Institutional Tuition Fee Waivers
For selected students the institutional tuition fee can be partly waived. The individual admissions offer will specify the applicability of the institutional fee waiver for each year of the program. Note, the statutory fee is never waived and all students must pay the statutory fee before the start of the academic year.
Scholarship program for Research Master students academic year 2026-2027
For selected first year students, the Tinbergen Institute Research Master's in Economics progam offers full or partial scholarships.
Specifically, 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 selected second year students in the 2026-28 cohort, depending on the individual admissions offer, TI provides one of the following scholarships to 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.
Note, the above second year scholarships are dependent on 1) following the full year 1 curriculum of the Research Master as stipulated in section 4 of the TI AER; and 2) being 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 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).
Travel Expenses - Compensation
The program is delivered in both the Tinbergen Institute Amsterdam Campus, as well as the Erasmus University Rotterdam Campus. As part of the financial support offered to students, the program compensates the travel made for the purposes of the program.
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. 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.
The core (first-year) program leaves little or no time for any jobs. For second-year students Tinbergen Institute offers a number of teaching assistantships. Many second-year students also find research assistantships in one of the TI departments connected with research masters' thesis research. Please
check rules for working alongside your studies while staying in the Netherlands.
Expect to spend
between €975 and €1,500 per month on living expenses, including rent, but not including the tuition fee. Find more information about costs of living in Amsterdam
on the website of the University of Amsterdam and in Rotterdam
on the website of Erasmus University Rotterdam.
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