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Exchange step 5: scholarships

Ask your question about grants and scholarships
Last updated on 12 June 2024
If you are selected for an exchange or internship abroad, you can apply for a scholarship.

If you are a second-year Bachelor’s student or a Master’s student from VU Amsterdam and selected by the outgoing team for a semester abroad at a partner university within Europe, you are eligible for an Erasmus+ scholarship. For students who are selected for an internship outside Europe, there are several other possibilities.

Disclaimer: This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication (communication) reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. 

Scholarships within Europe

  • Erasmus+ scholarship for study

    Requirements and application

    The Erasmus Scholarship (Erasmus+) programme is an EU programme aimed at promoting international student mobility through funding for education, youth and sports. As a student, you can receive one Erasmus Scholarship for each phase of your studies. 

    Conditions 

    • You must be enrolled as a full-time, tuition fee-paying student at VU Amsterdam in the academic year in which you go on the exchange. 
    • You must have completed the first year of your studies and have obtained 90 ECTS credits before commencing your academic stay abroad. 
    • There must be an exchange agreement between VU Amsterdam and the foreign university. The latter is known as the ‘partner university’. You can find an overview of all VU Amsterdam's European partner universities on the VU Study abroad world map.
    • You must be selected to go on an exchange by the VU International Office. 
    • You will take care of the correct completion of all the needed forms in time, including all required signatures. 
    Minimum stay Three months 
    Maximum stay Twelve months per cycle  (Bachelor, Master or Phd)* 
    Destination Partner university within the European Union and/or EEA (plus Turkey, excluding Switzerland** and UK) 
    Selection and forms VU International Office performs the selection and will email the selected students the forms 
    Application deadline If you go on Erasmus for study in the first semester, you need to apply for the scholarship on vu.nl and upload the signed learning agreement and grant agreement preferably before September 1st. If you go the 2nd semester, you need to upload the agreements preferably before January 1st. 
    Scholarship amount The allowance depends on the country and ranges from €8 to €12 per day 
    Finances and administration erasmus@vu.nl

     *If you have received an Erasmus grant before, then these months will also be counted. 

    **Switzerland is not a partner in the Erasmus+ Programme, but it does have a similar programme for students coming to and departing from Switzerland.

    Selection

    Selected students will be informed by email and will receive the documents by email. 

    More information

    Check the Manual Erasmus+ scholarship for instructions, timeline, how to apply for an Erasmus+ scholarship at VU.nl and faq’s.

    The grant will be paid in two instalments, 70% of your scholarship in September/October (if you handed in all of the documents before mid-August) for the 1st semester. You will receive the remaining 30% of the scholarship after your return, one month after you have handed in all documents. 

    Scholarship amount 

    The scholarship amount will depend on your destination country. Countries are divided into three categories based on cost of living.

    Below you can see the different country groups and the amount you will receive: 

     2023 - 2024Host countryAmount per month Amount per day
    Group 1 - Programme countries with higher living costs Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Norway, Sweden €360 €12 
    Group 2 - Programme countries with medium living costs Austria, Belgium, Germany, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain €300 €10 
    Group 3 - Programme countries with lower living costs Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Turkey, Slovenia, Romania, Slovakia, North  Macedonia, Serbia €240 €8 

    You will receive a scholarship from the starting day of your exchange (including introduction) until and including your last exams. 

    Extra funding on top of the Erasmus+ Grant

    Erasmus+ Inclusion top-up

    In line with the national guidelines we are able to offer the Erasmus+ inclusion top-up to Erasmus+ students in 2022-2023. This top-up is for students who belong to one or more of these groups:

    1. Students with Economic barriers with a DUO supplementary grant
      In order to be eligible for this extra top-up you need to comply with the conditions of the Erasmus+ scholarship and have an official statement from DUO with the confirmation of being awarded the supplementary grant. On your Grant Agreement you can apply for the extra funding. In case you are unable to provide such a statement, please send an e-mail. 
    2. Students with Disabilities or Health problems
      There is also an extra opportunity for an inclusion top-up in case of disability or health problems. This amount is also €250 per month, on top of the existing Erasmus+ scholarship but can’t be combined with the ‘DUO’-top-up grant. In order to be eligible for this extra top-up you need to comply with the conditions of the Erasmus+ scholarship and have an official statement from a health care provider or organization. In case you are unable to provide such a statement, please send an email. 

      Next to the inclusion top-up, there is also additional funding available for who are expecting additional costs of studying abroad, such as wheelchair-accessible accommodation or additional medical costs. More information about the Erasmus+ Special Needs supplement can be found here.

      Students are allowed to combine the Erasmus+ Special Needs supplement with the Inclusion top-up.

      We would like to encourage all students with fewer opportunities to apply for a study abroad, and hope this additional funding will help you. In case you are still in doubt regarding your application for a study abroad, please do not hesitate to contact us.

      At the end of May, Erasmus+ students will receive further instructions from the Erasmus+ office on how to apply for the Erasmus+ grant and the additional top-up.

    Online Linguistic Support 

    To support you, Erasmus+ has implemented the Online Linguistic Support (OLS). As a mobility participant, you have the opportunity to assess and improve your skills in the foreign language you will use to study, as well as the local language(s).  This means you can learn two languages in OLS. This will help you when you need to conduct your studies in one language, but you live in a community which speaks a different language. Take the chance to improve your skills! There is even an opportunity for live coaching via forum, tutoring sessions and MOOCs.  

    Find out more about the online linguistic support and course. 

  • Green Travel Grant

    For the Erasmus+ students that travelled ‘green’ to their host university there is a green travel top-up of €50,- That means you travelled for example by train, bus or shared car (carpooling). 

    When you travel by train you will also receive the VU Green Travel Grant based on the distance of the partner university (for information about the amount and conditions have a look at our Green Travel Guide.

    In order to be eligible for this top-up you have to fill out the ‘Statement Green Travel’ and provide a copy of the train ticket. This statement is part of your Erasmus+ documents and will be sent to you by the Erasmus+ team in early May.

  • Other scholarships for studying abroad within Europe

    In addition to the regular scholarship options offered by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, there are other ways to get a grant or scholarship. You can find some of these possibilities below:

    There are various search engines that you can use to search for scholarships.:

Scholarships outside Europe

  • GLOBE scholarship

    GLOBE scholarship programme aims at stimulating co-operation between Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and non-European higher education institutions. This scholarship is intended for talented students who want to study at a partner institution outside Europe for a minimum period of 3 months. You can’t apply for a GLOBE scholarship , you have to be invited by the International Office.

    Conditions GLOBE scholarship programme

    • Candidates must be enrolled as a full time student at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and therefore have paid their tuition fee for the academic year in which you are going on exchange.
    • Students must have obtained 60 ECTS, before the start of their study abroad.
    • The GLOBE scholarship is intended for talented students that are selected by VU International Office for an exchange to a partner institution outside Europe.
    • The selection for the GLOBE scholarship is based on GPA, motivation and CV. The International Office has received the necessary documents already with the application for the exchange period.
    • Only students that are nominated at the host institution and selected by IO can apply for a GLOBE scholarship in VU.nl. 
    • If you are not invited to apply for the scholarship in VU.nl it is no use to do so. Your application will be refused.
    • Scholarship amounts will be reclaimed when it appears that students have received it unjustly.

    Payment

    • End of September  for students going abroad for the first semester.
    • End of January for students going abroad for the second semester.
    • The scholarship amount is €2,500 in total.

  • NL Scholarship (formerly called Holland Scholarship Programme)

    NL Scholarship is a national scholarship programme for students at Dutch universities. The scholarship is made available by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science together with Dutch higher education institutions. The programme aims to increase the international mobility of students, by stimulating them to study outside the EEA on a scholarship.

    VU Amsterdam has a limited number of NL scholarships that will be available for students who are selected for an exchange at a partner university in Indonesia, Ethiopia or South Africa. If there are any scholarships left, students selected for Beijing University of Technology, Wuhan university (China), HEC Montréal or Simon Fraser University (Canada) also have a chance at a NL scholarship.

    We will send an email to these students to inform them about the scholarship in May or June. After receiving this email, you will be able to apply for the NL scholarship. Without an invitation, your scholarship application will be rejected.

    The scholarship amount is €2,500 in total.

    Support 

    The NL Scholarship is financially supported by VUvereniging. VUvereniging is a social network of people who feel connected and involved with Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and VUMC. Their support of NL Scholarship is specified on their website.

  • Other scholarships for studying outside Europe

    In addition to the regular scholarship options offered by VU Amsterdam, there are other ways to get a grant or scholarship. You can find some of these possibilities below:

    There are various search engines that you can use to search for scholarships:

Outgoing Student Exchange Team

+31 (0)20 59 85745 (between 10:00 - 12:00, Monday, Wednesday and Friday). Please note: due to the holiday period you will not be able to reach us by phone in the week of 22-26 July. 

Do you have a question? Mail us!

Consultation hour (walk-in, no appointment required):
Every Tuesday between 12:30 - 13:30 in the Global Room (HG-1A36). Please note: There will be no consultation hour on Tuesday, 23 July. 

Emergency number for VU exchange students abroad: +31 (0) 20 6444117. This is the VU-wide emergency number. Emergencies for example include natural disasters, assault and (mental) health issues.