The UM Brightlands Talent Scholarship programme offers four full coverage scholarships (including a tuition fee waiver and monthly stipend) per academic year for a selected number of top-performing non-EU/EEA students with personal development potential that have been (conditionally) admitted to a master's programme connected to the Brightlands campi.
A mandatory component of the UM Brightlands Talent Scholarship is participating in the thesis-internship-programme (TIP), requiring scholarship recipients to write their thesis to an assignment for one of the companies on the respective Brightlands camp.
Target group: top-performing non-EU/EEA master’s students with high personal development potential that have been (conditionally) admitted to a master's programme connected to the Brightlands campi and with a substantiated motivation to contribute to the campuses’ development.
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Maastricht University (UM) Masters Scholarship
Aim and Benefits of Maastricht University (UM) Masters Scholarship
| Living expenses |
€ 15,925*(13 months) or € 30,625*(25 months) |
Paid to students by the UM International Services Desk |
| Health & liability insurance |
At cost |
Arranged for and paid by the UM International Services Desk |
| Visa application costs |
At cost |
Arranged for and paid by the UM International Services Desk |
| Tuition fees |
At cost |
Arranged for and paid by the UM International Services Desk |
| Pre-Academic Training costs |
At cost |
Arranged for and paid by the UM International Services Desk |
| International Student Ambassador Programme (ISAP) |
At cost for first block only |
Arranged for and paid by the UM International Services Desk |
*This amount is 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
Requirements for Maastricht University (UM) Masters Scholarship Qualification
All candidates must meet the following requirements:
- You hold a nationality of a country outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland 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 of 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 a dual nationality from an EU/EEA country or Switzerland
- You have applied for admission to a participating master's programme at UM for the 2026-2027 academic year
- 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 Brightlands 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.
Interview date, Process and Venue for Maastricht University (UM) Masters Scholarship
- 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 the respective UM Faculty in February 2026.
- Step 3: The Faculty Admission Office - in cooperation with the respective programme coordinator(s) - ranks your application based on the UM scholarship selection criteria and proposes a top-5 to the Brightlands Talent Scholarship selection committee.
- Step 4: The Brightlands Talent Scholarship selection committee (composed of a representatives of UM, the Brightlands campus management and the province of Limburg) invites the top-5 applicants for an online interview, following which a decision is taken. In case you are not selected, you will be added to a reserve list in case the selected candidate(s) decline(s) the scholarship.
- Step 5: 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 Brightlands Scholarship programme. The Pre-Academic Training takes place 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.
Documents Required for Application
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. Please emphasise proven previous extracurricular engagement and active citizenship in your community. 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
- You may upload one of the following documents in order to prove your academic excellence:
- Your university transcript that explicitly states your grade point average for your entire study programme up until now. Please note: 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.
- 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, et cetera.
- A reference letter
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 2025. Letters which do not agree with the guidelines are not taken into account, which means your application is incomplete. You need to upload the reference letter, this cannot be done by your referee. We trust you in this and we can check your reference.
- 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.
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.
Check also:
Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at UBC 2027
Chevening Scholarship 2027
Application Deadline
February 1, 2026How to Apply
Interested and qualified? Go to
Maastricht University (UM) on corsa-forms.mumc.maastrichtuniversity.nl to apply
- Step 1: Apply for one of the participating master's programmes at UM
- For further details on how to apply for a master's 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 participating master's programmes in the list above are eligible for a UM Brightlands Talent 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. However, you must meet all admission requirements, except legal residence, of your master programme before the Scholarship deadline. Please be aware that the admission deadline may differ to the Scholarship deadline.
- 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 1 February 2026. To check whether your programme requires the payment of a handling fee, please check your programme’s webpage under the menu tab 'Admission requirements'.
- Step 2: Please fill in the application form, you need to log in with your UM account
- You can find the application form here.
For more information, kindly visit UM scholarship webpage.
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