Koning Boudewijnstichting - SofinaBoël scholarships for master's and doctoral study abroad

SofinaBoël scholarships for master's and doctoral study abroad

You get funding to study or do research for 6 to 12 months at a top university abroad, in any field: law, engineering, economics, literature, sciences and more. How much you get depends on which track you join. Doctoral students on the FWO/FNRS track receive a fixed 1,650 EUR per month, plus a flat 1,000 EUR for a return economy flight to your destination. Master's students apply through the Fernand Lazard Foundation (FFLS). If you go to the United States for an MBA, you apply through the Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF), where past awards reached up to 50,000 EUR. The King Baudouin Foundation runs the scholarships for the SofinaBoël Fund for Education and Talent.

Who can apply

• Level: You are a master's student or a doctoral student who wants to keep training abroad.
• Link with Belgium: You have graduated from or are enrolled at a Belgian university.
• Doctoral (FWO/FNRS) track: You hold a paid PhD position at a Belgian university at the deadline and when your stay starts. You earned your master's degree after 1 November 2022. You have been linked to a Belgian university for at least the 12 months before the deadline.
• Field of study: All subjects are open.
• Where you go: You can pick a host university anywhere in the world. On the FWO/FNRS doctoral track the United States is not allowed; the US is covered separately through BAEF, currently only for MBA students.

How to apply

You apply through the partner that matches your plan: BAEF for the US (MBA only, deadline 30 April 2026), FWO/FNRS for doctoral stays outside the US (deadline 17 November 2025), or FFLS for master's studies outside the US (deadline 5 February 2026). Each partner runs its own pre-selection. The SofinaBoël Fund's steering committee then makes the final choice based on the strength of the applications.

You can find more scholarships in our guide Scholarships in Belgium.