The University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) is giving 75 grants of €3,000 to students starting a university master's degree there in 2026/2027, and the application window closes on 30 September 2026. At Youth Works Hub, we read the signed convocatoria line by line so you know exactly what is being offered, who can apply and how the points are counted.
The key thing to understand before you read further: this money is awarded on academic merit, not on financial need, and there is no nationality or residence requirement anywhere in the rules. If you are enrolling in an EHU master's programme, you can compete for it.
What the Grant Is Worth
💶 Each grant is a payment of €3,000.
🔢 There are 75 grants in this call, shared proportionally between the five knowledge areas according to how many students are enrolled in each one at the moment applications close: Sciences, Engineering and Architecture, Health Sciences, Social and Legal Sciences, and Arts and Humanities.
📊 The number of grants can be increased in the award decision if the budget allows it.
🔁 Students on a master's that runs longer than one academic year can go for a second year payment of €1,500, or €3,000 if the master's is a 120 ECTS programme.
⚠️ The second year is not automatic: you have to pass every credit of the previous year, submit a new application in the following year's call and be selected again.
🎯 One student, one master's. Each applicant can request the grant for a single master's programme.
The Purpose Behind the Call
The stated objective is the attraction of talent to EHU university master's programmes for the 2026/2027 academic year. In practice, that means the university is competing for strong graduates and is willing to put money behind the offer rather than simply advertising its programmes.
That framing tells you how to read the scoring: the grant rewards the academic record you arrive with, not a hardship case or a project proposal.
The Five Requirements
To apply, you need to meet all of the following within the application period:
📝 Have completed pre registration or enrolment in the full credit load of a university master's offered by EHU for 2026/2027. On multi year master's programmes you must be enrolled in all the credits of the relevant year, and for the award and payment you must be enrolled in the complete course of that master's.
🧾 Where a programme does not allow you to enrol in the Master's Thesis until the rest of the credits are passed, enrolments that leave out those thesis credits are accepted.
🏫 Study the entire master's at EHU.
🎓 Have passed the qualification that gives you access to the master's.
🚫 Not have already completed another university master's degree. This one disqualifies a lot of applicants, so read it twice.
⚖️ Not be under any criminal or administrative penalty that removes your right to public grants or subsidies, and not be subject to any legal prohibition of that kind.
International Students Are Eligible
There is no nationality clause and no residency clause in the requirements. Two details in the rules confirm that international applicants are expected:
🛂 The document list accepts a copy of your national ID or your passport.
🌐 Students who studied at a foreign university must provide the average grade equivalence certificate issued by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, which can be requested online.
🗣️ All documentation must be submitted in Basque, Spanish or English, so an English file is acceptable.
According to Youth Works Hub's review of the official bases, the equivalence certificate is the only extra step that international candidates face, and because it is issued by a ministry rather than the university, it is worth starting that request early rather than in the last week.
Application Window and How to Submit
📅 Applications can be submitted from 14 July to 30 September 2026.
💻 The application is digital: you complete the online form published on the call's web page and attach the required documents.
📩 Once submitted, the system issues a receipt listing the documents you attached, which is your proof of what was filed.
✉️ You have to give an email address on the form, because individual communications are sent there.
📌 Everything else, including the resolutions, is published on the call's own web page, and that publication counts as official notification. There is no personal letter in the post.
The Documents You Attach
📄 The online application form itself.
🪪 A copy of your national ID or passport.
🧮 A personal academic certificate stating the average grade of the qualification that gives access to the master's. You do not need to submit it if you studied at EHU after 1988.
🌍 For foreign studies, the average grade equivalence certificate from the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training.
🏅 Documentary evidence of any merits you are claiming, using the forms published on the web page and attaching the supporting proof.
✍️ A sworn declaration that you do not already hold another university master's degree, using the published template.
How Applications Are Scored
The ranking is built on a 100 point scale, and the academic record dominates it.
Academic Record: Up to 90 Points
The average grade of the studies that give access to the master's is what counts, and it is adjusted by a correction coefficient depending on the field your previous degree came from:
📐 1.17 for grades from architecture and engineering studies.
🔬 1.11 for grades from sciences.
🩺 1.05 for grades from health sciences.
These coefficients exist because grading is harsher in some fields, so a 7.5 in engineering is not compared naively against an 8.5 from another area.
Languages: Up to 3 Points
Knowledge of Basque and foreign languages is scored, but only with certificates issued by official bodies. Foreign languages are scored against the Common European Framework, and Basque certificates are recognised through the equivalences set out in Decree 297/2010.
🥇 A C2 level certificate is worth 3 points.
🥈 A C1 level certificate is worth 2 points.
🥉 A B2 level certificate is worth 1 point.
Academic Programmes and Activities: Up to 5 Points
🚄 Participation in mobility programmes such as Erasmus+ is worth 2 points.
🧑🔬 Extracurricular placements in companies, research centres or university centres score 0.25 points per month or per 80 hours.
🏆 An Ikasiker collaboration grant with the Basque Government, or a Ministry of Education collaboration grant, is worth 2 points.
Other Merits: Up to 2 Points
📜 Holding another official university degree, different from the one giving access to the master's, is worth 1 point.
🗳️ Participation in student representation bodies is worth 1 point.
⏰ Merits obtained after the application deadline, or not claimed and evidenced inside the application period, are not accepted under any circumstances.
The Two Selection Phases
🥇 In the first phase, the applications that meet the requirements are identified and ranked by average grade, sorted by the knowledge area of the master's. Twice as many candidates as there are grants in each area move on to the second phase.
🥈 In the second phase, all the merits are scored for the applications that survived phase one, and the beneficiaries are selected for each knowledge area.
This structure is worth planning around. Your average grade decides whether you are in the room at all, and your languages, mobility and placements decide who wins once you are there.
Provisional Decision, Appeals and Substitutes
📢 The provisional resolution of granted and rejected applications is published on the web page, with the provisional score of every applicant and the proposed awards per knowledge area.
🗒️ You then have a maximum of 10 working days to submit allegations through the online form on the web page. If no allegations arrive, the proposal is considered accepted.
✅ After the allegations are resolved, the final resolution is published with the definitive scores, the list of beneficiaries and the list of substitutes.
🔄 Substitutes move up if a beneficiary gives up the grant before the close of EHU's 2026 budget year, following the order of scores from highest to lowest.
🏛️ The grants are awarded by resolution of the Vice Rector for Postgraduate Studies and Continuing Education.
What You Commit To
📚 Accepting the grant means committing to complete the full academic year of the master's and to pass at least 70% of its course load.
↩️ Failing that duty means losing beneficiary status and having the grant revoked, with an obligation to repay what you received.
🔁 Credit recognition is capped: you may request recognition or validation of up to 15% of the credits needed to pass the master's.
🧷 The grant creates no contractual relationship of any kind between you and EHU.
When and How You Are Paid
🗓️ The money is paid in December, once you have submitted the required documents.
📝 Before payment you must be enrolled in the complete course and provide an individual declaration accepting the grant and its conditions, a sworn declaration that you are not subject to incompatibility, and your bank details.
❌ Failing to meet that procedure is itself grounds for losing beneficiary status.
What the Grant Does Not Do
💳 It does not exempt you from the public prices of the master's. Tuition is still tuition.
🚷 It is not compatible with other grants from public or private bodies aimed at covering a university master's or its inherent costs, including enrolment, travel or accommodation.
⌛ It is not compatible with any other grant that requires a time commitment.
💼 It is not compatible with income of a salary nature above the Spanish minimum interprofessional wage.
📉 Beneficiary status is also lost through resignation, revocation for breaching obligations or for a change in the conditions that led to the award, or through incompatibility that arises later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can international students apply?
Yes. The requirements contain no nationality or residence condition, the document list accepts a passport, and students with foreign degrees are explicitly covered by the grade equivalence certificate rule.
Do I need to be admitted before I apply?
You need to have completed pre registration or enrolment in the full credit load of an EHU master's for 2026/2027. For the grant to be awarded and paid, you must be enrolled in the complete course.
I already have a master's degree. Can I still apply?
No. Applicants who have already completed another university master's degree cannot benefit from this grant, and you sign a sworn declaration to that effect.
Is this based on income?
No. The ranking is built on the academic record, with a maximum of 10 extra points for languages, mobility, placements, other degrees and student representation. Financial circumstances are not part of the scoring.
How do I know if I won?
The provisional and final resolutions are published on the call's web page, and that publication is the official notification. Individual communications go to the email address you provide on the form.
Can I combine it with another scholarship?
Not with grants covering the master's or its costs, not with grants that require a time commitment, and not with salary income above the Spanish minimum wage. If you are comparing funded routes to a master's degree in Europe, Erasmus Mundus joint masters work on a completely different model.
When is the money actually transferred?
In December, after you submit the acceptance declaration, the incompatibility declaration and your bank details.
Deadline
⏳ 30 September 2026
The call opened on 14 July 2026 and the bases were signed in Leioa on 10 July 2026. Since the grant depends on pre registration or enrolment being in place, leave time for both steps rather than filing on the final day. Find more opportunities like this, explained in plain language, on Youth Works Hub.
Links
🔗 Official call page and online application: https://www.ehu.eus/es/web/masterrak-eta-graduondokoak/masteres-universitarios/preinscripcion-y-matricula/becas-y-ayudas/ayudas-para-la-realizacion-de-masteres-universitarios-en-la-ehu
📄 Grade equivalence certificate for foreign degrees: https://sede.educacion.gob.es/sede/login/inicio.jjsp?idConvocatoria=818
📧 Questions: convocatoriasyayudas@ehu.eus
