TI’s scholarship program for Research Master students 2025-2026
For selected first year students, the Tinbergen Institute (TI)/ Business Data Science (BDS) research master program offers full, partial, or basic scholarships. The maximum scholarship amount for Year 1 is €1,500 per month.
For second year students we offer one of the following 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):
- Full scholarship: 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;
- Partial scholarship: Such a scholarship is awarded to students for whom the weighted GPA* is between 7.0 and 7.5, 7.5 excluded, at the end of block IV of the first year of the program;
- Basic scholarship: Such a scholarship is awarded to students for whom the weighted GPA* is below 7.0, at the end of block IV of the first year of the program.
The maximum scholarship amount for Year 2 students is to be determined.
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. For 2024-25, a gross salary starts at € 2,872/€ 3,345 per month (depending on the duration of the contract). In their final year, students receive a monthly gross wage of € 3,670. 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.
In the master phase of the program a tuition fee is charged to all students. Tuition fees are due until all examinations, including the final thesis, are passed. The tuition fees are determined annually by the Dutch government and the universities.
All students have to pay the annual statutory fee (€ 2,601 euros in 2025-26) and it is the student’s responsibility to make the payment before the beginning of the academic year.
The annual tuition fee for the academic year 2025-2026 is:
| EEA national (statutory fee) |
€ 2,601 |
| non-EEA national |
€ 19,950 |
| EEA students holding an EUR, UvA or VU Master's degree (statutory fee) |
€ 2,601 |
| Students holding a Master's degree from another Dutch university |
€ 19,950 |
For selected students the high fee can be partly waived; the statutory fee is never waived and all students must pay the statutory fee before the start of the academic year.
In the PhD phase no tuition fees are charged.
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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