Financial support for study delays due to 'force majeure': UM Profileringsfonds

• You you are enrolled as a full-time UM student in a bachelor's or initial master's programme.
• In case of study delay in a bachelor's programme: you have not yet been enrolled at UM for longer than the nominal duration of the bachelor's programme you are following (3 academic years).
• For study delay in an initial master's programme: you have not yet been enrolled at UM for longer than the nominal duration of the master's programme you are following (ranging from 1 to 4 academic years).
• You have timely reported your special circumstance to the student advisor, the student dean or Disability Support. In principle, this is within two months after the special circumstance arose. Do not wait to report until you have actually experienced study delay.
• Your study delay is the direct consequence of the special circumstance.
• You have incurred a study delay of at least five ECTS.
• You must submit your application in time: within six months and before 1 March after the end of the academic year in which you incurred a study delay (if you graduate or cease your studies earlier, the application must have been submitted at least two months before de-enrolment).
   

Read more: Regulation UM 'Profileringsfonds'

In case of a special circumstance that may affect your study progress, always contact your study adviser. In any case, do so within two months of the special circumstance occurring. Discuss with the study adviser how you can possibly prevent or further limit study delay. In case of late notification, only the study delay up to 2 months before the notification will be taken into account when applying for financial support. What also counts is whether the agreements made with the student adviser to (further) reduce study delay have been met.

After the end of the academic year in which the study delay occurred, it can only be assessed how big your study delay eventually became. This assessment will take place in consultation with the study advisor, who is familiar with the curriculum of your programme and who will have to answer a few questions on your application form. For this, you need to contact the study adviser yourself. You can then submit the completed application form digitally to the Student Services Centre (SSC) via the Secretariat Profileringsfonds (profileringsfonds@maastrichtuniversity.nl).
Don't forget to add the necessary supporting documents, for example a medical certificate or death/birth certificate, as well as a DUO notice showing that you were still entitled to months of performance-related grant at the time of the study delay.

Download the UM Profileringsfonds application form 2023-2024

A separate application is required for each academic year in which study delay due to force majeure occurs, even if the same circumstance leads to study delay in two different academic years.

Your application must be submitted no later than six months after the end of the academic year in which you suffered study delay. So always before 1 March following the delayed academic year and in any case at least two months before you deregister from UM, as you must be registered as a full-time student at UM at the time of payment.

Do you have a study delay in the academic year 2024-2025 and wish to de-enrol before the end of the academic year, or if you are pregnant and giving birth; submit your application as soon as possible. You do not have to wait until the end of the academic year in these cases.
Download the UM Profileringsfonds application form 2024-2025

The Director of the Student Services Centre (SSC) will decide on your application after advice from the student dean. In case of a positive decision, the financial support amounts to € 345,50 per established month (five ECTS) of study delay incurred in academic year 2023-2024.

Depending on the nature (medical circumstance only) and duration (substantial study delay) of the special circumstance that led to study delay, the SSC Director refers to DUO for an application for performance grant extension. In that case, instead of financial support from the UM Profileringsfonds, the student dean will support a request for a 12-month performance-related bursary extension via DUO.

Your Profileringsfonds application will be rejected if you do not meet the general conditions for eligibility for financial support from the UM Profileringsfonds, or, for example, because the causal link between study delay and special circumstance is not plausible, or the study delay amounts to less than five ECTS.

Within eight weeks, you will receive a written response to your Profileringsfonds application from the director of the Student Services Centre.