The Communication Science Schools aim to attract the world’s brightest students to its international classrooms. Outstanding students from outside the European Economic Area can apply for an 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.
OCTOBER 2022 SCHOLARSHIP UPDATE: For the academic year 2023-2024, there is one AMS scholarship for a (Research) Master’s student. There are no AMS scholarships available for Bachelor’s students this year.
Important eligibility criteria
To be considered for the AMS, the Graduate School of Communication requires you to apply for our (Research) Master's programme before 1 January and to be admitted conditionally before applying for the AMS scholarship. Therefore, make sure that you also have applied for the programme before 1 January by following the steps on our webpage.
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Requirements and Eligibility
The AMS is reserved for exceptionally talented and motivated students with a non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationality. The scholarship is only available for students starting their Master’s programme or Research Master’s programme in communication science in September. Students starting their preparatory programme in September are not eligible. The AMS requirements are:
- You have a non-EEA nationality. Unfortunately, if you have two nationalities and one of them is EU/EEA then you will not be eligible for the AMS
- You have an overall GPA of at least 8 (scale 1-10)
- Your GPA belongs to the top 10% of your class or year
- You meet our English proficiency requirements, either waived or:
TOEFL: 100, subscores Reading:24/ Listening:22/ Speaking:25/ Writing:24
IELTS: 7 (with at least 6.5 in each of the four components)
Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English C1 190 or higher.
* English language test results may not be older than 2 years
Unfortunately, due to high competition, we cannot take you into consideration as a candidate if you cannot provide proof of your ranking or if you do not meet the English proficiency requirements yet.
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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 before 1 January
2. Fill out a questionnaire before 22 January
You will receive a questionnaire before 15 January if you hold a non-EEA nationality and have applied to the (Research) Master’s programme per September of the relevant year. In this questionnaire, you will be asked whether you want to apply for the AMS scholarship and you will be requested to write a brief explanation to support your candidacy.3. Review and first selection
After 22 January our AMS committee will review the applications of the students who meet the abovementioned eligibility criteria. In your applications the committee will look at:
- your motivation
- proven affinity with academic research (course descriptions, transcripts and individually-written research papers)
- extracurricular activities (cv)
4. Invitation for AMS application
Based upon these documents our committee will select the eight most outstanding candidates from outside of the EEA. These students are invited to submit a complete AMS application file. The complete application file consists of:
- Application Form AMS
- Proof of belonging to the top 10% of your class; a statement that indicates your ranking. This statement is only accepted if it is signed by the examinations board or dean
- Certified grade transcript; including a GPA
- Motivation letter (max. 1 A4); in which the candidate explains the reasons for choosing the specific Master’s programme (broader context, relevance for future career)
- Curriculum Vitae
- English proficiency test;
- TOEFL score: (internet-based) overall score of 100
- IELTS (academic): overall score of 7.0 (with at least 7.0 in each of the four components)
- Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English (CAE): grade A
- Cambridge Certificate for Proficiency in English (CPE): grade C
- Description of extracurricular activities; such as participation in student committees, international experience, sports or music at a high level, or volunteer work
5. Selection
After receiving the complete application packages from the eight invited candidates, our selection committee will select the AMS recipients. The selection is only amongst applicants from the Communication Science programme. Candidates will receive an email about the outcome in March.
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Application deadline
Master's application deadline 1 January Questionnaire deadline 22 January AMS application deadline 31 January Make sure to submit your Master's application before 1 January in order to receive our questionnaire. Make sure you have all the required AMS documents (as written above) before 31 January.