UM Brightlands Talent Scholarship: Eligibility, Deadline & How to Apply

Four innovation campuses in Limburg, the Netherlands, form the Brightlands. The Brightlands campi bring together entrepreneurs, researchers and students to innovate and create international breakthroughs together in chemistry and materials, health, agrifood, data science and smart digital services. Depending on your choice of study programme the campi can be situated in Maastricht, Heerlen, Sittard-Geleen or Venlo.

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.

€ 15,92 (13 months) or € 30,625 (25 months)

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

• 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. University cannot add or replace documents after you submit the application.

The application portal will open on 1 October 2025. Application deadline is up to and including February 2026, 23:59 CET.

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.

Please fill in the application form, you need to log in with your UM account..

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.
  • Why do you apply to this particular scholarship? Please use a maximum of 100 words
  • Why do you think you are a suitable candidate for this scholarship? Please emphasise your personal development potential. Please use a maximum of 100 words.
  • How do you envision your contribution to the respective Brightlands Campus during the study programme and the thesis-research-programme? Please use a maximum of 100 words
  • What achievement are you most proud of? Please mention an academic achievement, a personal achievement and an achievement that positively affected your surroundings/community. Please use a maximum of 200 words
  • How do you see your future and how will this scholarship influence it? Please use a maximum of 100 words
  • How do you see yourself in the role of ambassador for Maastricht University? During your scholarship period and during the upcoming years after you finish your studies at UM. Please use a maximum of 100 words

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: university 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

• University 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. University trust you in this and university can check your reference.

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.

• Online Application
• Curriculum Vitae
• Letter of motivation
• Proof of academic excellence
• Personal statement of financial needs
• One Reference letter