ELIGIBILITY:

The program is a joint degree program, jointly offered by Erasmus University Rotterdam, University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. After unconditional admission to the program, students will be registered as a student at all three universities. 

Erasmus University is the host university for the program. The primary enrolment of students will be at the Erasmus University and we use the Erasmus University application portal for our selection process. 

After unconditional admission to the program, students will be also registered as a student at the University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit. 

TI’s scholarship program for Research Master students 2026-2027 is for selected first-year students; the Tinbergen Institute (TI)/ Business Data Science (BDS) research master program offers full, partial, or basic scholarships. 

For second-year students in the 2026-28 cohort, they offer Full or partial scholarships to all students who 1) have followed the full year 1 curriculum of the Research Master as stipulated in section 4 of the TI AER; and 2) are allowed to pass to year 2 of the program (see sections 4 and 5 of the TI AER)

Applicants who would like to be considered for a TI scholarship should indicate this on the application form.  Because the institute’s resources are limited, prospective students are advised to apply for external funding as well (see e.g., Study in NL).

PhD funding: Students in the program’s PhD phase are typically employed by one of the TI faculties as PhD researchers. These are full-time positions that come with all of the benefits of employment, including a good salary.

Deadlines for enrollment in 2025 are: 

December 1, 2025: Deadline for non-EEA students and/or all students who are interested in applying for either the University of Amsterdam scholarships or Tinbergen Institute scholarships

February 1, 2026: Deadline for non-EEA students at UvA/EUR/VU*; highly recommended for EEA students applying for the Tinbergen Institute scholarships

May 1, 2026: for EEA students only*

Exceptional Non-EEA candidates not currently studying with our partners may be considered in the February and May rounds, but restrictions related to the visa procedure may impact eligibility. Please reach out to admissions@tinbergen.nl with an overview of your profile.

BENEFIT:

TI’s scholarship program for Research Master:

Specifically, the Tinbergen Institute may offer one of the following scholarships:

Full scholarship: a monthly stipend of €1,500.

Partial scholarship: a monthly stipend of €750

For second-year students:

Full scholarship: a monthly stipend of €1,000. Such a scholarship is awarded to students for whom the weighted GPA* is 8 or higher for core courses at the end of block IV of the first year of the program;

Partial scholarship: a monthly stipend of €750. Such a scholarship is awarded to students for whom the weighted GPA* is 7.5 or higher for core courses at the end of block IV of the first year of the program

PhD funding: For 2025-26, a gross salary starts at € 3,059/€ 3,546 per month (depending on the duration of the contract). In their final year, students receive a monthly gross wage of € 3,881. Most positions include a small teaching assignment to help the students gain teaching experience, which is useful for those considering an academic career.