7 International Scholarships in Luxembourg That You Must Know

Luxembourg may be one of the smallest countries in the European Union (EU), but it is home to some of the best universities in the world. While the capital, Luxembourg City, is home to many privately-run higher education institutions, the country’s second city Escg-sur-Alzette is home to the public University of Luxembourg – one of the tuition-free universities in Luxembourg for international students.

With an excellent educational system, Luxembourg offers international students the opportunity to pursue studies in any field with financial support through international scholarships in Luxembourg. Below is a list of some of the most prestigious scholarships for international students in Luxembourg.

1. CEDIES Scholarships: Financial assistance from the Luxembourg Government is granted through the CEDIES (Centre de Documentation et d’Information sur l’Enseignement supérieur) to all students who are enrolled for higher studies and fulfill one of the following conditions:

• • They have the Luxembourg nationality or are family members of a citizen of Luxembourg and reside in Luxembourg
  • They are nationals of a member state of the European Union (EU), of the European Economic Area (EEA) or of the Swiss Confederation and reside in Luxembourg as salaried worker or self-employed worker, as a person continuing to have this status or as a family member of one of the above mentioned categories of residents, or have the status of permanent resident
  • They are third-country nationals or stateless, have resided in Luxembourg for at least 5 years and hold a secondary school leaving certificate recognized by the Luxembourg Ministry of Education
  • They have the status of apolitical refugee in Luxembourg and reside in Luxembourg
  • They are children of a citizen of Luxembourg, a national of a member state of the European Union (EU), of the European Economic Area (EEA) or the Swiss Confederation working or carrying on his/her profession Luxembourg for an uninterrupted period of at least 5 years and for at least 50% of the legal or contracted number of working hours.

The financial assistance from the government consists in principle of a loan and a scholarship at 2% fixed rate. It amounts to €13,000 per academic year. It cannot be combined with possible financial aid obtained in the student’s country of residence.

The half-yearly amount consists of a scholarship of €1,025 and a student loan of €3,250. In addition, enrollment fees up to a maximum amount of €3,700 per academic year can be included.

The program you are applying for must meet the following conditions:

• • This should be a cycle of higher education (1^st cycle, 2^nd cycle, research training cycle)
  • The course of study must confer a diploma, title or degree of higher education
  • The course of study must be part of the higher education system of the country in which the title is conferred.

Applications are open in every semester (even if you are registered annually) between 1^st August and 30^th November for the winter semester and between 1^st January and 30^th April for the summer semester.

Non-resident students should enter their applications for financial assistance as soon as possible in their own country of residence.

2. LSB Scholarships: Luxembourg School of Business (LSB) has a pool of scholarships available to support outstanding candidates in their ambition to pursue their MBA degree at LSB. These scholarships are awarded according to a strict set of criteria. As an application for a scholarship is the second step of your admissions process, it is mandatory to apply for the Weekend MBA then submit your inquiry for a scholarship. Applications for the LSB Scholarship will be assessed through the documentation provided in the MBA Application including the letter of motivation, academic transcripts, letter of recommendation, etc.

• • International Entrepreneur Scholarship: This Entrepreneur Scholarship targets candidates who have started their own company and would like to gain relevant and practice-oriented knowledge and skills that help them lead their venture to success. To be awarded the LSB Entrepreneur Scholarship, candidates have to show how the LSB MBA Program will help them individually and organizationally to develop their venture.

The Scholarship can cover up to 75% of the tuition fees.

Candidates must submit a business case detailing:

• • • the current state of the venture and a development plan
    • the benefit of attending the LSB MBA Program for their company
    • an example of proven leadership
  • Merit-based Scholarship: The LSB Merit-based Scholarship covers up to 50% of the tuition fees for the Weekend-MBA Program. The criteria are excellent academic track record; the strength of application and social criteria.

Candidates must submit a business case detailing:

• • • the benefit of attending the LSB MBA Program for their company
    • an example of proven leadership

3. Max Planck Luxembourg PhD Scholarships: A limited number of scholarships for foreign doctoral candidates offered to support their research stay at the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for up to six months. Calls for applications are posted each year, during a defined time slot only. To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must be doctoral candidates carrying out research activity within the Institute’s various areas of research, and intend to be affiliated either to the Department of European and Comparative Procedural Law or the Department of International Law and Dispute Resolution only. While proficiency in English is compulsory, the call is also open to doctoral candidates writing their thesis in a language other than English.

The scholarship is paid in monthly installments of €500. The selected applicants will be offered a workstation in the reading room. They will also have the opportunity to participate in the regular scientific events hosted at the Institute, other activities and access to the Institute’s library. During the funding period, the presence of the Scholarship Holder at the Institute is required.

The call for applications for the 2021 scholarships will open in Spring 2020 for a defined period of time.

4. AFR Individual PhD Grants: AFR is one of the FNR’s (Fonds National de la Recherche / Luxembourg National Research Fund) longest-running funding schemes and now provides funding for the training of doctoral candidates only. Grants are awarded in the form of an employment contract with the host institutions, rather than in the form of a scholarship. The AFR PhD Grant scheme is divided into two sub-categories:
   • AFR PhD in Luxembourg (AFR Incoming): Candidates from any nationality may apply for a doctoral position in an eligible Luxembourg host institution. Candidates will have to spend >50% in Luxembourg under an employment contract with the host institution.
   • AFR PhD Abroad (AFR Outgoing): Luxembourg nationals, or residents in Luxembourg for more than 5 consecutive years, may apply for a doctoral position in a public higher education institution abroad. The rule for this type of AFR grants is an employment contract with the institution abroad, but in exceptional cases, grants without a work contract can be awarded.

AFR PhD grants are funded for a maximum of 4 years. Applications must be submitted jointly by the AFR candidate and the host institution (having signed the ‘joint declaration’ to be uploaded in the system before proposal submission).

5. Industrial Fellowships Program: PhD and Postdoc grants for innovation and industry partnerships aimed to foster the cooperation between Luxembourg based companies active in R&D and public research institutions in Luxembourg and/or abroad. The scheme awards PhD and Postdoc grants to researchers who carry out their PhD and/or postdoc training in collaboration with a company in Luxembourg. The scheme is open to all scientific domains, and to all researchers, regardless of their nationality. Collaborating companies must have a presence in Luxembourg.

From the call 2019 onwards, beneficiaries applying for a Postdoc grant no longer need to have their PhD finished at the submission deadline. If no PhD-certificate can be submitted together with the proposal, it simply needs to be available by project start. However, no grant agreement will be signed without it.

Postdoc grants are funded for 1-2 years. Meanwhile, PhD grants are funded for up to 4 years.

The deadline for the 2019 applications is October 11, 2019 at 14:00 CET.

6. Pélican Grant: Annual scholarships granted by the Fondation du Pélican towards three promising graduate students from the doctoral School for Systems and Molecular Biomedicine at the University of Luxembourg. The students are free to use the grant at their convenience but the aim should be to increase the quality of their research work. The grant can be used for seminars, conferences, workshops and trainings, to travel or to finance part of their research activities during the PhD study.
7. Sacred Heart University Financial Aid and Scholarships: Scholarships to reduce the cost of the MBA education (but do not cover the entire tuition). Candidates may only apply for one scholarship.

• • Merit-based: Awarded to high-achievers, academically (example: a very good GMAT score and GPA in their undergraduate studies) and professionally.
  • Need-based: Available to candidates with acute economic problems thus facing difficulties to cover their tuition fees. Awarded to candidates based on their academic performance, scores achieved in professional examinations, work experience, contribution to society and other parameters.
  • Housing: Granted to candidates who have difficulties to pay their housing expenses in Luxembourg. The grant will cover their complete housing expenses at the school’s hostel for the entire period of their studies (16-18 months) except the period when the candidate receives internship remuneration.