BETA).
    
    For a full PhD the scholarship covers 48 months of research.  Upon the successful completion of all requirements of the trajectory and defense, candidates will be conferred a degree by Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ.
  • Visiting PhD candidates: as a visiting PhD candidate your stay at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ preferably consists of max. 24 months. Candidates are to return to their home institutions in China for their dissertation defense upon completion of their research visit at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ.

  Which faculty?

  The eligible faculties for CSC candidates are listed below:

  • Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
  • School of Business and Economics
  • Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences
  • Faculty of Medicine
  • Faculty of Law

  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 Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ (link to the MoU)
  • Living allowance of €2,000 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 €2,000 per month, which meets the Dutch income requirements to obtain a visa to the Netherlands. 

  Housing

  Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ has limited housing options available for all degree students and doctoral candidates. We cannot guarantee accommodation. Once you have been accepted by the CSC, we will contact you on how to apply for accommodation. You can find more information on housing here.

  Immigration

  Once you have been selected as a CSC scholar at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ we will contact you regarding submitting your visa application. 

  How to apply for the PhD trajectory and the CSC scholarship?

  Your first step is to identify a potential supervisor. All Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ professors can be found . 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, including academic strength, your English proficiency and a match in the topic.
  
  If you are successful in obtaining support from a supervisor, they will support your CSC application by providing a conditional admission letter. The condition is that the candidate should obtain the CSC scholarship. Once you have obtained the letter, the supervisor will contact the International Scholarship PhD Candidate coordinator, who will issue a conditional offer letter from the institution (VU 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 and we will make contact on your behalf. Please note that your application form must include the following:

  • Your CV
  • Your Research Proposal
  • The name of your preferred supervisor

  Application timeline

  Activity	Date
  Contact preferred supervisor or fill in application form	until February 2026
  Interviews conducted by supervisor (online)	until March 2026
  Final selection and conditional offer letter issued	by mid March 2026
  Candidate applies through the CSC website	to be announced
  Decision by CSC	May/June 2026
  Onboarding process at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ (immigration, housing, general set-up in systems)	June-August 2026
  Starting your PhD at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ	Between September 2026 - January 2027

  Agreement

  Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ signed an agreement with the China Scholarship Council (CSC). VU Amsterdam and the CSC collaborate to provide high quality research training to qualified students and postdoctoral fellows from Chinese universities.

  Contact

  E: phd@vu.nl

• Aon Scholarship

  For decades, Aon has been actively involved in insuring international talent who come to the Netherlands for their education. To provide some of these students with additional financial support, Aon has established the Aon Scholarship Programme in collaboration with Nuffic.

  Coverage 
  This programme offers scholarships of €6,000 to students whose studies focus on environmental, social and governance topics and who want to apply for financial support to complete their thesis. The AON scholarship aims to support the completion of the thesis (research, fieldwork, material or dissertation writing).

  This year, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ can present a maximum of 6 candidates, but only 2 scholarships will be allocated.  
  
  Target group 
  The primary target audience for the Aon Scholarship Programme is: 

  • Students from a non-EU/EEA or EU/EEA country who, as of the 2025-2026 academic year, are enrolled as students at VU Amsterdam. 
  • Students who are working on a thesis or dissertation as part of their Bachelor's, Master’s or PhD programme in the 2025-2026 academic year and who are enrolled in the following programmes: 
    • Environment and Resource Management 
    • Ecology and Evolution
    • Information Sciences
    • Law
    • Int Business Law: Climate Change and Corporations
    • Psychology
    • Culture, Organization and Management
    • Social and Cultural Anthropology
    • Finance
    • Transport and Supply Chain Management
    • Spatial, Transport and Environmental Economics

  Application
  If you are interested in applying, please follow these steps: 

  1.  Send an email to scholarships.incoming@vu.nl with the following documents: 
     • Copy passport / ID 
     • Proof of registration/ admission at your institution for the academic year 2025-2026 
     • Diploma or study transcript of your previous and current higher education 
     • CV  
     • Motivation letter (combined in one PDF) which should include: 
       • Motivation for the selected Bachelor / Master and Dutch institution 
       • Description and motivation for the (research) project 
       • Explanation of the needed scholarship / financial support 
     • Reference letters combined in 1 PDF:  
       • The reference letter must be provided by a current or previous professor or supervisor.  
       • If the scholarship is for a (research) project, include a reference from the supervisor describing the relevance of the research project.
       • The reference letter should include the need for financial support for the candidate.
  2. Once the documents are submitted to the scholarships office, the pre-selected candidates will be invited to submit their application in the Delta system. 
  3. Nuffic and AON will review and assess the applications based on the information provided by the student. If necessary, Nuffic will consult with the educational institution.
  4. After the selection process, Nuffic will provide a recommendation to Aon. 
  5. Aon will then announce the scholarship recipients, in principle, within two weeks of receiving Nuffic's recommendation.
  6. Selected students will be notified by Nuffic.
  7. Payment of the scholarship will be done in three installments.

  Timeline and deadlines

  	What happens		Deadline
  1	Send the documents by email to VU Amsterdam	scholarships.incoming@vu.nl	10 June
  2	Pre-selected candidates receive an email from the VU with the link to submit their application online in Delta		15 June 2025
  3	Candidates submit their applications online via Delta	Delta	30 June 2025
  4	Selected candidates are informed	Nuffic	Around end of July
  5	First disbursement	Nuffic	August
  6	Second disbursement after checking enrollment status at VU Amsterdam	Nuffic	November
  7	Third (and last) disbursement after students receive their diploma or final transcripts	Nuffic	July / August

  Questions?
  In case you have questions please send an email to scholarships.incoming@vu.nl.