Job Description

The Maastricht University (UM) NL-High Potential Scholarship programme offers 21 full scholarships of € 34,000 (including tuition fee waiver and monthly stipend) each academic year for highly talented students from outside the European Union (EU) who have been admitted to a master’s programme at UM.

The Scholarship programme consists of both the High Potential Scholarship (funded by the Maastricht University Scholarship Fund), and the NL Scholarship, which is financed by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in conjunction with Dutch universities and universities of applied sciences. It is aimed at international students from outside the EU/EEA who wish to follow a full degree programme in the Netherlands.

Who is eligible
Duration of the UM NL-High Potential Scholarship
Amount of the UM NL-High Potential Scholarship programme
Application procedure
Selection procedure
Student testimonials

UM International Services Desk

hhp.scholarship@maastrichtuniversity.nl

Who is eligible?

All candidates must meet the following requirements:

• You hold a 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. Please check this website before you apply to see in which country you have to collect your MVV visa for the Netherlands . If you already have a residence permit for another Schengen country, you can only apply if this residence permit is still valid until at least 2 September 2026. If your residence permit expires before 2 September 2026 you can only apply for the Scholarship from your home country via a MVV visa application. More information can be found on the webpages of the Visa Office. 
• You do not have dual nationality from an EU/EEA country or Switzerland. 
• You have applied for admission to a participating full-time master’s programme at Maastricht University for the 2026-2027 academic year before 8 December 2025. Participating programmes 2026-2027 
  For participating programmes for academic year 2027-2028 you can apply from 1 October 2026 onwards. Please check this link: Participating programmes 2027-2028 
• You meet the specific admission requirements of the UM master 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.
• Preference will be given to candidates who have not yet obtained a Master’s degree.
• You are not older than 35 years of age on 1 September 2026.
• You have obtained excellent results during your prior education programmes, as demonstrated by your latest grade transcript showing a GPA of 7.5 out of 10 or higher.
• You agree to become an active UM NL High Potential and UM ambassador during and after your studies, by committing to share your experiences during at least one (information)
   session for students and/or other stakeholders.
• You can only submit an application once and for one Scholarship only. Please make sure all documents meet the requirements before you start your application. We cannot add or replace documents after you submit the application

Please note, this is a very competitive scholarship, only 2% of the applicants get awarded the scholarship.

Application deadline

The application portal will open on 1 October 2025. Application deadline is up to and including 1 February 2026, 23:59 CET.

Duration of the UM NL-High Potential scholarship

• 13 months for a one-year master programme
• 25 months for a two-year master programme

Amount of the UM NL-High Potential scholarship programme

*These amounts are subject to change for academic year 2027-2028

Please note that a mandatory part of the Scholarship is a room that will be allocated to you. Accepting the Scholarship means, you accept the room. The accommodation provided to Scholarship students is not suitable for partners/spouses and/or children. Preferences with regard to the accommodation f.e. religious beliefs will be taken into account. Refusing the room means your Scholarship will be cancelled.  

The amount of € 15,925 for living expenses (€ 1,225 per month) covers the following expenses and can be broken down as follows (amounts are subject to change):

• Housing: € 600
• Groceries and personal hygiene: € 160
• Telephone: € 60
• Travel: € 100
• Books and study materials: € 90
• Clothing, hobbies and going out: € 125
• Miscellaneous: € 90
• Please note that air tickets are not included and must be paid by the candidate. 

Application procedure

Step 1: Apply for one of the participating master programmes at UM
For further details on how to apply for a master programme at UM, please see your prospective programme’s webpage. Once you have submitted your application via Studielink, you will receive a student ID number for UM. You will need a student number in order to complete and submit the Scholarship Application Form (see Step 2 below).

• Please note: only the master programmes in the list above are eligible for a UM NL-High Potential Scholarship.
• Please note: you first have to apply for the master programme at UM to receive your student ID, as soon as you have your student ID you can apply for the scholarship. Please be aware that the admission deadline when applying for this Scholarship is 8 December 2025.
• Please note: by the Scholarship deadline of 1 February 2026 you must have met all admission requirements (except legal residence, tuition payment & hard copy of a diploma).
• Please note: if your study programme requires the payment of a handling fee as part of your programme’s admissions procedure, the UM International Services Desk does not cover handling fees. You are responsible for paying any handling fee your programme may require by 8 December 2025. To check whether your programme requires the payment of a handling fee, please check your programme’s webpage under the menu tab ‘Admission requirements’.
• Please note: you need to provide an official document from your home university showing your most recent GPA and a document explaining your grade system. We only accept applications with a GPA of 7.5 out of 10 or higher. This is equivalent to a minimum of 75% out of 100% or 3 out of 4 depending on your grade system.
   

Step 2: Please fill in the application form, you need to log in with your UM account
Please fill out the application formhere.  We can only accept applications via the application form.

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.

• Curriculum vitae
  Your CV should be up-to-date, contain relevant information about your education and (job) experience, and should not be longer than two A4 pages. If you have received any awards or prizes, please do not forget to mention these on your CV.
• Letter of motivation 
  Please use the template for the motivation letter. This template will focus on your motivation for the scholarship.
• Proof of academic excellence
  Please upload:
  1. Your university transcript or an official document from your home university showing your most recent GPA of 7.5 or higher Only applicants with a grade point average of 7,5 out of 10 or higher will be considered
  2. A document explaining your grade system. Your university transcript has to show at least 75% of the maximum grade, for example a 3 out of 4 that would be equivalent to a 7.5 out of 10 at Maastricht University.
• Personal statement of financial needs. 
  Please explain why you would benefit from being awarded a scholarship and describe your personal circumstances such as financial difficulty, sole parent/caretaking responsibilities, medical condition, disability, refugee status etc.
• A reference letter. We have prepared scholarship reference letter guidelines; please 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 2025. Letters that do not adhere to the guidelines are not taken into account, which means your application is incomplete. You need to upload the reference letter yourself, this cannot be done by your referee. Please note we may check your reference.
• The contact details of one referee
  Please note that we might 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. 

Selection procedure

• Step 1: The UM International Services Desk checks if all applications are complete after 1 February 2026.
   
• Step 2: The UM International Services Desk sends all complete applications to each UM Faculty in February 2026.
   
• Step 3: Each Faculty selects and ranks their top 5 of scholarship applicants and sends these to the UM International Services Desk for a final check in March 2026.
   
• Step 4: The UM International Services Desk confirms the Faculty selections by the end of March 2026 and will invite the selected candidates for an online interview.
   
• Step 5: After the interviews have taken place the UM International Services Desk will inform all candidates of their application status in April 2026. Your status will be selected, waitlisted or rejected by the beginning of May 2026 at the latest. Waitlisted application statuses will be changed to selected or rejected by May 2026. Scholarship awardees will receive more information about the UM Pre-Academic Training programme and arrival in Maastricht upon receiving their award letters. The UM Pre-Academic Training is a two-week mandatory component of the UM NL – High Protential Scholarship programme. The Pre-Academic Training starts in the first week of August 2026.
   
• Step 6: You must sign and return the award letter to the UM International Services Desk to accept the scholarship.

Read more about the NL Scholarship

Please note that the UM NL-High Potential Scholarship is a very competitive scholarship: only 2% of the applicants will be awarded the scholarship.