Amsterdam Merit Scholarship 2027-2028 at Amsterdam Law School, University of Amsterdam, for Non-EU/EEA LLM Students
Amsterdam Law School, University of Amsterdam.About the scholarship
The Amsterdam Law School of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) offers the Amsterdam Merit Scholarship (AMS) to outstanding students from outside the EU/EEA who want to pursue an LLM degree in Amsterdam. Only one scholarship is awarded each year. For the academic year 2027-2028 the scholarship amount is to be announced by the University.
Eligible LLM programmes
The scholarship can only be awarded to applicants of the following Master's programmes, enrolled full-time for the academic year:
- International and European Law
- Transnational and European Private Law
- Law & Finance
- International Criminal Law
Eligibility
- Hold a non-EU/EEA passport (Indian nationals are eligible) and not be eligible for support under the Dutch system of study grants and loans (Studiefinanciering).
- Apply to a Master's programme at the UvA for the first time. The scholarship is not awarded to candidates who already hold a Master's degree from the UvA; a Master's degree from another university is no bar.
- Be able to comply with Dutch visa regulations of the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND).
- Enrol at the UvA as a full-time student for the academic year in one of the four eligible programmes.
- The degree on which LLM admission is based must have a GPA comparable to 4.0 (USA), First class honours (UK) or 8.0 (Dutch 10-point scale). For a non-legal bachelor's degree, only the law courses are counted in the GPA.
Selection process
The AMS is awarded through a lottery system: the scholar is randomly selected from the applicants who meet all the requirements. Applicants are informed of the outcome by the end of March.
How to apply
The scholarship application is submitted as part of the LLM application, and the complete application must be submitted by 15 January 2027, 23:59 CET (16 January 2027, 04:29 IST). Applications that are incomplete are not considered.
- Submit an enrolment request in Studielink for your chosen programme (the UvA advises doing this by 13 January 2027 and at least 48 hours before the deadline), then complete the LLM application in SIS.
- On the 'Scholarship' tab of the LLM application, indicate that you wish to apply for a scholarship and select the Amsterdam Merit Scholarship. Applicants may also select the Mr Julia Henriëtte Jaarsma-Adolfs Fund Scholarship in the same application.
- On the 'Additional documents' tab, upload a scholarship motivation letter (maximum 500 words) explaining the reasons for choosing the specific Master's programme (broader context, relevance for future career) and the importance of receiving the scholarship. One letter covers both scholarships.
Fee
The University does not state a separate fee for the scholarship application. Applicants for a Master's programme with an international bachelor's diploma must pay a non-refundable EUR 100 LLM application fee as the last step of the application (payable by credit card, PayPal, Bancontact or iDEAL/WERO). The fee is not charged again if you have already paid it for another UvA Master's programme for 2027-2028.
Related scholarship
The Mr Julia Henriëtte Jaarsma-Adolfs Fund Scholarship, listed on the same Amsterdam Law School scholarships page, is open to exceptionally talented and motivated students from within and outside the EEA, also closes on 15 January, and its 2027-2028 amount is likewise to be announced.