Alternatives to the Amsterdam Merit Scholarship: Dutch and European Options
With one award per faculty in some cases, you need a plan B. These are the Dutch university excellence awards still running for 2027 — plus the national and European schemes worth a parallel application.
ScholarshipUnion Editorial
3 min read
Updated Oct 6, 2026
The AMS is small. Science gives one award for the whole faculty; Law draws one by lottery. Apply anyway — but put at least two other applications in motion at the same time. Several of them close earlier than UvA.
Other Dutch excellence scholarships
| Scholarship | Value | 2027 deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Leiden University Excellence Scholarship (LExS) | €10,000, €15,000, €17,500, €18,500 or €19,000 off tuition | 1 Dec 2026 |
| TU Delft Justus & Louise van Effen Excellence Scholarship | Full first-year tuition + living contribution | 1 Dec 2026, 23:59 CET |
| NL Scholarship | €5,000, one-off, first year | Set by each university |
| Utrecht Excellence Scholarship | — | Discontinued |
All checked on official pages on 6 October 2026.
Leiden University Excellence Scholarship
Leiden’s LExS is the closest match to the old AES. It is for non-EEA master’s applicants starting in September, with excellent results — Leiden uses the top 10% of graduates as a guideline. You apply through the Scholarships section of your application portal with a motivation letter of up to 500 words. The award is a tuition reduction at one of five levels, up to €19,000. The 1 December 2026 deadline comes six weeks before UvA’s.
TU Delft Justus & Louise van Effen
For excellent international students admitted to a two-year regular TU Delft MSc (not a joint programme), in the top 10% of their previous programme. It covers full tuition for the first year plus a contribution to living expenses; year two requires at least 48 ECTS in year one. The deadline is 1 December 2026, and winners hear by the end of March 2027.
Utrecht: closed
Utrecht University says that, due to significant budget cuts, the Utrecht Excellence Scholarship is no longer offered for programmes starting in 2026–27 or later. Old blog posts still list it; skip it.
The NL Scholarship
NL guide →The Dutch government’s NL Scholarship is a one-off €5,000 in the first year for non-EEA students. It runs through participating institutions. On the official Study in NL page for 2026–27, the University of Amsterdam is not listed as a participant, while VU Amsterdam, Utrecht, Groningen, Maastricht and others are. If you want to stay in Amsterdam, VU is the route. Our NL Scholarship guide covers deadlines and participating universities in detail.
Other UvA money
The Amsterdam Law School also lists the Mr Julia Henriëtte Jaarsma-Adolfs Fund for “exceptionally talented and motivated students from within and outside the EEA”, with a 15 January deadline and the 2027–28 amount to be announced, and the Kuiper-Overpelt Study Fund for talented students from developing countries or fragile democracies. Both are on the Law scholarships page. Other faculties list their own funds on the pages linked from UvA master’s scholarships.
Beyond the Netherlands
Fully funded joint master’s across two or more European countries, some with a Dutch partner. Deadlines mostly December–February.
Full scholarships for English-taught master’s in Flanders for nationals of eligible countries.
€5,000 at participating Dutch universities, including VU Amsterdam.
Development-related master’s and other DAAD programmes with monthly stipends.
A sensible portfolio
For a typical strong non-EU applicant: one Leiden or Delft application by 1 December, the UvA AMS by 15 January, an Erasmus Mundus programme in the same field, and an NL Scholarship university as a funded fallback. Write one strong core motivation, then rewrite it properly for each — panels can tell when a letter was written for someone else.