Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the budget for development cooperation annually awards fully-funded Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP). The NFP is meant for professionals who are nationals of and work and live in one of the 51 NFP countries. Candidates have to be nominated by their employer to be eligible for the fellowship. NFP will be awarded for master degree programmes, PhD and short courses at a Dutch higher education institution which offers the NFP-qualified course. The chances of obtaining an NFP fellowship increase if applicants live and work in Sub-Saharan Africa and/or if they are women. Candidates now need to apply for an NFP fellowship directly at the Dutch education institution, instead of applying with Nuffic.

Study Subject(s): Fellowships are awarded in all subjects offered by Dutch higher education institutions.

Course Level: Fellowships are available for masters degree programmes, short courses and PhD Studies at a Dutch higher education institution which offers the NFP-qualified course.

Scholarship Provider: Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the budget for development cooperation.

Scholarship can be taken at: Netherlands

Eligibility: The NFP is meant for professionals who are nationals of and work and live in one of the 51 NFP countries. The countries have been classified into two categories (I and II).

Category I countries are priority countries and will receive more fellowships. Candidates have to be nominated by their employer to be eligible for the fellowship. There also has to be a clear need for training within the context of the organisation. You must meet a number of criteria that support the aim of the NFP to be eligible for a fellowship. To be eligible you:

- must be a national of, and working and living in one of the countries on the NFP country list;

- must have an employer’s statement that complies with the format Nuffic has provided. All information must be provided and all commitments that are included in the format must be endorsed in the statement;

- must not be employed by an organisation that has its own means of staff-development.

Organisations that are considered to have their own means for staff development are for example: multinational corporations (e.g. Shell, Unilever, Microsoft), large national and/or a large commercial organisations, bilateral donor organisations (e.g. USAID, DFID, Danida, Sida, Dutch ministry of Foreign affairs, FinAid, AusAid, ADC, SwissAid), multilateral donor organisations, (e.g. a UN organization, the World Bank, the IMF, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, IADB) and international NGO’s (e.g. Oxfam, Plan, Care);

- must have an official and valid passport;
- must not receive more than one fellowship for courses that take place at the same time;
- must have a government statement that meets the requirements of the country in which the employer is established (if applicable).

Scholarship Open for International Students: Students of Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Colombia, Djibouti, DR Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Macedonia, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Surinam, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe can apply for the Netherlands Fellowship Programmes. The chances of obtaining an NFP fellowship increase if you live and work in Sub-Saharan Africa and/or if you are a woman.

Scholarship Description: The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) promote capacity building within organisations in 51 countries by providing fellowships for training and education for professionals. The NFP is initiated and fully funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the budget for development cooperation. The NFP aims to help increase both the number and the competencies of skilled staff at a wide range of government and non-government organisations. Each embassy has its own focus area to support the development goals of the Netherlands in each NFP country. The overall objective is to spend 35% of the budget on grants and study programmes in food security and private sector development.

Duration of award(s): The fellowship is only intended for the duration of the course or programme for which the fellowship holder has been selected: PhD degree programmes research with a maximum duration of four years and Short courses with duration of two weeks and twelve months and master’s degree programmes with a duration of between 12 and 24 months.

What does it cover? An NFP fellowship is intended to supplement the salary that the fellow should continue to receive during the study period. The allowance is a contribution towards the costs of living, the costs of tuition fees, visas, travel, insurance and thesis research. If applicable, the fellowship holder is expected to cover the difference between the actual costs and the amount of the personal NFP allowances.

Selection Criteria: The fellowships are awarded in a very competitive selection to highly motivated professionals with at least three years’ work experience who are in a position to introduce the newly-acquired skills and knowledge into their employing organization.

Notification: The outcome of the selection becomes available about 16 weeks after the fellowship application deadline

How to Apply: Candidates now need to apply for an NFP fellowship directly at the Dutch education institution, instead of applying with Nuffic. Only the Dutch institution will provide information about the programmes, selection criteria, application procedures and deadlines.

- Check whether you are in the abovementioned target groups.
- Check whether your employer will nominate you.
- Find a course.
- Contact the Dutch higher education institution which offers the NFP-qualified course of your choice for application procedures.

Scholarship Application Deadline: You need to apply directly with a Dutch higher education institution of your choice, starting 3 February 2015. Deadline to apply for each institute differs. Hurry up to apply as applications for most of the institutes will be closed in March.