Full PhD Scholarships for Developing Countries at K.U. Leuven University 2018/2019

The programme is organised and managed by IRO, the University’s Interfaculty Council for Development Cooperation. This programme is intended for the student to do his or her whole research at KU Leuven; therefore, any other type of agreement (e.g. Sandwich programmes, etc) are not envisioned.

As one of its contributions to development co-operation, K.U. Leuven offers IRO (Interfaculty Council for Development Co-operation) scholarships to deserving students from developing countries to do their PhD in the largest university in Flanders, Belgium.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Developing countries

To be taken at (country): Katholieke Universiteit in Flanders, Belgium

Eligible Fields of Study: Doctoral or pre-doctoral programmes in the Schools of Humanities and Social Sciences, Science, Engineering and Technology, or Biomedical Sciences.  The research topics proposed by the KU Leuven Doctoral Schools can be found on their respective websites.

Course Level: PhD

Eligibility Criteria: 

1. The applicant must be a citizen of one of the countries on the OCDE DAC table that are considered as: Least Developed Countries, Low Income Countries or Low Middle Income Countries.
2. The applicant may not possess a citizenship from an EU country. The applicant may not posses a long-term EU residence permit.
3. The candidate’s latest master’s degree must have been awarded no more than ten years prior to 1 October 2017 (including the ongoing calendar year).
4. The candidate must hold an academic qualification at least equivalent to a high distinction. Degrees obtained with a final score equivalent to second class second/lower division will not be taken into consideration.
5. The research project must have excellent academic quality, with a special focus on the development relevance of the proposal.
6. The vacancies that are published on the KU Leuven website are already funded and thus, cannot participate for this scholarship.
7. The candidate must demonstrate a development-oriented motivation.
8. The candidate must be supported by a KU Leuven promoter.
9. The candidate must be supported by a local co-promoter at the candidate’s home country to ensure embeddedness of the research within the country’s context.
10. The candidate must be supported by excellent recommendations from relevant referees.
11. The candidate must follow the application procedure and complete his file before 13 November 2017.

Number of Awardees: Not specified

Value of Scholarship: Tuition fee, Health and Life Insurances, partner and child allowances, monthly stipend, travel.

Duration of Scholarship: 

• PhD: 48 months (4 years)
• Predoctoral programme: 12 extra months (1 year)

Method of Application:

The candidate must follow the application procedure and complete his file before November 13th 2017. Please make sure to fill up the application form with the following instructions:

1. First name and last name EXACTLY as written on the passport.
2. Status: Doctoral Programme (diploma contract) or Predoctoral programme.
3. Academic year: If you apply between September and October 2017, you must select 2017-2018; we will change this manually once the call for applications for 2018-2019 opens. Starting from November 2017, you must select 2018-2019.
4. Is this application also intended as a scholarship application? Yes.
5. Name of the scholarship agency: IRO Doctoral Scholarship

It is important to visit the official website (link found below) to access the application form and for detailed information on how to apply for this scholarship.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Scholarship Application Deadline: 13th November 2017 for the program beginning 1st October 2018

Award Provider: K.U Leuven