Leiden University Excellence Scholarship 2025: Prestigious Opportunity for Outstanding Master’s Students

The Leiden University Excellence Scholarship (LExS) is designed for outstanding students enrolling in a full-time Master’s program at Leiden University. This opportunity excludes all Humanities programs, as well as the LLM (non-advanced) and MSc programs at Leiden Law School.

Scholarship Benefits

The LExS is granted for the duration of the selected Master’s program and offers three levels of financial awards:

• €10,000 towards tuition fees.
• €15,000 towards tuition fees.
• Coverage of the full tuition fee minus the statutory tuition fee.

It is important to note that the LExS is not a fully-funded scholarship. Recipients from non-EEA countries must still demonstrate ‘proof of sufficient funds’ for their student visa and residence permit applications.

Eligibility Requirements

1. Program Eligibility

Applicants must be enrolled in a Master’s program at Leiden University beginning in September, except for the following:

• Humanities programs.
• LLM (non-advanced) and MSc programs at Leiden Law School.

2. Nationality Requirements

• Applicants must hold a non-EEA/non-EFTA passport and should not be eligible for Dutch government student finance (Studiefinanciering).
• No nationality restrictions apply to the following programs:
  • LLM Advanced Studies programs.
  • MSc in International Relations and Diplomacy.

Note for UK students:
As the UK is now considered a non-EEA country, UK nationals are eligible to apply. However, this excludes students who were already residing in the Netherlands and registered in a Dutch municipality before January 1, 2021. Further details can be found in the Brexit dossier.

3. Academic Excellence

Applicants must demonstrate exceptional academic performance in previous relevant studies, typically ranking within the top 10% of their graduating class. Proof of ranking is not required but serves as an indication of the expected level of achievement.

Conditions for Awardees

Successful applicants must sign and adhere to the Terms and Conditions associated with the scholarship before it is officially granted.

Exclusions

The LExS cannot be awarded to:

• Students who have already completed a Master’s degree at Leiden University unless the new Master’s program specifically requires a prior Master’s degree or relevant professional experience (e.g., LLM Advanced Studies programs).
• Applicants enrolling in:
  • A program within the Faculty of Humanities.
  • An LLM (non-advanced) or MSc program at Leiden Law School.
  • A program starting in February.
• Students who do not meet the nationality requirements.
• Recipients of a full scholarship from an external source. However, the LExS may be combined with partial scholarships under specific circumstances.

Selection Process

• Faculties will select their LExS nominees within six weeks of the application deadline.
• Applicants will be informed of the outcome via email by the end of April.

Application Deadline

The deadline to apply for the LExS is February 1, 2025.

How to Apply

Interested and qualified? Go to Leiden University on www.studielink.nl to apply

1. Apply online for admission to a Master’s programme at Leiden University and pay the application fee if applicable.
   • Note: it can take up to 2 days to create/submit an application for admission, so start your application well before the LExS deadline.
2. After submitting your application for admission, return to the Apply screen in your online application and click on Scholarships. If you are eligible to apply for the LExS, it will now be visible in the scholarships section.
   • Note: if you cannot see the LExS in your scholarships section, you have either not yet submitted your application for admission, missed the deadline or are not eligible for the LExS.
3. Indicate that you want to apply for the LExS then upload your LExS motivation letter. This must be a PDF file of max. 500 words, in which you explain why you would like to be considered for the award.
4. Submit your scholarship application before the LExS deadline. Please be aware that after submitting your scholarship application, you cannot make changes to it either online or by sending additional items by email.
5. If you are applying for more than one study programme/specialisation and wish to apply for a LExS for each, you must submit a LExS application and motivation letter within each separate online application for admission.

Late applications

Late scholarship applications will not be considered. It is the responsibillity of the student to make sure they create/submit both their application for admission and their application for a scholarship before the LExS deadline.  

For more details, visit Leiden University webpage