The Excellence Scholarships (LexS) at Leiden University were established especially to draw and empower exceptional overseas students. The scholarship aims to encourage academic success, draw attention to special possibilities, and share motivational anecdotes of intellectual prowess in order to build a community of intellectual prowess around the world.

Additional note for UK students

As the UK is now a non-EEA country, students from the UK are now eligible to apply for the LExS. Note: this does not apply to applicants who were already living in The Netherlands and registered in their Dutch municipality's BRP before 1 January 2021. More information on Brexit can be found in the Brexit dossier.

3. Academic requirements

Students must have achieved excellent academic results in their previous study programme(s), which must be relevant to the Master's programme for which they are applying. As an indication, the student is amongst the top 10% of graduates in his/her previous study programme. Note that proof of ranking is not required – this information is purely to indicate the level of competitiveness

Obligations

Students who are granted a LExS must comply with, and confirm in writing, their agreement with the Terms and conditions attached to the scholarship prior to the awarding of the scholarship.

Faculty : Archaeology, Humanities, Medicine/LUMC, Governance and Global Affairs, Law, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Science, African Studies Centre, International Institute for Asian Studies

Exclusions

• Scholarships cannot be awarded to applicants who have already obtained a Leiden University Master’s degree, with the exception of students applying for a Master programme for which a specified previous Master programme or work experience is mandatory (e.g. LLM Advanced Studies programmes).
• Scholarships cannot be awarded to students who will follow:
  • an LLM (non-advanced) or MSc programme at Leiden Law School, or
  • a study programme starting in February at the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Sciences or Leiden Law School.
• Scholarships cannot be awarded to students who do not meet the nationality requirements stated above.
• It is not possible to combine the LExS with another full scholarship from an external provider. Students are obliged to notify the scholarships department if they receive a full scholarship from another source.  In some circumstances, the LExS may be combined with a partial scholarship from an external provider. Contact the Scholarships Team for further details.

The LExS is not a full scholarship. Non-EEA LExS recipients must still submit ‘proof of sufficient funds’ for their student visa/residence permit application.

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.

Selection process

• The faculty selection committees will nominate their LExS recipients within 6 weeks of the LExS deadline.
• All applicants will receive an email notifying them whether they have been awarded a LExS:
  • At the end of November (for programmes starting in February)
  • At the end of April (for study programmes starting in September)

Disclaimer

The student is responsible for submitting a complete application, according to the steps described above and before the aforementioned deadline. Leiden University cannot be held responsible for late and/or incomplete applications.