November and December are when several of the most generous university scholarships for the next autumn intake close, often weeks before the course application deadlines many students have in mind. This list includes only scholarships whose November or December deadline we checked on the official page for the current cycle, as per the official page at the time of writing. Dates change every year, so check the official page for each one before you plan around it. Where we could not confirm a date officially, we left the scholarship out.
- For the current cycle, as per the official pages at the time of writing, ETH Zurich's Excellence Scholarship window closes on 30 November, Leiden University's Excellence Scholarship and TU Delft's Justus and Louise van Effen Excellence Scholarship close on 1 December, EPFL's Master Excellence Fellowships close on 15 December for external candidates, and Gates Cambridge's international round closes on 8 December or 6 January, depending on the course.
Which Scholarships With November December Deadlines Can Indian Students Apply For?
These scholarships with November December deadlines were verified on official pages for the current cycle: ETH Zurich Excellence Scholarship (30 November), Leiden Excellence Scholarship and TU Delft Excellence Scholarship (1 December), EPFL Master Excellence Fellowships (15 December), Gates Cambridge (8 December for some courses) and the Lester B. Pearson Scholarship (6 November).
| Scholarship | Level and country | What it covers (official page) | Deadline (current cycle) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ETH Zurich Excellence Scholarship and Opportunity Programme | Master's, Switzerland | Tuition fee waiver plus 12,000 Swiss francs a semester, rising to 13,500 for the next intake | Application window 1 to 30 November |
| Leiden University Excellence Scholarship | Master's starting in September, Netherlands | Fixed tuition reduction of 10,000 to 19,000 euros; not a full scholarship | 1 December |
| Justus and Louise van Effen Excellence Scholarship, TU Delft | Two-year MSc, Netherlands | Full tuition fees plus a contribution to living costs | 1 December, 23:59 CET |
| EPFL Master Excellence Fellowships | Master's, Switzerland | 10,000 Swiss francs a semester for up to four semesters | 15 December for applicants with a degree from abroad |
| Gates Cambridge Scholarship, international round | Master's and PhD, UK | Full cost of study, as described by Gates Cambridge | 8 December or 6 January, by course |
| Lester B. Pearson International Scholarship, University of Toronto | Undergraduate, Canada | Tuition, books, incidental fees and full residence support for four years | 6 November, only for students already nominated by their school |
Check the official page for each scholarship in the table before applying, because amounts, eligibility and deadlines are updated every cycle.
How to Get a Scholarship to Study Abroad for Indian StudentsRead →How Does the Leiden Excellence Scholarship Work?
Leiden's Excellence Scholarship is for non-EEA applicants to most of its master's programmes starting in September, who rank roughly in the top 10 percent of their previous programme. The deadline for the current cycle is 1 December, as per the official page. It reduces tuition by a fixed amount, from 10,000 to 19,000 euros.
You first apply for admission, which Leiden says can take up to three working days to create and submit, then return to the application to request the scholarship and upload a motivation letter of no more than 500 words. Leiden says late applications are not considered, and that LExS winners from outside the EEA must still show enough funds for their residence permit. Some law programmes are excluded, so check the official page for your course.
Scholarships in the Netherlands for Indian StudentsRead →What Does TU Delft's Excellence Scholarship Cover?
The Justus and Louise van Effen Excellence Scholarship covers full tuition fees and a contribution to living expenses for a two-year TU Delft MSc, for excellent international applicants in roughly the top 10 percent of their class. For the current cycle, the deadline is 1 December at 23:59 CET, as per the official page.
You must submit a complete MSc application before the deadline, plus a scholarship application form, one reference letter and an English language certificate unless exempt. TU Delft says second-year support depends on earning at least 48 of 60 credits in the first year, and joint programmes are excluded. The same page lists a partial Electrical Engineering (Microelectronics) scholarship with the same 1 December deadline. Check the official page before applying.
How Do You Apply for the ETH Zurich and EPFL Excellence Awards?
Both Swiss awards are linked to your master's application. ETH Zurich's Excellence Scholarship window runs from 1 to 30 November for the current cycle, for students in the top 10 percent of their bachelor's. EPFL's Master Excellence Fellowships need your paid, validated master's application by 15 December, as per the official pages.
At EPFL, external candidates simply tick the fellowship box on the master's application, and two professors must send recommendation letters; the page says reference letters are due one week after the deadline. EPFL pays 10,000 Swiss francs a semester and reserves a student room for external winners. At ETH, applicants who already hold a master's are not eligible. Check the official page for each before you apply.
Fully Funded Scholarships for Indian StudentsRead →When Is the Gates Cambridge Deadline for Indian Applicants?
Indian applicants apply in the international round. For the current cycle, the deadline is either 8 December or 6 January at 11:59pm UK time, depending on the course funding deadline in the University of Cambridge course directory, as per the official Gates Cambridge timeline. The 14 October round is only for US residents.
You apply through the University of Cambridge's applicant portal and tick that you wish to apply for funding; the university says the complete application, including references, must be in by 23:59 GMT on your course's funding deadline. Gates Cambridge says international-round applicants hear the outcome by early March. Check your course page and the official timeline before you apply.
Is the Lester B. Pearson Scholarship Still Open?
Only for students already nominated. The University of Toronto's page says school nominations closed on 9 October and university applications on 16 October, and nominated students must complete the scholarship application and documents by 6 November. It is for final-year school students starting an undergraduate degree at Toronto next September.
If your school did not nominate you this year, you cannot apply this cycle, but the dates show how early Canadian undergraduate scholarships close. Check the official page for the next cycle in late summer.
Which Popular Scholarships Are Not on This List and Why?
Chevening is not here because, as per GOV.UK, applications for the current cycle closed in early October. Some Indian trust scholarships appear under November or December on guide websites, but we could not confirm those dates on the trusts' own pages, so we left them out rather than risk a wrong deadline.
Erasmus Mundus joint master's programmes also set their own deadlines, many between October and January, so check each programme's own website. If a deadline matters to you, always trust the scholarship's official page over a calendar on a blog, including this one.
How Should You Plan a November or December Scholarship Application?
Work backwards from the deadline. Most of these awards need a complete course application first, so book your English test early, request transcripts and reference letters at least a month ahead, and draft your motivation letter in time for feedback. Note the time zone, such as CET or UK time, on each deadline.
- Make a sheet with the course deadline, scholarship deadline and time zone for each university
- Check whether the scholarship needs a separate form, or a tick box on the course application
- Ask referees early and give them your CV and the programme details
- Keep transcripts, degree certificates and English test scores ready as PDFs
- Submit a few days early, because portals slow down near deadlines
For most of these awards, strong grades are the starting point: Leiden, TU Delft and ETH all mention roughly the top 10 percent of your class. A focused motivation letter that links your past work to the programme is what separates strong applicants.
Do not wait for one result before applying elsewhere. Because these deadlines fall within a few weeks of each other, many students apply to two or three of them in the same season, with a separate motivation letter for each. Each scholarship has its own criteria: Leiden asks for a motivation letter of up to 500 words, the Swiss awards are based on academic excellence, and Gates Cambridge publishes its own selection criteria on its website. Read them before you write. Tailoring each letter takes time, which is another reason to start in October rather than late November.