Mexico: SECIHTI

PhD Scholarships for Mexican Students

Mexican students have an opportunity to apply for full funding to do their PhD studies at the University of Groningen with a scholarship made available by the Mexican Ministry of Education, Science, Humanities, Technology, and Innovation (SECIHTI) (formerly: CONAHCYT).

Calls for Applications

The general call for applications for Mexican nationals to apply to SECIHTI funding for full PhD studies abroad is published each calendar year. To learn about future calls for applications keep an eye on the S ECIHTI website.

Call for Applications and Deadlines

The central call for full PhD funding in 2026 opened on 23 March.

Students are individually responsible to submit their application to SECIHTI.

Application Period 2026:

Applications to be submitted as of 23 March 2026
Application deadline: 22 May 2026
Publication of results: 3 August 2026

Selected grantees need to start their mobility 1 April 2027 at the latest. A realistic first possible start date at UG is four months after the publication of results. A December start date is not possible at UMCG for administrative reasons, which means that we recommend to start between January and April 2027.

Call text (in Spanish).

For Prospective PhD Students

We welcome you to look into the offer of our Research Institutes and the UMCG research website.
Considering that websites may be hard to navigate, in case you need assistance locating a supervisor for your PhD project, please reach out to the Graduate School of Medical Sciences following instructions outlined on our "Matchmaking" webpage.
You can find the outline of the PhD curriculum in the PhD Study Guide.

Applicants will need to provide the following general documentation to SECIHTI that require input from the Graduate School and/or UMCG supervisor:

Letter of Acceptance, contact the Graduate School of Medical Sciences
Letter regarding GSMS Tuition Fees
Note that it is a hard requirement to submit proof of proficiency in English, as part of your admission to the GSMS PhD program. The language requirements for the GSMS can be found here

To define their study objectives, candidates are encouraged to consult relevant information in the PhD Study Guide, in addition to their PhD research project.

We also strongly recommend that candidates contact the UG Representative Office in Mexico (Ms Camila Carvajal and Mr Luis Andrés González) via latinamerica@rug.nl.

Complementary funds

SECIHTI provides a monthly scholarship of EUR 1,240, which is not be sufficient to meet Dutch immigration income requirements.

Candidates admitted to a PhD program at the University of Groningen, and who will obtain their PhD degree from the University of Groningen, may be eligible for a supplementary (top-up) contribution to their monthly scholarship for the period of research conducted in Groningen (conditions apply).

Please note that the availability of such top-up funding depends on institutional policy, available resources, and the applicable funding frameworks at the time arrangements for the PhD trajectory are formalized.

For more information, consult this FAQ section.

For UMCG Supervisors

In order to prepare the letter of acceptance for SECIHTI PhD applicants, UMCG supervisors should provide the Graduate School of Medical Sciences with the information and documentation requested here.

No bench fees can be claimed from SECIHTI. UMCG supervisors of successful applicants will receive the standard annual contribution towards bench fees from the Graduate School. More information about GSMS fee policies can be found here.