For excellent Amsterdam UMC students who have recently completed or will soon complete their Master’s programme

In 2025, five Amsterdam UMC PhD Scholarships will be awarded to excellent students in (and limited to) Medicine, Medical Informatics, Biomedical Sciences or Social Sciences

Submit your nomination as from 1 September to 15 December 23.59 (these dates are not yet final)

The Amsterdam PhD scholarships are financed from core government funding. The amount of the scholarship (271kE; amount of 2024) covers most of the costs of a four-year appointment as Research Trainee (Onderzoeker in Opleiding) at the Amsterdam UMC

Requirements

    • To be elegible for the 2025 Scholarships, you hold a degree in Medicine (MD or MSc), a master in Medical Informatics, Biomedical Sciences or Social Sciences from the AMC/UvA or VUmc/VU, which you obtained after 1 January 2024 or will obtain before 1 January 2026

    or

        • You hold an MD or MSc degree from another faculty or university, which you obtained after 1 January 2024 or will obtain before 1 January 2026, and you have taken a student research placement (wetenschappelijke stage, scriptie or werkstuk) at the Faculty of Medicine UvA or Faculty of Medicine VU University, or affiliated research institutes NKI, Sanquin, NIN-KNAW, or GGD Amsterdam as part of your curriculum, for which you obtained a good mark

        And all of the following

          • You have explicit agreement from an Amsterdam UMC professor to act as your PhD supervisor (promotor)

          • Your research will be mainly done in the Amsterdam UMC, or in an Amsterdam UMC affiliated research institute (at least 75% of the time)
          • Your research will lead to a PhD dissertation to be defended at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Amsterdam or VU University Amsterdam
          • You are able to start to work on your PhD trajectory not later than 1 March 2026
          • If you would like to apply and you have already started a PhD trajectory, send an email to the Doctoral School, asking whether you can participate, stating the start date of your PhD trajectory

          Application

          To apply for an Amsterdam UMC PhD scholarship, you must submit the following documents, in this set order, in one PDF document:

            • A letter explaining your reasons for applying and how you fulfil the requirements (in English)

            • The Amsterdam UMC PhD Scholarship Application Form 2025 (below), including your research proposal and a financial paragraph (the supervisor department's AMR consultant (AMC) or business controller from your department (VUmc) can assist you)
            • Your curriculum vitae, including the course transcript of your Master’s degree or equivalent (cijferlijst) issued by the faculty student administration, and a list of your publications
            • Written confirmation from your intended PhD supervisor (promotor) that he or she is willing to act in that capacity

            The PhD Scholarship Application form 2025 will be added here later

            The research proposal can be prepared jointly with your intended PhD supervisor, who must sign it for approval. The application form includes a description of your research project, the name of the Amsterdam UMC department at which you will perform your work, the name of the PhD supervisor, and a budget with the estimated total costs of your research, including the proportions to be met from the scholarship and from elsewhere, such as the department or external sources

            Note: The Amsterdam UMC PhD Scholarship is a personal grant. If the PhD candidate leaves the Amsterdam UMC or abandons the approved research before the end of the contract term, the scholarship lapses

            Submission

            Proposals should be sent as a single*.pdf file (please note the set order of the documents listed under 'Application') by e-mail to the Doctoral School

            Note: After sending in your submission, you will receive a confirmation of receipt from the Doctoral School within two weeks. If not, please contact us!

            Selection

            Selection of the candidates will be performed in two phases. The first selection round will be performed by a selection team of experienced researchers based on your application file. Selected candidates will be invited for an interview for the second selection round done by the interviewing committee, in the first week of February. This committee will finally select the candidates based on this interviews

            Notification

            all candidates will receive notification by e-mail from the Doctoral School and learn whether they are nominated, as expected now, in week 3 of January

            Timeline

            First selection round (committee members):                          

            • Now expected to take place in week 2 or 3 of January  

            Second selection round (interviews):

            • Now expected to take place in week 1 or 2 of February (between 9.00 and 15.00)

            After the interviews the applicants will be informed personally

            Back to "PhD Trajectory"