Netherlands Fellowships Program (Short Courses) for Developing Countries

Netherlands Fellowships Program (Short Courses)

Course(s) Offered: Short courses supported by fellowships
Course Level: Postgraduate (short courses, diplomas, fellowships)
Provider: Netherlands Government
Country to Study in: Netherlands

Scholarship Description
UPDATED: Netherlands Fellowship Programme Scholarships (Short courses, Masters, PhD).
NFP fellowships for short courses can be used for a number of selected courses and are offered by education institutions in the Netherlands.

The institutions provide professional training at post- secondary level in several fields of study. The courses lead to a Dutch certificate or a diploma and their duration varies from two weeks to twelve months.

Eligibility
A candidate applying for an NFP fellowship for a short course must:

• be a mid-career professional with at least three years’ relevant work experience;
• be a national of, and working and living in one of the developing countries on the NFP country list valid at the time of application (see link below);
• be nominated by their employer, who pledges to continue paying their salary and guarantees that they will be able to return to the same or an equivalent position at the end of the fellowship period;
• have been unconditionally admitted by a Dutch institution to one of the short courses on the course list 2013-2014 (see link below). This means that candidates must meet all the requirements set by the Dutch institution;
• not have received more than one NFP short course fellowships;
• not have received an NFP short course fellowship in the year prior to the fellowship application;
• not be employed by: a multinational corporation (for instance Shell, Unilever etc.); a large national and/-or commercial organisation; a bilateral donor organisation (for instance USAID, DFID, Danida, Sida, FinAid, AusAid, ADC, SwissAid etc.); multilateral donor organisation, (for instance a UN organisation, the World Bank, the IMF, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, IADB, etc.); or an international NGO’s (for instance Oxfam, Plan, Care, etc.).
• have completed and submitted an NFP short course fellowship application including all the required documentation before the applicable NFP fellowship application deadline;
• be employed in an area to which the study will make a relevant contribution;
• have a clear-cut, functional relationship with a relevant organisation and be in a position to introduce the newly acquired skills and knowledge into that organisation;
• be available for the entire period of the course and be physically and mentally able to take part in the entire course;
• endorse the objective and the aim of the NFP. The aim of the NFP cannot be reached if the fellowship holder does not return to his or her own country. Nuffic would like to urge fellowship holders to return to their home country upon finishing the course or programme to meet the NFP aim in the most effective way.

Eligible Groups
Students from 62 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.

The chances of obtaining an NFP fellowship increase if you live and work in Sub-Saharan Africa and/or if you are a woman.

Half of the available fellowships should be awarded to female candidates and the other half should be spent on candidates from sub-Saharan Africa. Apart from this, priority is given to candidates from priority groups and/or from marginalized regions to be defined by the embassies.

Participating Institution(s)
Dutch Universities and Institutions of higher learning

Field(s) of study
The list of short courses that are supported by the fellowships can be found at NFP course list for short courses (see link below under 'DEADLINES').

All NFP courses are full-time courses, including a select number of e-learning courses. Consult the official Studyfinder database for programmes and courses eligible for an NFP fellowship.

Scholarship Benefits
The NFP allowance is considered to be a contribution towards the cost of living for the fellowship holder. A fellowship holder can therefore be faced with additional expenses (for instance extra costs for housing). Fellowship holders are adviced to check with the dutch institution if this can be the case for them. The allowances are not sufficient to support family members, either in the home country or in the Netherlands.

Method of Application
To be eligible for an NFP fellowship, candidates need to be admitted to the short course for which they would like an NFP fellowship. Then:

• Obtain academic admission: Candidates first apply for admission directly to the Dutch institution that offers the short course of their choice. The Dutch institution assesses the application and decides whether or not to admit the candidate to the short course. Nuffic has no part in the academic admission process.
• Prepare your application for an NFP fellowship: A candidate applying for an NFP fellowship must have been unconditionally admitted to a Dutch institution for the course or programme for which the candidate applies for an NFP fellowship. This means that the candidate must have met all the academic and administrative requirements set by the Dutch institution.

The application you submit to Nuffic must be complete with all the required documentation according to the required formats. The application must be submitted online through Scholarships Online (SOL) before the fellowship application deadline. Applications that are not submitted according to the required procedure and format will not be accepted.

After you have submitted your application you cannot make any adjustments or additions. Nuffic cannot accept any additional documents sent by email or regular post. These additional documents will not be taken into consideration.

DEADLINES:
The deadline for academic applications is earlier, about 1-2 months earlier, than the fellowship applications deadline. Candidates are strongly advised to apply as early as possible for admission to a Dutch institution to allow these institutions enough time to process all the applications for admission in time.

For 2013-2014, the deadline for fellowship applications is 5 Februrary or 7 May or 1 October in 2013 depending on the course (see the  NFP course list for short courses (PDF, 48.4kB) to know the specific deadline for your chosen course).

Application Deadline: 5 February / 1 May / 2 October 2013
Open to International students: Yes

More Scholarship Information and Application

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