Global Minds Doctoral Scholarships at KU Leuven for Developing Countries

KU Leuven offers the Global Minds Doctoral Scholarships to outstanding students from developing countries who want to earn a PhD. The scholarship covers tuition, a monthly allowance, insurance, travel costs, and a research allowance. The programme is run by the Interfaculty Council for Development Cooperation (IRO).

Scholars conduct research in a sandwich system: half at KU Leuven and half at their home institution, with a local co-promoter. KU Leuven awards the PhD degree.

For the 2026-2027 call, four Lovanium Doctoral Scholarships will be awarded to students from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

KU Leuven and your home institution

PhD research in development-related topics, preferably linked to one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Not specified. Due to budgetary constraints, the number of KU Leuven Global Minds Doctoral Scholarships awarded is uncertain. For the 2026-2027 call, four Lovanium Doctoral Scholarships will be awarded to students from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

You must be a citizen of one of these countries:

Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, D.R. Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, South Africa

Asia: Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Palestinian Territories, Vietnam

Latin America: Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Peru

The scholarship covers tuition fees, a monthly allowance, insurance, travel costs, a research allowance, and more. For the full list of benefits, see this link.

The scholarship does not include a budget for research costs.

1. You must be a national and resident of one of the eligible countries listed above. A candidate with double nationality can only be selected if they live in a country of the eligible country list and apply as a national of one of these countries.
2. EU citizens and applicants with a long-term EU residence permit are not eligible.
3. Your most recent Master's degree must have been awarded no more than ten years ago on the date of the deadline of this call, i.e. not before February 2017.
4. You must have an academic grade equivalent to High Distinction or higher. Degrees with a final score equivalent to second class second/lower division will not be considered.
5. Your research project must be of excellent academic quality, with a strong focus on its development relevance.
6. The research project must have a clear time frame indicating how the research periods at KU Leuven and at the home institution will alternate (a maximum period of 12 months at the home institution should alternate with a maximum period of 12 months at KU Leuven).
7. You must be formally affiliated with a university in your home country. If you do not yet have such an affiliation, you are eligible to apply, but the scholarship will only be awarded once such an affiliation has been obtained.
8. Your home institution must provide evidence of sufficient financial support for the doctoral project, guaranteeing that you will receive financial resources through a fully funded full-time position, including social security coverage similar to that of staff at the same level and with the same qualifications in the home institution. The home institution must also guarantee in writing that you will be able to devote sufficient time to the doctoral project during the periods spent at the home institution. At least 80% of the time spent at the home institution should be dedicated to doctoral research. Candidates who are not yet affiliated to a university in their home country should provide a letter of intent from the home institution indicating that the candidate will be recruited and assigned to conduct the doctoral research at that institution. The scholarship will not be awarded until the candidate is formally affiliated to a university in the home country and the university can provide evidence of sufficient support.
9. Candidates who are already enrolled as PhD students at KU Leuven and who are financed by KU Leuven are not eligible for this programme.
10. Candidates who have previously been employed in an EEA country other than Belgium are not eligible for this scholarship.
11. You must have a development-oriented motivation.
12. You must have the support of a KU Leuven supervisor.
13. You must have the support of a local co-supervisor at your home university.
14. You must have excellent recommendations from at least two relevant referees.
15. You must follow the 2-step application procedure.
16. You must have read and accepted the Regulations, Obligations and Conditions for Terminating the KU Leuven Global Minds Doctoral Scholarship (these regulations, obligations and conditions equally apply to the Lovanium Doctoral Scholarship). You must also comply with the Internal Regulations for the Awarding of PhD Scholarships at KU Leuven (please consult your supervisor).

READ THE FULL ELIGIBLITY CRITERIA AT THIS LINK.

Applications are currently closed.

There are two steps. First, you must gain admission to a doctoral or predoctoral programme. Start this procedure as soon as possible, ideally 2.5 months before the deadline, because applications started too late may not be evaluated in time. Second, only after you have been admitted can you apply for the Global Minds PhD scholarship. The scholarship application deadline is 4 February 2027 at 17.00 GMT.

The application must be submitted by your supervisor using the digital application form. The main elements of the scholarship application are:

• The candidate's CV, using the Europass format
• The candidate's bibliography, using this form
• The CV of the local co-supervisor
• The CV of the KU Leuven supervisor (the CV of the KU Leuven co-supervisor, if there is one)
• The research proposal (maximum 6 pages), containing the following sections: proposed outline of the dissertation (preliminary description of the objective(s) of the doctoral dissertation (research plan), the methodology, and any previous research related to the present proposal); proposed research schedule (clearly indicate how the research periods will alternate between periods at KU Leuven and periods at your home university, so as to achieve a 'balanced' sandwich system in line with the research objectives; the scholarship covers a maximum of 48 months of doctoral research, of which a maximum of 24 months must be spent at KU Leuven and at least 24 months must be spent at the home institution, which must cover the costs; the maximum duration of a single research stay at either university is 12 consecutive months, after which the next stay must take place at the other university; within these limits, the candidate is free to develop the time schedule); indicate how the proposed project fits in with the scientific activities of your local supervisor; indicate the development relevance of the proposal.

Read the application procedure and visit the official website (link below) for detailed information on how to apply.