Master of Science in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems (Mundus tropicalis c/o TROPIMUNDO)

Benefits & funding

• The full scholarship covers tuition fees, international travel, insurance, and living expenses including board and lodging for the two-year programme.
• The academic route comprises four semesters, including an in-situ tropical semester and a full thesis semester.
• Graduates receive a joint master’s degree from the European institutions on their study route.

Eligibility

• Applicants must hold nationality from, and reside at the time of application in, one of these eligible countries: Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Palestine, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, or Zimbabwe; nationality and residence may be in different eligible countries.
• Applicants must be no older than 35 on 1 January of the intake year.
• Applicants need an accredited Bachelor of Science equivalent to 180 ECTS in Biology, Natural Sciences, Zoology, Botany, Environmental Sciences, or an equivalent field, with relevant scientific coursework.
• Applicants must demonstrate English proficiency, or English together with French and/or Spanish when required by the selected trajectory.
• Applicants may submit only one ICP Connect scholarship application per year, may not hold another scholarship for the programme, and must not previously have received a Belgian-government study scholarship or enrolled at a Belgian higher-education institution before 1 January of the intake year.
• Employment in higher education, government, or civil society and the ability to apply or transfer learning are preferences, not mandatory experience gates.

Application process

1. 1
   Check the VLIRUOS nationality, residence, age, prior-scholarship, and programme-specific academic requirements.
2. 2
   Create an account in the TROPIMUNDO online Application, Information and Management module.
3. 3
   Complete the programme application and indicate that you are applying for the VLIRUOS scholarship; only one ICP Connect programme may be selected that year.
4. 4
   Submit before the programme deadline, then monitor the account until the referees’ online recommendation forms are received.

Program timeline

1. Most recent scholarship cycle opened.

   Oct 3, 2025

2. Most recent scholarship application deadline.

   Nov 30, 2025

3. Referee forms were due for the most recent scholarship cycle.

   Dec 3, 2025

4. The next annual application schedule is stated to begin.

   Sep 1, 2026