StudyDesk Scholarships
About the fund
The Mandela Scholarship Fund at Leiden University in the Netherlands supports exchange students from four South African partner universities — Stellenbosch University, University of Cape Town, University of Pretoria and the University of the Western Cape — who want to spend one or two semesters studying in Leiden. It was founded to mark President Nelson Mandela receiving an Honorary Doctorate from Leiden University on 12 March 1999, and the Leiden University Fund (LUF) is the fund’s key sponsor.
The fund works on a fixed twice-yearly rhythm: a 15 October deadline for programmes starting in February, and a 1 April deadline for programmes starting in September. Both 2026-cycle windows have closed, so this guide is written for the live next window: the September 2027 intake (deadline 1 April 2027).
Eligibility
- Enrolled at one of the four partner universities: Stellenbosch University, University of Cape Town, University of Pretoria or University of the Western Cape.
- Pre-selected for the scholarship by your home university — each university runs its own internal nomination process.
- Meet Leiden University’s admission requirements for exchange/study-abroad students.
- The official page lists the fund as open to students of all nationalities — the requirement is enrolment at one of the four universities, not South African citizenship.
- Cannot be combined with an Erasmus+ ICM scholarship.
- Eligible fields span Archaeology, Humanities, Medicine/LUMC, Governance and Global Affairs, Law, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Science, ICLON (teacher training), the African Studies Centre and the International Institute for Asian Studies.
Benefits
- University of Cape Town, University of Pretoria, University of the Western Cape: one scholarship per university for a two-semester exchange (up to 10 months), OR two scholarships per university for a one-semester exchange (up to 5 months) — each with a €1,250/month living allowance plus Aon Student Insurance for the exchange duration.
- Stellenbosch University: two scholarships for a two-semester exchange (up to 10 months), OR four scholarships for a one-semester exchange (up to 5 months) — each with a €625/month living allowance plus Aon Student Insurance.
A plain note on the money: this is not a fully funded scholarship. It covers a living allowance and insurance; Leiden’s page does not include airfare, visa fees, orientation costs or housing deposits — partner-university guidance notes these remain the student’s responsibility, so budget for them before you apply.
Documents required
Leiden University’s official page does not publish a fixed document checklist for the fund: the scholarship application goes through your home university’s exchange office, and the Leiden application is the standard online exchange-admission form. Each home university sets its own nomination requirements and internal deadline, so the document list varies. Contact your university’s exchange coordinator (contact emails are on the official fund page) to get the current checklist for your intake.
How to apply
- Apply through your home universitySubmit the scholarship application to your own university’s exchange/international office first — this is where the nomination happens. Check its internal deadline, which is earlier than Leiden’s.
- Apply for exchange admission at LeidenSubmit the online application for admission to an exchange or study-abroad course at Leiden University by 1 April 2027 for the September 2027 start.
- Nomination is sent to LeidenThe four South African universities review all applications and send the names of their selected students to Leiden University’s Scholarships Team.
- Await the outcomeWithin two weeks of admission to a Leiden exchange programme, the Scholarships Team notifies the selected candidates with further instructions.
FAQs
No. The fund pays a monthly living allowance (€625 or €1,250 depending on your home university) plus Aon Student Insurance for the exchange period. Airfare, visa fees, orientation and housing-deposit costs are not included, so treat it as a partially funded exchange.
Bachelor’s and Master’s students enrolled at Stellenbosch University, University of Cape Town, University of Pretoria or the University of the Western Cape, of any nationality, who are pre-selected by their home university.
Your home university first — it runs the nomination process and has its own earlier internal deadline. Leiden’s exchange-admission application comes after nomination.
Leiden’s fixed pattern is 15 October (February start) and 1 April (September start). As of this writing, the next live window is 1 April 2027 for the September 2027 intake.
UCT, UP and UWC each offer either one two-semester or two one-semester scholarships; Stellenbosch offers either two two-semester or four one-semester scholarships.
No — the fund cannot be combined with an Erasmus+ ICM scholarship.
Verified 22 Oct 2026 via the official Leiden University Mandela Scholarship Fund page (deadline pattern 15 Oct / 1 April, four partner universities, all-nationalities eligibility, pre-selection requirement, Erasmus+ exclusion, €1,250/€625 allowance split, Aon insurance, two-step application process, contact persons) + corroborating trackers (afterschoolafrica, scholyhub) on the allowance figures and the 2026-cycle closure + University of Pretoria’s official news on the internal nomination process and student-borne costs. Honesty calls: retitled from the stale “2026” label to the live 2027 window, and the fund is presented as partially funded (living stipend + insurance), not fully funded. The official page publishes no fixed document checklist — the article says so instead of inventing one.
