Master of Aquaculture (IMAQUA)

Benefits & funding

• An all-in study allowance of €1,400 per month for 24 months.
• The allowance covers living costs, meals, accommodation, health insurance, installation costs, indirect travel costs and tuition; Ghent University may pay some items directly and deduct them from the allowance.
• One economy-class journey to Belgium at the start and a return journey to the country of residence after the scholarship.

Eligibility

• Hold nationality from one eligible country and reside in any eligible country when applying; the two countries need not be the same.
• Eligible countries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Palestine, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Peru, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam.
• Be no older than 35 on 1 January of the intake year.
• Hold at least a three-year bachelor’s degree with good overall results, normally at least second-class upper or equivalent, and show preparation in biostatistics, chemistry and biology.
• Meet the programme’s English requirement, such as TOEFL iBT 86, TOEFL paper-based 570, IELTS 6.5 with at least 6.0 in every component, Cambridge B2 First, or a stated exemption.
• Apply for only one ICP Connect scholarship in the year, hold no simultaneous scholarship or grant, and have neither previously received a Belgian-government scholarship for a Belgian study programme nor enrolled at a Belgian higher-education institution before 1 January of the intake year.
• Relevant professional experience is preferred but not mandatory; strong newly graduated candidates and private-sector applicants without experience may still be considered.

Application process

1. 1
   Check both VLIR-UOS scholarship eligibility and Ghent University’s academic and English requirements.
2. 2
   Start the online degree application from the Ghent University programme page and follow the VLIR-UOS scholarship route.
3. 3
   Submit a complete file by the scholarship deadline, including degree verification, bachelor’s evidence, transcripts or grade sheets, a CV and accepted English-language evidence.
4. 4
   Ghent University checks general admission and document authenticity before the faculty assesses academic fit; the scholarship application is then evaluated under VLIR-UOS criteria.

Program timeline

1. Applications opened for the latest published cycle.

   20 October 2025

2. Scholarship application deadline.

   28 February 2026

3. Programme starts.

   September 2026

4. Programme ends.

   September 2028