VUB Scholarship / UGent Photonics Excellence Grant / B-PHOT Excellence Scholarship (im Rahmen des MSPE)

What you get

You get a yearly scholarship towards the two-year Master of Science in Photonics Engineering (MSPE). This is a joint English-taught degree of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Universiteit Gent in Belgium. Photonics is the engineering of light, used in AI, healthcare, space and telecommunications. The amount depends on where you come from:

• Non-EU students: about 12,000 EUR per academic year, as a reduced tuition fee.
• EU and Belgian students: about 7,200 EUR per year, as a reduced tuition fee.

Funding covers 12 months. You may need to re-apply for the second year. There are also mobility and internship grants. From 2026 the funding runs through the PHORTIFY programme, part of the EU Digital Europe Program.

Who can apply

• Degree: You hold a Bachelor's in electrical engineering, (applied) physics, optics, photonics, mathematics or a related field such as materials science or computer science.
• Belgian applicants: If you hold a Belgian Bachelor's or Master's in another engineering or science field, you can join through a personalised preparatory programme taught in Dutch.
• English: You prove English at level B2 or higher (for example TOEFL iBT 79, IELTS 6.5, or English as your language of instruction).
• Nationality: For the PHORTIFY scholarship you must be a citizen of one of the listed eligible countries. These include all EU states plus many others across Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa and the Middle East.
• Study mode: You attend in person on campus, not online.

How to apply

First apply for admission to the MSPE, then file the PHORTIFY scholarship form separately. That form only counts if you also enrol. The MSPE admission deadline for 2026-2027 is 31 March 2026 for non-EU students, 31 July 2026 for EU students and 23 September 2026 for Belgian students. The PHORTIFY scholarship deadline for everyone is 3 April 2026. You do not file a separate scholarship request during admission: all admitted candidates are ranked by merit for the awards. If your file passes review (about 15 working days), you are invited to a technical interview that checks your academic background before enrolment.

How realistic are your chances?

This is one specialised master's in a single science field, so the applicant pool is smaller than for open scholarships. If you have a strong physics or engineering background and clearly meet the requirements, your prospects are solid, since awards go to admitted candidates ranked by merit rather than to a separate contest. Non-EU applicants face the earliest deadline, so apply early.