As one of its contributions to development co-operation, K.U.Leuven offers each academic year scholarships to deserving students from developing countries to do their PhD in the largest university in Flanders, Belgium.

Also commonly referred to as the IRO scholarships (IRO in Dutch stands for Interfacultaire Raad voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking), this scholarship programme has supported more than sixty PhD graduates over the past five years.

Essential to the application for the IRO scholarship and to completing a doctoral programme successfully is the choice of a good doctoral research topic and supervisor.

New applicants are now provided two alternatives: either by selecting amongst the priority research fields offered by the doctoral schools or by submitting their own personal research proposal.

K.U.Leuven, which is situated at about 20 kilometers from Brussels, the capital of both Belgium and Europe, is the oldest university of the Low Countries.

As such, it has a long-standing tradition of hospitality towards students and scholars from abroad.

At present, almost 4,000 international students (about 10% of the total number of students at K.U.Leuven) have found their home away from home in Leuven.

The scholarships are only granted for doctoral or pre-doctoral programmes. Scholarships for a pre-doctoral programme are awarded for only one year.

The scholarship may be converted into a scholarship for doctoral studies, thus extended for 4 more years, on the condition that you pass the pre-doctoral programme with distinction and are admitted to the doctoral programme.

The maximum period for which you may be awarded a scholarship is thus 5 years: 1 pre-doctoral year and 4 doctoral years.

The scholarship is renewable each year and its renewal depends on the annual evaluation by your supervisor.

More details and application materials: Doctoral Scholarships for Developing Countries – IRO Scholarship