Up to €420,000 Mosaic PhD Scholarship

Mosaic 3.0 is a PhD scholarship programme run by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) to bring more graduates from under-represented backgrounds into Dutch academia. You write and submit your own PhD proposal, on any research topic, together with the professor who would supervise you at a Dutch university or research institute. It is open to graduates with a migration background from outside Europe and to researchers with a recent asylum background living in the Netherlands.

What you get:

• Funding of up to €420,000 for your own PhD project
• A four year PhD appointment at 1.0 FTE, or the equivalent part time up to eight years at 0.5 FTE, paid at the standard Dutch PhD salary rates
• A one-off personal bench fee of €5,000 to support your scientific career
• Up to €15,000 per year per FTE for research materials, travel, workshops and publications
• The freedom to choose any research topic in any discipline

What you'll do:

• Find a PhD supervisor (promotor) at an eligible Dutch university or institute and shape a research idea together
• Submit a pre-proposal in English through NWO's ISAAC system, focused on your profile, motivation, supervision and training plan
• If invited, develop it into a full proposal with a research design, methodology, work plan and budget

• You apply as an individual; duos and research groups cannot apply
• You must hold a university master's degree by the time you submit the full proposal
• Group 1: you hold Dutch nationality or a permanent residence permit (type II or IV) when you submit the pre-proposal, with no exceptions
• Group 1: you were born in, or at least one parent was born in, an eligible country of origin outside Europe (including Turkey, Morocco, Suriname, Indonesia, other African and Asian countries, Central and South America, the Caribbean, or indigenous peoples of North America and Oceania)
• Group 1: you obtained your bachelor's degree in the Kingdom of the Netherlands
• Group 2: you have a recent asylum background, shown by a type III permit obtained on or after 3 November 2021, a type III or IV permit or naturalisation with a right of residence starting on or after 3 November 2018, or temporary protection in the Netherlands as someone from Ukraine
• Your research must take place at a Dutch university, university medical centre, KNAW or NWO institute, or another listed institute
• Your intended promotor must hold the right to award doctorates and sign a supporting declaration
• You cannot apply if you already hold a doctorate, already have PhD funding, or already hold a PhD position
• Pre-proposal and full proposal must be written in English