Amsterdam Merit Scholarship (AMS)
The AMS is a scholarship that covers (a part of) the tuition fee for the studies. The budget of the AMS scholarship for the following academic year is determined by the central UvA office each year in October. The number of scholarships for Communication Science students is determined on the basis of the available budget and shared on this website.
Please be aware that the chance to be granted the AMS Scholarship is very small. We usually have one, or maximum two scholarships available per year for a large number of strong candidates.
Update October 2026: for the academic year 2027-2028 we have one AMS scholarship available for a new (Research) Master's student. This scholarship covers the entire tuition fee for the first academic year. In case a Research Master's student is awarded the scholarship, the tuition fee of the second year will be (partially) covered depending on available funding.
Important to keep in mind!
To be considered for the AMS, the Graduate School of Communication requires you to apply for our Research Master's or 1-year Master's programme before 15 January and to be admitted conditionally afterwards. Therefore, make sure that you also have applied for the programme before 15 January by following the steps on the application and admission webpage of the Communication Science Master's track of your choice. Importantly, you should fill out Studielink and our online application system (if required) at least one week before the application deadline, since it will take time to process your application.
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Application deadline
Master's application deadline 15 January Questionnaire deadline 7 February Make sure to submit your application for the (Research) Master's programme before 15 January in order to receive our questionnaire.
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Requirements and Eligibility
The AMS is reserved for exceptionally talented and motivated students with a non-European Economic Area (non-EEA) nationality. The scholarship is only available if you are starting your (Research) Master’s programme in Communication Science in September. The AMS requirements are:
- You have a non-EEA nationality. Unfortunately, if you have two nationalities and one of them is EU/EEA, you will not be eligible for the AMS
- You are conditionally admitted to our (Research) Master’s programme, without the requirement to first complete (part of) our pre-Master's or the Online Foundations course
- You have an overall GPA of at least 8 (scale 1-10)
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Selection procedure
The selection procedure will strongly focus on academic performance and consists of five steps:
1. Apply to the (Research) Master’s programme and scholarship before 15 January
If you have a non-EEA nationality, your (Research) Master's application portal should include a question about our scholarship. Here you can indicate whether you wish to apply for our AMS scholarship.
For non-EEA students, the application portal should always include the option to apply for a scholarship. If you hold a non-EEA nationality and the question is not visible, please contact us as soon as possible.
Please note: students who are directly admissible with an obtained Bachelor’s degree from the list below do not need to submit an application portal as part of their application. If eligible, they will receive the questionnaire based on their Studielink registration, if submitted before the deadline of 15 January.
- Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam
- Communication Science at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
- Communication Science at Universiteit Twente
- Communication Science at Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen
- Communication and Media at the Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (International Bachelor’s)
2. Fill out a questionnaire before 7 February
You will receive a questionnaire before 31 January if you hold a non-EEA nationality and have applied to the (Research) Master’s programme and scholarship per September. In this questionnaire, you will be requested to write a brief explanation to support your candidacy.3. Review and first selection
After 7 February our AMS committee will review the applications of the students who meet the above-mentioned eligibility criteria. In your application, the committee will look at your:
- motivation
- GPA
- extracurricular activities (cv)
- proven affinity with academic research
4. Invitation for AMS application
Based upon these documents our committee will select the eight most outstanding candidates. These students are invited to submit a complete AMS application file. The complete application file consists of:
- Application Form AMS
- Curriculum Vitae
- Motivation letter (max. 1 A4); in which you explain the reasons for choosing the specific Master’s programme (broader context, relevance for future career), and for applying for the AMS scholarship.
- Certified grade transcript(s); including a GPA.
- Description of extracurricular activities; such as participation in student committees, international experience, sports or music at a high level, or volunteer work.
- Optional: One or two letter(s) of recommendation; written by a dean, teacher or academic supervisor.
5. Selection
After receiving the complete application packages from the eight invited candidates, our selection committee will select the AMS recipient. The selection is only amongst applicants from the Communication Science programme. All top eight candidates will receive an email about the outcome in April.
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FAQ about the AMS
Find frequently asked questions and the corresponding answers, by clicking on the button below.