Radboud Encouragement Scholarship

About the scholarship

Radboud University wants to contribute to a healthy and free world with equal opportunities for all. We find it important to realise a diverse and inclusive campus for all our students and staff. In order to give all talented students the opportunity to become part of our academic community, including students from non-EU/EEA countries who might be financially struggling to pay the institutional Radboud University tuition fee, we offer a number of full scholarships.

Scope of the programme

The Radboud Encouragement Scholarship is available for applicants from non-EU/EEA countries, applying for one of our English-taught Master’s programmes (with the exception of Erasmus Mundus Master's programmes and joint-degree Master's programmes). The scholarship covers the full tuition fee and living costs of €13.200 (as set by the IND, the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service, in January 2025, for 2025-2026) for the duration of the Master’s programme.

For 2025-2026, a total of 11 scholarships are available: Faculty of Arts (1), Faculty of Medical Sciences (6), Nijmegen School of Management (1), Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies (1), Faculty of Science (1), Faculty of Social Sciences (1).

Additional information

  • The scholarship also covers costs for visa, residence permit, health insurance and liability insurance for your stay in the Netherlands (Aon Student Insurance). You will find an indication for the costs of living and studying in the Netherlands on our website.
  • In case you are selected as a scholarship recipient and you are admitted to a two-year Master's programme, please note that in order to qualify for the grant again for the second year, you need to have passed all courses in the first year.
  • The Radboud Encouragement Scholarship cannot be combined with a Fulbright-Radboud Scholarship or NL Scholarship. You can apply for more than one scholarship, but only one will be granted.
  • You can only apply for either the Radboud Encouragement Scholarship or the partial Radboud Scholarship Programme. It is not possible to apply for both of these scholarships.
Type
Scholarship
Eligible countries or regions
All non-EU/non-EEA countries
Duration of scholarship
Nominal duration of Master's programme
Coverage of scholarship
Full scholarship
Faculty involved
Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Nijmegen School of Management, Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Arts
Conditions

You will only be eligible to apply for a Radboud Encouragement Scholarship if you:

  1. hold a non-EU/non-EEA passport.
  2. are not eligible for the lower EEA tuition fee for other reasons.
  3. do not have sufficient funds or access to grants or loans to finance your studies at Radboud University.
  4. have (will obtain) a Bachelor's degree achieved outside the Netherlands, have no degrees achieved in the Netherlands and did not receive any previous education in the Netherlands (exchange programmes excluded, provided that they are part of the Bachelor's degree achieved outside the Netherlands).
  5. meet the English language proficiency requirement for the Master's programme of your choice.
  6. are fully admitted to the English-taught Master's programme starting 1 September 2025 as stated in the formal letter of admission.
  7. are able to comply with the conditions for obtaining a visa for the Netherlands.
  8. are enrolled at Radboud University as a full-time student for the academic year and Master's programme for which the scholarship will be awarded.

How to apply

You can apply by indicating during your application for admission for a Master's programme in the OSIRIS Application system that you wish to apply for a Radboud Encouragement Scholarship. You will then be requested to upload two reference letters and a curriculum vitae (you may upload the same reference letters and CV if you have already uploaded those for your Master’s programme application) and the scholarship motivation letter.

The selection for the scholarship and the admission to the Master's programme are two separate processes: admission to the Master's programme does not imply selection for the scholarship.

Please note that applicants for the Radboud Encouragement Scholarship are not automatically waived from having to pay the handling fee for the Master's application. Once you enrol at Radboud University, the handling fee will be refunded to you.

Deadline

You must have submitted your application in the online OSIRIS Application system on 31 January 2025 23:59 CEST at the latest. Then, your OSIRIS Application will be checked by Radboud University’s Student Admissions office and sent back to you for payment of the handling fee, as well as for any documents in your application that may be incorrect, illegible, or missing. You need to resubmit your application as soon as possible. 

Then, your application needs to be complete by 14 February 2025 23:59 CEST at the latest. Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered for the scholarship selection. We recommend you hand in your proof of English proficiency before the deadline of 14 February 2025 as well.

You will be informed about the final decision by department Student Life and International Mobility with respect to your application for a Radboud Scholarship before mid-April 2025 (date subject to change). 

Selection procedure

The selection of the scholarship recipients will be based on the following criteria:

Academic excellence

  • Outstanding study results in your present field of study, for example through grades, test scores, publications.
  • Relevancy of your previous degree to the master’s programme.
  • The ranking of the university where you obtained your previous degree(s).

Ambition

  • The quality and relevance of your two motivation letters, one for the Master’s programme and one for the scholarship.
  • Show promise, based on previous achievements, performances and work in the relevant field of study.
  • Life experience and/or extracurricular activities such as internships or volunteering.

References

  • Quality of the recommendations in the two reference letters, preferably two academic references, please see these reference guidelines.

Motivation

  • The motivation letter for the scholarship needs to be a different letter than the one you already uploaded as part of your application for the Master’s programme. It should explain why you need this scholarship in order to be able to attend Radboud University.
  • The letter must be in the required format. Click here to download the format.

All students applying for the Radboud Encouragement Scholarship will be individually considered by the selection committee of the faculty they applied to, after the motivation letter has been judged. The faculty will make a selection based on academic qualities. Faculties may base their selection on other criteria as well; some study programmes hold interviews for example.

 

More information, Q&A's and contact


Q&A’s

On the following dates and times, we will be available via Zoom to answer any questions you may have related to Radboud University’s scholarships. Please note that the times are in the Amsterdam timezone (Central European Time). You can join us on those dates, during those hours, via this Zoom link. No password is required.

December

  • Wednesday 18 December: 10.00 – 11.00 cet

January

  • Tuesday 7 January: 16.00 – 17.00 cet
  • Wednesday 15 January: 10.00 – 11.00 cet
  • Tuesday 21 January: 16.00 – 17.00 cet
     

For more information about the scholarship programme, you may contact team Student Life and International Mobility via scholarships [at] ru.nl (scholarships[at]ru[dot]nl). Please do not use this email address for the application.

Organisation involved