Worldwide summer and winter schools with U21

The applications for the U21 Summer & Winter School scholarships are now closed. New information on the U21 Summer and Winter School scholarships for 2025 will be announced here in January 2025.

Fact sheet U21 summer and winter scholarships 2024-2025 (pdf)

For whom?

Although this programme prioritises students who are challenged in their ability to travel or study abroad, such as students with specialized learning needs, disabilities, care responsibilities, financial need, first-generation students, and more, all students are encouraged to apply.

Who?

Universitas 21 (U21) is a global network that brings together 29 world-leading, universities. The goal of the global university network Universitas 21 (U21) is to contribute to a more inclusive study abroad community. U21 includes 29 universities all around the world, most of which offer summer and winter programmes. Aside from the summer and winter courses, U21 has many more programmesExternal link to offer.

What?

There are 6 winter scholarships available and 11 summer scholarships for 2024-2025. You can sign up for either virtual or physical summer or winter schools. Have you found an interesting programme? Then apply for the U21 scholarship through the University of Amsterdam and apply separately to the host institution.

When?

The summer and winter courses take place throughout different periods in the summer and winter, depending on the university and course(s) you choose.

Where?

The U21 universities are dispersed throughout the globe! You can find the U21 universities and their summer and/or winter offer on the UvA World MapExternal link.

Get informed

• Subscribe to our monthly newsletterExternal link to stay updated on important deadlines and dates for our international (summer) programmes.
• Attend our (online) information session + Q&A for more information about this programme. The Q&A is held as an opportunity for U21 applicants to ask questions. A registration link for the next session is going to appear here in due time.
• Register for workshops hosted by the Office of International Student Affairs to get helpful tips to overcome the challenges in applying, and how to prepare.

Why the U21 summer or winter school?

Are you struggling to afford to study abroad through an internship, research project, or exchange programme? Or do you have other concerns preventing you from going on exchange for an extended period of time? The U21 summer or winter scholarship will allow you to gain an affordable, yet meaningful international experience.

Have you always wanted to study outside of Europe, while a semester exchange is not an option for you? The 29 universities in the U21 alliance are spread all over the world! Visit Australia, China, South Africa, South Korea, the US, and more! You can choose the courses and the dates, which differ per course, yourself.

Finally, in most cases, it is possible to transfer your credits earned during your summer school to the UvA. This will depend on the host university, as well as your current curriculum at the UvA. Make sure to contact your study advisor to inform you about the possibilities, and always request permission from the Examination Board.

Conditions for all applicants

All applicants must meet the following three conditions:

• You are enrolled as a full-time fee paying student at the University of Amsterdam throughout the programme.
• You have not been on exchange or you have not been placed for an exchange in the future.
• You are to enroll for a full time course load as defined by the partner institution.

Conditions for requesting priority

If you cannot provide any of the below specified documentation in order to receive priority, you are encouraged to still apply. In addition to the three requirements above, there are grounds on which you may receive priority over other applicants in the selection procedure:

1. Due to economic reasons.

• You are receiving the “aanvullende beurs” or supplementary grant from DUOExternal link. Please submit an official document from DUO that states you receive a supplementary grant of more than €0,00 (in Dutch: “beschikking aanvullende beurs"). A screenshot from “Mijn DUO” is not valid.

2. Due to a physical or mental condition that hinders your studies or your ability for studying abroad.

• You can fill out and submit this medical statement (pdf).

3. By self-declaration.

• If you are not able to provide a DUO statement or a medical statement, but you believe you are eligible to receive priority, you may fill in and send this form (pdf). Please do note that you do need to provide an explanation as to why you are unable to provide the necessary documents and an explanation as to why you should receive priority. You need to have the document signed by a student counselor or study advisor.

Priority categories

• Priority 1: submit both a valid DUO statement AND a medical statement.
• Priority 2: submit either a valid DUO statement OR a medical statement OR a valid self-declaration.
• Other students can apply without priority.

Finances

Funding

The amount of the scholarship depends on whether you choose a virtual or physical programme:

• Physical programme: you will receive a scholarship of 2000 euros. With this you can pay for (part of) the programme and, in some cases, (if the registration fees are lower than 2000 euros) also part of your accommodation.
• Virtual programme: you can apply for a scholarship to reimburse registration fees up to a maximum of 2000 euros.

Costs

The costs differ per programme. In budgetting, take into account: tuition feest to the host university, accommodation fees, potential application fees (rare), flight tickets, visa, vaccinations, insurance, food, transportation, study materials and more.

How to apply

The applications for the U21 summer and winter scholarships were open from Monday, 5 February to Monday, 4 March 2024, 23:59 CET. The applications for the U21 Summer & Winter School scholarships are now closed.

Apply through the following steps:

1. If applicable, first acquire your medical statement and/or DUO letter or statement of self-declaration. In case you do not possess these letters, you may start with step 2 below.
2. Send an email to global@uva.nlExternal link with title: U21 application + [your name]. In the email, specify whether you are applying for a U21 summer or winter programme. Attach your medical statement and/or DUO letter.  In case you would like to continue your application without priority, please specify. Once we have received your email and have assigned you a priority category, you will receive the link to the application form in return. You may still change your chosen U21 study programme after submission of this form, as long as you keep within the deadlines and requirements of the U21 host institutions and the UvA.
3. Complete the form. In the application form, you will be asked for a recommendation letter from one of your peers (to copy paste into the form), a short motivation, for the name of your U21 destination country, host university, and the course(s) you wish to take there, including URL(s) to the course(s). Do not wait until the last minute to prepare your application! This is the final step of your application.

After your application you will be notified when you can expect the results as well as be informed about potential next steps.

After you apply

Selection

17 students are selected through a lottery system. The selection will take place through the following steps:

1. We check your application and decide whether you meet the conditions for U21.
2. We decide your priority category (first, second, leftover).
3. We will start with a lottery among priority category 1.
4. In case not all 17 spots have been filled, we will do a lottery among priority category 2, followed by a lottery among the applicants without priority, if applicable.

Excluded from selection

You are excluded from selection if one or more of the following applies to you:

• You submitted an incomplete application.
• You have experience with exchange or you are going on exchange.
• You are not a full-time fee paying UvA student throughout the U21 programme.

Interested?

This programme is coordinated by the Office of International Student Affairs, the central international office of the UvA. Please email global@uva.nlExternal link if you have any questions.