VU Fellowship Programme (VUFP)

The VU Fellowship Programme (VUFP) offers talented prospective

international students the unique opportunity to pursue a
Masters degree at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Vrije
Universiteit Amsterdam has committed to providing
approximately 1 million euro towards attracting highly motivated
and excellent students.

All VUFP applications received by 1 February 2017 will be

reviewed by the faculty of the Masters programme applied for.
Faculties then nominate applicants to the central scholarship
committee, which subsequently awards scholarships to the most
talented students. The award is based on the motivation letter,
the quality of previous education and the student's academic
performance therein. A scholarship offer will be made to
successful candidates.

Eligible candidates
The VU Fellowship Programme (VUFP) is a Merit scholarship
programme for strongly motivated students with excellent study
results. Eligible candidates must be able to prove their academic
excellence, and they must be admitted to an English-taught
Masters degree at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Students with
the Dutch nationality and/or a Dutch degree (given that the Dutch
degree is used for admission) are not eligible for admission.
Students following a one-year Masters programme may not apply
for the VUFP scholarship for a second year. Students already
enrolled in a two-year Masters programme who have not been
awarded the VUFP scholarship in 2016/2017 are not eligible to
apply for the VUFP scholarship 2017/2018. Only when a student
was granted a scholarship from the beginning, then the
scholarship can be extended if he/she achieved 100% of the
credits of the first year. The Faculty VUFP committee will be asked
to demonstrate to the Central VUFP committee that these credits
have indeed been achieved.

One VUFP scholarship will be reserved for an applicant who

previously completed a semester or full academic year abroad at
the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam via the Semester in Amsterdam
program and is now applying for a full time Master's programme
at VU Amsterdam. The application process for Semester in
Amsterdam alumni is the same as applying for a VUFP
scholarship, but if you are applying as a Semester in Amsterdam
alumnus or alumna then you must also email
semesterinamsterdam@vu.nl to inform the staff that you applied
via VUnet for a VUFP scholarship and indicate in your motivation
letter that you previously completed a semester or full academic
year at VU Amsterdam via the Semester in Amsterdam program.
Students who are not selected for the scholarship reserved for
Semester in Amsterdam alumni can still be considered for a
normal VUFP scholarship.

Scholarships amounts
The VUFP scholarship is a tuition fee waiver. VUFP scholarship
does not provide any additional allowance towards study or living
costs.

Application procedure
1. Register for Masters programme

Students register for a Master's programme in Studielink and

after that in the VUnet portal. Here you can find more information
on how to apply for one of our English taught Master's
programmes. Please note that you must have applied for the
Master programme before you can apply for the VUFP scholarship.
Deadline: 1 February 2017.

2. Submit VUFP application

Submit your VUFP application in VUnet.

Deadline: 1 February 2017

For VUFP application 3 documents are required:

A. Proof of excellence/ GPA

Students who apply for a VU Fellowship Programme need to have
a GPA of at least 80% of the highest possible mark (calculated
over full previous degree). For example, if the highest possible
mark is a 10, you need to have an average of at least an 8.
Excellence in previous education is proven if the grade point
average achieved is at least the equivalent of the Dutch grade of
an 8.0 on the Dutch grading scale 1 10. The VUFP Scholarship
Committee will decide on the local grade equivalents for the
Dutch grade of an 8.0 using the grade information included in the
NUFFIC country modules.

B. Motivation Letter
We would like to know your motivation for the VU Fellowship
Programme. Why do you think you deserve to receive a VUFP
scholarship?
Topics that are reviewed in the motivation letter are the following:

Why do you want to study this specific programme?

What are your future perspectives?
Why do you deserve the VUFP scholarship?

Do not hesitate to mention other motivations as well, we like own

initiative!

C. Curriculum Vitae (CV)

We strongly recommend the use of the Europass format.

3. Decision

The Central VUFP Committee decides which students will be

offered a VUFP scholarship. The Committee makes a merit based
selection.

4. Results
All students will receive an e-mail/ notification informing them of
the Central scholarships Committee's decision concerning their
application.
Expected date: 1 April 2017 (8 weeks after the deadline).

5. Acceptance of VUFP or HSP offer

Selected candidates accept/ decline the VUFP offer in VUnet.

Deadline: 15April 2017 (2 weeks after the results are published).

Conditions VUFP scholarship

Conditions HSP scholarship

Current VUFP scholars

VUFP scholars enrolled in a two years Masters programme do not
need to re-apply for the VUFP scholarship for the second year. The
VUFP scholar will be nominated for a second year provided that
he or she has obtained at least 80% of all ECTS. VUFP candidates
will receive an e-mail from the Central Scholarships Committee on
or around 1 July 2017 confirming the extension of the VUFP
scholarship. Students who have not achieved sufficient study
results will be informed that they will not be offered the VUFP
scholarship for the next academic year, unless there are clear
reasons why the results were lower than average.

Complaint procedure
An interested party that does not agree with the decision of the
scholarship committee, may file a written complaint to
VUFP@vu.nl. Complaints regarding the application procedure (not
the results!) should be addressed to the student ombudsman by
e-mail and must include:

Your name and full address.

Details of the selection procedure that you do not agree with.
 The grounds for complaint: why are you unable to accept the
selection procedure?
Date and signature.

For pressing questions regarding the VUFP scholarship, please

email: vufp@vu.nl.