phd scholarships in belgium 2023

List of Belgium Scholarships, Grants, and Fellowships for International Students

Top 10 Scholarships in Belgium for International Students

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Unknown to many, there are a number of scholarship programs in Belgium for international students specifically for students from developing countries. The Belgian Government, in their efforts towards development cooperation, offers scholarships to foreign students wishing to pursue further studies in Belgium. Belgian Universities included in the top 100 World Universities has scholarship programs for international students as well.

VLIR-UOS ICP Connect Scholarships in Belgium

Deadline: 1/28 Feb 2025 (annual) Study in: Belgium Course starts Sept 2025

Belgian American Educational Foundation Fellowships

Deadline: 31 Oct 2024 (Annual) Study in: Belgium Course starts July-Dec 2025

ARES Scholarships in Belgium for Developing Countries

Deadline: 18 Oct 2024 (annual) Study in: Belgium Course starts 2025

Government of Flanders Master Mind Scholarships for International Students

Deadline: 1 Feb-28 April 2024 (annual) Study in: Belgium Course starts 2024

Global Minds Doctoral Scholarships Programme at KU Leuven

Deadline: 22 Feb 2024 (annual) Study in: Belgium Course starts October 2024

Science@Leuven Scholarships for International Students

Deadline: 15 Feb 2024 (annual) Study in: Belgium Next course starts September 2024

Scholarships for Faculty of Bioscience Engineering Programmes at University of Ghent

Deadline: 28 Feb/1 Mar 2021 (Annual) Study in: Belgium/European Countries Course starts September 2021

Study a Masters in Europe Scholarships

Deadline: 17 August 2020 (Annual) Study in: European Countries Course starts Spring 2021

International Master of Science in Rural Development (IMRD) Scholarships

Deadline: 28 Feb 2020 (Annual) Study in: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain Course starts September 2020

Ghent University Doctoral Scholarships for Candidates from Developing Countries

Deadline: 4 March 2019 (annual) Study in: Belgium Course starts October 2019

VLIR-UOS ITP Scholarships for Sustainable Development and Human Rights Law Postgraduate Programme

Deadline: 30 Sept 2019 (annual) Study in: Belgium Course starts 11 Feb-3 May 2019

IRO PhD Scholarships for Developing Countries at K.U. Leuven University

Deadline: 31 Jan 2018 (annual) Study in: Belgium Course starts October 2018

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Call for doctoral Scholarships "South Partnership"

Call for doctoral Scholarships "South Partnership"

UCLouvain is organising a call for applications for doctoral scholarships, or for mobility scholarships in the framework of a doctoral or post-doctoral stay, for nationals of developing countries. Through this approach, UCLouvain wishes to contribute not only to the strengthening of the academic fabric of developing countries, but also to the establishment of new partnerships between UCLouvain and research or higher education institutions in these countries.

The 2023-2024 call is a joint call for two streams of funding opportunities for Doctoral candidates:

UCLouvain's Conseil de l'Action Internationale (CAI) South Partnership Doctoral grants
ARES-CCD (Commission pour la coopération au développement) Doctoral mobility grants

Both instruments provide funding for doctoral theses for nationals from the Global South, with slightly different conditions for access and funding. In addition, post-doctoral stays are also funded by ARES-CCD:

ARES-CCD post-doctoral mobility grants

1. Eligibility criteria

To be eligible, the applicant must meet ALL of the following criteria:

UCLouvain-CAI Doctoral scholarship “South Partnership”: Eligible countries are: Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Belize, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Comoros, Congo, Congo (Democratic Republic of), Ivory Coast, Cuba, South Africa, Djibouti, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Eswatini (Kingdom of), Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, India, Iraq, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Uganda, Philippines, Central African Republic, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Chad, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tunisia, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
ARES-CCD mobility grants in the framework of a doctorate or post-doctorate: Eligible countries are: Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Vietnam, Zimbabwe.
Be supported by at least one member of the academic staff of UCLouvain;
Having initiated the process to be admitted by the Doctoral Domain Commission (CDD) of the candidate's research field at UCLouvain;
Be free of any commitment to return to the country with respect to a granting organization that has financed training;
For students who have already started their doctorate and are regularly registered at UCLouvain, not be a recipient of a scholarship.

Nationals of a country eligible for this call who, because of their administrative status within the EU, are comparable to Belgian students in terms of residence and/or social rights , are not eligible for this competition.

2. Selection criteria

The International Action Council (IAC) of UCLouvain will select the beneficiaries of the doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships on the basis of the following criteria:

Research dimension

Academic quality: CV of the candidate.
Quality of the research project.
Quality of the environment: Suitability and quality of the teams at UCLouvain and in the partner institution(s) supervising the candidate

Development cooperation dimension

Partnership: it is expected that the projects will directly involve a partner from a Southern institution (co-supervision or other form of collaboration with a scientist from the South). At a minimum, the project will describe one of the following elements: the involvement of one or more scientists from an institution in the South in the supervision of the thesis or post-doctoral research, collaborations with other ongoing projects in the South or in the North, or dissemination, awareness-raising and/or networking activities that are foreseen at UCLouvain and in the partner institution(s) in the South with a view to transferring skills and knowledge.
Relevance in terms of global development and societal issues: scientific projects are expected to address development issues (in the sense of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs), beyond the objective of quality education (higher education), or the development of competences that are relevant for the partner institution or at least the country of origin. The project should refer to at least one of the following elements: the link with one of the MDGs, the capacity building components for the Southern partner(s) or the relevance of crossing South-North views on the project theme.
It is expected that the project respects, where relevant, the dimensions of human rights, ethics and integrity, academic freedom, gender equality, and plurality of South and North views.

In case of multiple applications for new theses from the same promoter, the IAC members will select a maximum of one application, except for reasons deemed exceptional by them.

After the selection, a reasoned feedback will be sent to the promoter and the candidate upon request.

The deadline to respond to this call is February 28, 2023 . The application file and the exact conditions of each scholarship are available on the university intranet and can be requested from the promoter who will lead the project.

To find a promoter, you can contact the Committee for the doctoral programme which is relevant to you.

Many other general information on doctoral programmes at UCLouvain are also available on this website.

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Funding opportunities

Special Research Fund (BOF)

Doctoral Scholarships for candidates from developing countries

Special Research Fund - Doctoral Scholarships for Candidates from the Global South - call 2025

With support from its “Special Research Fund” (BOF) Ghent University grants PhD “sandwich” scholarships to promising PhD students from Global South countries who wish to carry out half of their PhD research at Ghent University ('North') and half at a university in the Global South ('South'). Ghent University only finances the part of the research that will be carried out in Ghent (24 months). The candidate must have full-time funding for the other 24 months of research to be carried out in the South.

Who can apply for this scholarship

Candidates need to come from - and have the nationality of – one of the selected Global South countries (see country list );
The proposals must be jointly submitted by a candidate, a supervisor (promoter) at Ghent University and a supervisor at the partner university (South);
No restrictions are imposed on the field of research, nevertheless preference will be given to topics that are relevant within the North-South context;
Only degree students (students who intend to obtain a (joint ) PhD degree at Ghent University) can apply. Exchange students cannot apply for this scholarship;
This program is meant for students at the beginning of their PhD. To a limited extent, PhD students are allowed to have already completed preliminary research. At the time the fellowship starts (1/10/2025), a minimum of 36 months of doctoral research must still be required to complete the PhD;
Ghent university wants to encourage more female researchers to apply for this scholarship. That is why a Ghent University supervisor can support maximum 2 candidates per call on condition they are both of a different gender.

Co-funding is mandatory with this scholarship. Consult the call documents for more information on what co-funding is allowed.

In general, the following conditions must be guaranteed by the partner in the South:

There must be a local PhD supervisor at the partner university or research center in the South;
A written statement from the partner university is requested stating that the candidate will receive a fulltime local PhD scholarship or salary for a period of 24 months when working on the PhD at the partner university in the South AND
will be sufficiently exempted from teaching or other assignments as to be able to fully concentrate on the PhD research in the South. Applicants can dedicate maximum 10 % of their time (fulltime appointment) to other tasks (teaching and other tasks)

Mobility scheme of the scholarship

The following mobility scheme is mandatory:

Students need to start and end with a research stay of 3 -12 months in at Ghent University.
The first research stay at Ghent University needs to be started between 1 October 2025 and 28 February 2026.
At least 24 months of locally funded research in the South must be scheduled in between the first and last research stay at Ghent University.

Exceptions to the mandatory mobility scheme

Applicants who can demonstrate that they are unable to start their 4 year PhD research with a research stay at Ghent University because the partner university/research center in the South requires a successful completion of a PhD study program in their university before commencing further research activities, can request an exception to the mobility scheme;
Applicants who can demonstrate that they are unable to start their 4 year PhD research with a research stay at Ghent University because they must first complete a period of field research in the South can apply for an exception to the mobility scheme;
Applicants who can demonstrate that they have successfully completed a full-time funded PhD study period (of up to 12 months) at the partner university/research center in the South can request to integrate this period in the required 24 months of locally funded research stay in the South;
Applicants who can demonstrate that they have successfully completed a full-time funded PhD study period (of up to 12 months) at Ghent University can request to integrate this period in the required 24 months of researach period at Ghent University.

Applicants who want to make use of one of those exceptions have to request an approval from the research administration of Ghent University before 17 January, 2025. To do so, they complete the form "R equest exception funding and mobility scheme " form and submit it along with the requested supporting documents via email to [email protected] .

PhD scholarship at Ghent University (in total 24 months).

The Ghent University promoter receives a bench fee of € 310/per month of research in Ghent + € 8.000 travel budget to cover (part of) the operational costs, as well as part of the travelling costs of the student and both the Ghent University and the local promoter.

How to apply for this scholarship

Application forms must be submitted (in English) electronically to [email protected] .

An advice on the candidate , stating the supervisors opinion on the capability of the candidate as a future researcher.
An advice on the ethical and biosafety context of the proposed research project

Deadline scholarship applications

19 February 2025

Results scholarship selection

From 21 May 2025 onwards, the result of the selection will be announced online .

University Department of Education and Research

Functional Area Research - Team Projects: Flemish/Federal/BOF

E [email protected]

Call and application forms

All information on the call: Call 2025 - C all 2025
For the candidate: Application form 2025
For the promotor: Advice on the candidate
For the promotor: Advice on the ethical and biosafety context
Country List Global South 2025

Scientific report

Final report : within three months following upon the end of the grant a final scientific/scholarly report has to be sent electronically to [email protected] . The promoter and co-promoter (if applicable) are included in this e-mail (either as sender, or in CC).