IRO Doctoral Scholarship Programme for Developing Countries

As one of its contributions to development cooperation, KU Leuven offers each academic year scholarships to deserving students from developing countries to do their PhD in the largest university of Flanders, Belgium. The programme is organized and managed by the Interfaculty Council for Development Cooperation.

The IRO Doctoral Scholarship Programme has supported more than a hundred PhD graduates over the past ten years. After obtaining their doctorates at KU Leuven, these PhD holders are now valorizing their degrees in their home countries either in university academic research, in government bodies, civil society organizations or in various sectors of industry.

KU 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 7,000 international students (about 15% of the total number of students at KU Leuven) have found their home away from home in Leuven.

General Eligibility Conditions

1. The applicant must be a citizen of one of the countries on the OECD DAC table that are listed under the following categories: Least Developed Countries, Low Income Countries or Low Middle Income Countries. 
2.  The applicant may not possess dual citizenship, where the second citizenship is from an EU country.
3. The candidate must have been awarded his master’s degree or an immediately contiguous master’s degree no more than ten years prior to the 1st of October 2015 (including the ongoing calendar year).
4. The candidate must hold an academic qualification at least with distinction or equivalent.
5. Research project of excellent academic quality, taking into account the development relvance of the proposal.
6. The candidate must demonstrate a development oriented motivation.
7. Excellent recommendations.
8. In order to ensure embeddedness of the research within the context of the home country, a local co-promoter must be appointed.

What do IRO scholarships include?

	Doctoral Students	Pre-doctoral Students
Monthly basic amount	€ 1,415 (75% of the net salary of an assistant) paid at the end of each month	€1000 paid at the beginning of each month
with accompanying partner (and children) living in Belgium with a valid residence permit	Housing allowance of € 200/month	Housing allowance of € 200/month
Child allowance and accident insurance as an employee for work-related accidents*	Covered by the Belgian social security*	Not covered
Tuition fee	Waived	Waived
Affiliation with a Belgian Health Insurance company	Reimbursed by KU Leuven	Reimbursed by KU Leuven
Third-party liability insurance (private life)	Reimbursed by KU Leuven	Reimbursed by KU Leuven
Professional and accident insurance coverage; third party liability insurance (study related matters and for professional liability)	Paid by KU Leuven	Paid by KU Leuven
Return flight tickets for the IRO student and his family living in Belgium with a valid residence permit	Paid by KU Leuven	Paid by KU Leuven

* The doctoral scholarship is subject to partial or full social security depending from the country of origin.

The call is open form 1 September 2014 until 10 November 2014.

For further details and application please visit the IRO Doctoral Scholarship Programme for Developing Countries page.