Maastricht University Scholarship 2025-2026 Fully Funded

Great news for international students! Applications are now open for the Maastricht University Scholarship, a prestigious fully funded award for master’s studies. In this article, we outline the scholarship benefits, eligibility criteria, and the application process.

The Maastricht University Scholarship 2025-2026 is a fully funded master’s scholarship for talented international students. It covers €30,625 in living expenses, €700 for health and liability insurance, €210 for visa application costs, and tuition fees up to €16,800.

Funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in partnership with Dutch universities and applied science institutions, this scholarship supports outstanding students from outside the EU/EEA. Maastricht University is the most international university in the Netherlands, known for its innovative research, problem-based learning approach, global student community, and multidisciplinary academic environment.

Scholarship Summary

Level of Study: Master’s
Institution: Maastricht University
Study Location: Netherlands
Program Duration:
- 13 months (one-year program)
- 25 months (two-year program)
Deadline: February 1

Opportunity Focus Areas:

Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences:

MA Art, Literature and Society
MA Arts and Heritage: Policy, Management and Education
MA Arts and Culture: spec. Politics and Society
MA European Public Affairs
MA European Studies on Society, Science and Technology
MA European Studies: spec. Europe in a Globalising World
MA European Studies: spec. European Politics and International Relations
MA European Studies: spec. European Public Policy and Administration
MA Globalisation and Development Studies
Research Master Cultures of Arts, Science and Technology
Research Master European Studies
MA Media Studies: Digital Cultures

Faculty of Law:

LLM European Law School: spec. European Law & Market Integration
LLM European Law School: spec. European Public Law & Governance
LLM European Law School: spec. Free track
LLM Forensics, Criminology and Law
LLM Globalisation and Law: spec. Corporate and Commercial Law
LLM Globalisation and Law: spec. General track
LLM Globalisation and Law: spec. Human Rights
LLM Globalisation and Law: spec. International Trade and Investment Law
LLM International and European Tax Law: spec. International and European Tax Law
LLM International and European Tax Law: spec. International and European Tax Law
Specialisation Customs and International Trade
LLM International and European Tax Law: spec. International and European Tax Law
Specialisation Tax and Technology
LLM Advanced Master in Intellectual Property Law and Knowledge Management
MSc Advanced Master in Intellectual Property Law and Knowledge Management

Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences:

MSc Biomedical Sciences
MSc Epidemiology
MSc Global Health
MSc Governance and Leadership in European Public Health
MSc Health Education and Promotion
MSc Healthcare Policy, Innovation and Management
MSc Human Movement Sciences: spec. Health and Rehabilitation
MSc Human Movement Sciences: spec. Sports and Nutrition
MSc Work, Health and Career

Faculty of Science and Engineering:

MSc Biobased Materials
MSc Systems Biology
MSc Data Science for Decision Making

Faculty of Psychology & Neuroscience:

MSc Psychology: spec. Development Psychology
MSc Psychology: spec. Health and Social Psychology
MSc Psychology: spec. Neuropsychology
MSc Psychology: spec. Legal Psychology
MSc Psychology: spec. Work and Organisational Psychology
Research Master Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience: spec. Cognitive Neuroscience
Research Master Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience: spec. Drug Development and Neurohealth
Research Master Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience: spec. Fundamental Neuroscience
Research Master Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience: spec. Neuroeconomics
Research Master Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience: spec. Neuropsychology
Research Master Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience: spec. Psychopathology
MSc Forensic Psychology
MSc Psychology: spec. Cognitive Neuroscience

School of Business and Economics:

MSc Business Intelligence and Smart Services
MSc Economics
MSc Economics and Strategy in Emerging Markets
MSc Financial Economic
MSc IB/Entrepreneurship and SME Management
MSc IB/Information Management and Business Intelligence
MSc IB/Sustainable Finance

Scholarship Coverage

Maastricht University Scholarship provides the recipient with:

Living expenses: € 15,925 (13 months) or € 30,625(25 months)
Health & liability insurance: € 700
Visa application costs: € 210
Tuition fees: € 13,800; € 15,500 or € 16,800 depending on the tuition of your study programme
Pre-Academic Training costs

Eligibility Criteria for Maastricht University Scholarship

To qualify for this scholarship, candidate must fulfill all of the following requirements below:

Required Language: English
Eligible Countries: Citizens of a country outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland.
- You hold nationality in a country outside the EU/EEA, Switzerland or Surinam and meet the requirements for obtaining an entry visa and residence permit for the Netherlands.
- You do not hold a double nationality from an EU/EEA country.
You have applied for admission to a full-time Master’s programme at Maastricht University for the 2025-2026 academic year.
List of the UM master’s programmes participating in this scholarship programme.
You meet the specific admission requirements of the UM Master’s programme to which you have applied.
You have never participated in a degree-seeking higher education programme in the Netherlands. Students who have completed exchange programmes in the Netherlands are welcome to apply.
You are not older than 35 years of age on 1 September 2025.
You have obtained excellent results during your prior education programmes, as demonstrated by your latest grade transcript or certified by academic excellence. If several applicants are equally qualified, UM will give preference to applicants whose academic transcript or certified letter of academic excellence demonstrate that they are among the top 5% of the 2025-2026 scholarship programme applicants.

How to Apply for Maastricht University Scholarship?

Please follow the following instructions to apply for this scholarship:

(1) Register for one of the participating Master’s programs at Maastricht University. For further details on how to register for a Master’s programme at UM, please see your prospective program’s webpage. Once you have submitted your application via Studielink, you will receive a student ID number for Maastricht University. You will need a student number in order to complete and submit the Scholarship Application Form (see Step below).

Please note: only the Master’s programs in the list above are eligible for a UM Holland-High Potential scholarship.
Please note: you can apply for the Master’s program at UM and the scholarship simultaneously. However, you must be conditionally approved for admission to your Master’s program in order to be awarded a scholarship.
Please note: if your study program requires the payment of a handling fee as part of your program’s admissions procedure, UM International Services Desk does not cover handling fees. You are responsible for paying any handling fee your program may require by 1 February. To check whether your program requires the payment of a handling fee, please check your program’s web page under the menu tab ‘Admission requirements’.

(2) Please fill in the application form (log in with your UM account), upload the following documents in .doc, .docx, or PDF format, and submit your application. Please note that you will only be able to submit your application once, so please ensure that all of your documents and referee contact details are up-to-date. If you have applied for multiple UM study programs, the UM International Services Desk will ensure that your complete scholarship application is considered for all eligible programs for which you have a conditionally approved or approved admissions status.

Curriculum vitae. Your CV should be up-to-date, contain relevant information about your education and (job) experience, and should not be longer 2 A4 pages.
Letter of motivation. Your letter of motivation should be up-to-date and specifically tailored to this scholarship program. Generic letters of admission that do not directly address your motivation for UM Holland-High Potential scholarship selection will be rejected. Your letter of motivation should be no longer than 1 A4 page. Be sure to argue why this scholarship is important to you, why you should be selected, and what your role as an ambassador of Maastricht University would be during your scholarship period, and during the upcoming years after you finish your studies at UM.
Proof of academic excellence. You may upload one of the following documents in order to prove your academic excellence: 1. Your University transcript that explicitly states your grade point average or class ranking (i.e. first class honors) for your entire study program; or, 2. A letter signed by your institution’s Head of Department or Registrar stating that you are one of the top 20 students in the graduating year of your study program. Please ensure that the letter contains the contact details of your Head of Department or Registrar.
The contact details of one referee. Please note that we check the authenticity of your referee by contacting your referee. Therefore, ensure that you take the following steps when choosing a referee and submitting their details.
– Relationship to applicant: indicate your referee’s connection to you; is this your professor, thesis supervisor, employer? Please remember that family members may not function as referees.
– Work telephone number of your referee: Be sure to include the applicable country calling code.
– Work or institutional email address of your referee. Letters referencing only a personal email address will be rejected.

(3) Please note that you will only be able to submit your application once, so please ensure that all of your documents and referee contact details are up-to-date.

You will have to contact the referee you provided in your application form and ask them to submit their reference letter per email to hhp.scholarship@maastrichtuniversity.nl by midnight on 1 February (Central European Time).
We have prepared scholarship reference letter guidelines; please print these out or forward them to your referee, as they will help your referee to write a good reference letter on your behalf. Please note that referees must be (former) professors, lecturers, or employers, and not family members. Recommendation letters should be dated and written no earlier than February. Please also note that it is your responsibility to liaise with your referee and ensure that they submit their letters before the deadline. Applications for which we have not received reference letters are unfortunately incomplete, so please communicate on time with your referee about this important step in the scholarship application process.