Can the Orange Tulip Scholarship fund an internship, not just a degree?

We could not confirm current OTS rules on the administering body's own site, so we cannot say whether it covers internships. Ask the international office of the Dutch university you are admitted to which scholarships are open for your programme this year.

Is the Orange Tulip Scholarship the same as the NL Scholarship?

No. The NL Scholarship (previously called the Holland Scholarship) is a general grant open to non-EEA students at participating Dutch universities, while Nuffic's own website lists the Orange Tulip Scholarship among programmes previously managed by Nuffic; check with your university which scholarships are currently open.

Do I need IELTS or TOEFL to apply?

Yes. Since the scholarship requires university admission first, you need to meet that university's standard English proficiency requirement, typically IELTS 6.5 or higher for most Dutch bachelor's and master's programmes.

FUNDING GUIDE

Orange Tulip Scholarship 2026: A Status Check for Indian Students

Q: Which Dutch universities participate in the Orange Tulip Scholarship?

We could not confirm a current list of participating universities. Ask the international office of the Dutch university you are admitted to which scholarships are open for your programme this year.

Q: When should I apply for the Orange Tulip Scholarship?

We could not confirm current OTS application dates. Ask the international office of the Dutch university you are admitted to which scholarships are open for your programme this year.

Internship Abroad·8 July 2026·9 min read

Nuffic's own website lists the Orange Tulip Scholarship (OTS) among programmes previously managed by Nuffic, and Nuffic's Neso office in India was scheduled to close by 31 December 2023 at the latest. We could not confirm that OTS is currently open, who runs it now, or what it pays. Before you plan around it, ask the international office of the Dutch university you are admitted to which scholarships are open for your programme this year, and check the university's own scholarship pages.

Quick summary: Status: listed by Nuffic as previously managed by Nuffic. Current amounts, administrator and dates: not confirmed. What to do: ask your Dutch university's international office which scholarships are open for your programme.

How the Orange Tulip Scholarship works

Scholarships of this kind are usually tied to enrolment at a Dutch university rather than to a standalone internship. Because we could not confirm current OTS rules on the administering body's own site, treat any older description of OTS as unconfirmed and check with the university directly.

If your Dutch programme includes a mandatory internship, ask the university whether any scholarship you hold continues during that period.

What we could and could not confirm

University	Status	Notes
Wageningen University	Not confirmed	Ask the university's international office
TU Delft	Not confirmed	Ask the university's international office
Erasmus University Rotterdam	Not confirmed	Ask the university's international office
Maastricht University	Not confirmed	Ask the university's international office
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam	Not confirmed	Ask the university's international office

We list these universities only as places to ask; we could not confirm that any of them currently offers OTS. Check with the university's international office once you have an admission offer in hand.

Step by step: how to apply

Apply to a participating Dutch university through its standard admissions process, well before the scholarship deadline, since the scholarship application only opens after admission.
Receive your admission offer. This is the gatekeeper step. No offer, no scholarship application.
Ask the university's scholarship office which scholarships are open. Each university has its own form and required documents (academic transcripts, motivation letter, financial need statement in some cases).
Submit before the university's internal deadline, as published by the university.
Receive the scholarship decision, usually within 4 to 8 weeks, alongside or shortly after your final enrolment confirmation.

Orange Tulip Scholarship vs NL Scholarship

Students researching Netherlands funding often confuse the two. The NL Scholarship (previously called the Holland Scholarship) is a general grant open to non-EEA students of any nationality applying to a participating Dutch university. Check the current amount on nuffic.nl. The Orange Tulip Scholarship is listed on Nuffic's site among programmes previously managed by Nuffic; we could not confirm its current status. If you are eligible for both, check whether your target university allows you to apply to each separately, some do not allow double funding for the same enrolment year.

If your placement is a standalone internship rather than a degree programme, see our Netherlands Embassy New Delhi internship guide and our broader Netherlands internship guide for Indian students for routes that do not require university enrolment.

How to present yourself as a stronger candidate

Dutch universities and their scholarship committees review hundreds of applications for a handful of OTS slots. What sets a strong Indian applicant apart is a motivation letter with specific, verifiable details, not generic ambition. See an example profile from an engineering student to see how your free profile presents academic and project work clearly, or use the free internship toolkit to prepare your application materials before the window opens.

Ready to explore funded routes to the Netherlands? Create your free profile and get visible to organisations across the Netherlands and 16 other countries.