The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) are demandoriented fellowship programmes initiated and fully funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the budget for development cooperation. The ministry has contracted the Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education (Nuffic) to administer this programme.

Overview

The overall aim of the NFP is to help alleviate qualitative and quantitative shortages of skilled manpower within a wide range of governmental, private and non-governmental organizations. This by offering fellowships to professionals to improve their capacity to contribute to the development of their employing organizations.

The NFP target group consists of mid-career professionals who are already in employment and who are nationals of and working in one of the 61 selected NFP countries. The list of 61 NFP countries can be found in annex 4. While fellowships are awarded to individuals, the need for training must occur within the context of the organization for which an applicant works. The training must help the organization to develop its capacity. This means that applicants must be nominated by their employers. In fact, an application without the support of an employer will not be considered.

50% of the available fellowships should be awarded to fellowships for female candidates, and 50% of the available budget 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.

NFP sub-programmes:

The NFP offers the following options:

Individual fellowships for:

  • short courses;
  • master’s degree programmes;
  • PhD studies.

Group training:

  • refresher courses.

All four NFP sub-programmes are described in this publication. For each of the options, a separate section provides information regarding eligibility, the application and selection procedures, as well as the deadlines.

The fellowship

An NFP fellowship is intended to supplement the salary that the fellowship holder should continue to receive (at least partially) during the study period. The allowance is considered to be a contribution towards the cost of living for one person, whether in the Netherlands or in another country. The fellowship can also cover the costs of tuition fees, and of visas, travel, insurance and thesis research, as specified in the NFP booklet ‘Rules and regulations for fellowship holders’. This booklet can be downloaded from www.nuffic.nl/nfp.

NFP for PhD Studies

The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) 2010 for PhD studies

PhD degrees can be pursued at 21 Dutch universities and institutes for international education. A list of these universities and institutes, together with their addresses and websites, can be found at the end of this section. The maximum NFP budget available for a PhD study programme is EUR 85,000. This amount is intended as a contribution towards the costs of living and to cover the costs of visas, travel, insurance, etc. as specified in the NFP booklet ‘Rules and regulations for fellowship holders’. This booklet can be downloaded from www.nuffic.nl/nfp. PhD students are allowed to seek alternative sources of funding. The maximum duration of a PhD fellowship is four years.

Eligibility

A candidate applying for an NFP fellowship for a PhD degreecprogramme must:

  • be a national of, and working in one of the developing countriescon the NFP country list valid at the time of application (see annexc4);
  • be a mid-career professional with at least three years workcexperience;
  • have been unconditionally admitted to a Dutch institution as a PhD student. This means that the applicant must have met all the academic requirements set by the Dutch university or institute;
  • have completed an NFP PhD Study application form and have submitted all the required documentation to the Netherlands embassy or consulate;
  • not have received an NFP fellowship or any other fellowship in the three years prior to the start of the proposed PhD;
  • offer proof that the PhD will be pursued according to a ‘sandwich’ or ‘picnic’ model, which means that a large portion of the PhD research will take place in the candidate’s home country;
  • be nominated by his or her employer, who pledges to continue paying the candidate’s salary and guarantees the candidate will be able to return to an equivalent position after the termination of the fellowship period. Partial payment of salary can sometimes be allowed as an exception to the rule. It is up to the Netherlands embassy to decide if an agreement between the employer and the candidate about partial continuation of payment of salary is acceptable. It should be realized, however, that the NFP allowances are not sufficient to support family members, either in the home country or in the Netherlands;
  • not be employed by a large industrial, commercial, international or multinational organization, which can be assumed to have sufficient resources of their own to finance staff training;
  • offer evidence that he or she is sufficiently skilled in speaking and writing in the language of communication during the PhD which may be English, French or Spanish. If this is English, candidates who have received their tertiary education in any language other than English must provide evidence in the form of a score in an internationally recognized test, such as IELTS (a score of at least 6.0) or TOEFL (a score of at least 550 points on the paper based test or 213 points on the computer-based test or 79 on the internet-based test). An exception to this rule is made for candidates who have received their tertiary education in English, and for candidates who have previously attended a course or programme at a Dutch educational institution in this language, but no longer than two years ago;
  • be available full–time to pursue the PhD without interruption, and be physically and mentally able to take part in the entire programme;
  • declare that they will return to their home country immediately after the period of study and research in the Netherlands has ended;
  • comply with country-specific rules and criteria set by the Netherlands embassy (for more information please contact the Netherlands Embassy or consulate in your home country).

The application and selection procedure

The application and selection procedure consists of the following steps:

Application for admission at a Dutch institution

1) Candidates must first apply for academic admission to one of the eligible Dutch institutions mentioned under 2.4
Admission as a PhD student is granted on an individual basis.
Senior academic staff or a specific PhD committee decides whether or not an applicant will be accepted. Usually the assessment is based on the research proposal submitted by the applicant.

“A candidate can apply for a PhD fellowship only after a research proposal has been agreed between the candidate and the Dutch institution.”

Application for a fellowship

2) After receiving their letter of admission, candidates can apply for an NFP fellowship by presenting a completed NFP PhD Study application form to the Netherlands embassy or consulate in the candidate’s own country, accompanied by the necessary documentation. The application form can either be filled out digitally or it can be downloaded from www.nuffic.nl/nfp. The form can also be obtained from the Netherlands embassy or consulate.
For more information please visit the website at www.nuffic.nl/nfp for the latest information.

“Candidates should NOT send their fellowship application forms directly to Nuffic or to the Dutch institution, but should forward them to the Netherlands embassy or consulate in their own country.”

3) The embassy or consulate assesses the application against the criteria for eligibility listed above. Special attention is given to:

  • whether the application stems from a multi-year agreement concluded with selected organizations;
  • the relevance of the proposed research for the candidate’s organization and country;
  • proof that the candidate’s employer and the Dutch institution support the application.

4) The embassy or consulate forwards an application that meets all of the criteria for eligibility to Nuffic, together with its own recommendations.

5) Nuffic selects the candidates who will receive PhD fellowships based on the relevance of the proposed research for the candidate’s employing organization and home country. Nuffic gives priority to applications which:

  • propose that the research project be co–supervised by an institution in a developing country;
  • have a proven link with other activities that are financed by the NFP or other Dutch government-funded activities;
  • are submitted by female candidates;
  • are submitted by candidates from sub-Saharan Africa;
  • stem from multi-year agreements concluded with selected organizations.

6) Nuffic informs the candidates that are not eligible or not selected, as well as the Netherlands embassy and the Dutch institution of its decision. The Dutch Institution informs all selected candidates about the outcome through the Netherlands embassy in their home country.

7) Nuffic awards the grant to cover the fellowship to the Dutch institution.

8) The Dutch institutions administer the fellowships. They pay each fellowship holder a monthly allowance for the duration of the PhD or a maximum of 4 years; they make logistical arrangements, and give guidance to the fellowship holders.

Deadline for applications

Two deadlines have been introduced for submitting PhD fellowship applications. The applications for PhD research projects starting in 2010 must reach the Netherlands embassy in Uganda before 1 March 2009, in all other NFP countries before 1 June or before 1 October 2009. Applications for PhD research projects starting in 2011 must reach the Netherlands embassy in Uganda before 4 March 2010, in all other NFP countries before 1 June or before 1 October 2010.

NFP for Masters Degree

Fellowships for master’s degree programmes

The Netherlands’ higher education sector offers a large number of international master’s degree programmes. They cover almost every field of study, allowing candidates to receive a postgraduate education and to earn a Dutch Master of Arts degree, a Master of Science degree, or a ProfessionalMaster’s degree. AMaster of Arts or a Master of Science degree is an academic degree, usually awarded by traditional universities on completion of a postgraduate research-oriented course of one to two years in duration. A Professional Master’s degree is awarded by different types of institutes of higher education and focuses on more professionallyoriented teaching programmes. Professional Master’s degrees are usually of shorter duration than a research-oriented Master’s degree programme. The duration of the programmes varies between 9 and 24 months.

An NFP fellowship, which is granted for the duration of the programme, is intended to provide a contribution towards the costs of living, to cover the costs of tuition fees, and the cost of visas, travel, insurance, thesis research, etc. as specified in the NFP booklet ‘Rules and regulations for fellowship holders’. This booklet can be downloaded from www.nuffic.nl/nfp.

NFP fellowships can be obtained for a selected number of programmes. The list of eligible master’s degree programmes can be found at the end of this section. It should be noted that this list is a provisional list, based on a survey conducted among all potential Dutch institutions in 2009. Nuffic’s website should be consulted for the latest information, because information may be altered well into 2010.

After a successful pilot with e-learning, these programmes and courses have also been added to the NFP Course List. These programmes can be found in paragraph 5.6 and are indicated with the term “e-learning”. Given that e-learning programmes are different than the regular programmes special conditions apply to these programmes. At the time of the publication of this brochure these special NFP conditions are not known yet. Please consult the Nuffic website for the latest information.

Eligibility

A candidate applying for an NFP fellowship for a master’s degree programme must:

  • be a national of, and working in one of the developing countries on the NFP country list valid at the time of application (see annex 4);
  • be a mid-career professional with at least three years work experience;
  • not have received an NFP fellowship or any other fellowship in the three years prior to the start of the proposed master’s degree;
  • have been unconditionally admitted by a Dutch institution to one of the master’s degree programmes on the course list. This means that the applicant must have met all the requirements set by the Dutch institution;
  • have completed an NFP Master’s Degree Programme application form and have submitted all the required documentation to the Netherlands embassy or consulate;
  • be nominated by his or her employer, who pledges to continue paying the candidate’s salary and guarantees the candidate will be able to return to an equivalent position at the end of the fellowship period. Partial payment of salary can sometimes be allowed as an exception to the rule. It is up to the Netherlands embassy to decide if an agreement between the employer and the candidate about partial continuation of payment of salary is acceptable. It should be noted, however, that the NFP allowances are not sufficient to support family members, either in the home country or in the Netherlands;
  • not be employed by a large industrial, commercial, international or multinational organization, which can be assumed to have sufficient resources of its own to finance staff training;
  • offer evidence of proficiency in speaking and writing the language of instruction. If this is English, candidates who have received their tertiary education in any language other than English must provide evidence in the form of a score in an internationally recognized test, such as IELTS (a score of at least 6.0) or TOEFL (a score of at least 550 points on the paper based test or 213 points on the computer-based test or 79 on the internet-based test). An exception to this rule is made for candidates who have received their tertiary education in the English language, and for candidates who have previously attended a course or programme with a Dutch educational institution, but no longer than two years ago;
  • be available for the entire period of the programme and be physically and mentally able to take part in the entire programme;
  • declare that they will return to their home country immediately after the study programme has ended;
  • comply with country-specific rules and criteria set by the Netherlands embassy (for more information please contact the Netherlands Embassy or consulate in your home country).

“Joint or Double Degree Programmes A number of master’s degree programmes take place, either in its entirety or in part, in one of the NFP countries, for example as a “joint programme” or as a “double degree programme”. In these cases, the Dutch institution and the partner institution in an NFP country deliver the programme together. NFP fellowships will be available only for participants originating from the NFP country where the course (or part of the course) takes place and for participants originating from surrounding countries that are part of the same region as the country where the course takes place.”

The application and selection procedure

The application and selection procedure consist of the following steps:

Application for admission at a Dutch educational institution:

1) Applicants first apply for admission to the master’s degree programme of their choice. Applications should always be directed to the Dutch institution that offers the programme. The deadlines for these applications vary. The master’s degree programmes overview provides the academic application deadlines for each master’s degree programme.

2) The Dutch institution assesses the application and decides whether or not the applicant’s educational background and other experience meet the specific requirements for the programme in question. The Dutch institution then informs all applicants of its decisions. Successful candidates will receive a letter indicating that they have been (provisionally) admitted. Admission must be unconditional in terms of the candidate’s education and language proficiency. Admission may be granted provisionally, subject to the candidate finding suitable funding for the programme.

“Candidates are eligible for a fellowship only if they have been admitted to their chosen master’s degree programme and meet all the criteria. Candidates can only apply for a fellowship for one programme per fellowship application deadline. Being admitted to more than one programme with the same fellowship application deadline means that candidates will have to select one programme before applying for a fellowship.”

Application for a fellowship

3) After receiving their letter of admission, candidates can apply for an NFP fellowship by presenting a completed NFP master’s degree programme application form to the Netherlands embassy or consulate in their own country, accompanied by the necessary documentation. The application should be submitted well before the deadline for applications set by the embassy or consulate (see section 5.3). The application form can be downloaded from www.nuffic.nl/nfp. The form can also be obtained from the Netherlands embassy or consulate. Some embassies require applications to be submitted in duplicate. In other countries applications have to be submitted to the embassies through local governmental organizations. Candidates are therefore advised tocheck any local regulations with the Netherlands embassy in their country. Candidates should NOT send their fellowship application forms directly to Nuffic or to the Dutch institution, but should forward them to the Netherlands embassy or consulate in their own country.

4) The embassy or consulate assesses each application against the criteria listed above. Special attention is given to:

  • whether the application was submitted before the deadline;
  • whether the application stems from multi-year agreements made with selected organizations;
  • whether the candidate has presented a letter of admission to the programme in question;
  • whether the information accompanying the application is complete and correct, and whether the required documentation (such as passport, diplomas and language test) is in order;
  • whether the programme is on the list of master’s degree programmes starting in 2010;
  • whether the course has added value for the sustainable capacity development of the employing organization and the development of the NFP country;
  • whether the candidate fulfils any other specific requirements set by the embassy, consulate or country in question.

5) The embassies and consulates forward the fellowship applications that meet all of the criteria to Nuffic.

6) Nuffic decides how many fellowships will be available for each programme. The allocation of fellowships between the various programmes is based on the number of eligible applicants for each programme.

7) The Dutch institution then selects the candidates who will receive fellowships. The Dutch institution informs all candidates of its decisions, and applies to Nuffic for a grant.

8) Nuffic awards the grant for the Dutch institution to cover the fellowship holders’ expenses, including the tuition fees.

9) The Dutch institutions pay each fellowship holder a monthly allowance for the duration of the master’s degree programme; they also administer the fellowships, make logistical arrangements, and give guidance to the fellowship holders.

Deadlines for application

Academic application deadlines

The deadlines for admission to master’s degree programmes vary and can change throughout the year. You should contact the Dutch institution directly for further information. It may occur that the Dutch institution’s deadline for applying for admission to a programme is later than the NFP deadline for fellowship applications. Nevertheless, fellowship applications cannot be taken into consideration without a letter of admission to a master’s degree programme.

Fellowship application deadlines

There are two fellowship application deadlines for master’s degree programmes; one for programmes starting in the first quarter of 2010 and one for programmes starting in the third quarter of 2010. (See also annex 3). The specific embassy deadlines for NFP applications are listed for each country in section 5.5 ‘Fellowship application deadlines of Netherlands embassies and consulates for master’s degree programmes starting in 2010’ A letter of admission should be in the candidate’s possession well before the embassy’s deadline for submitting fellowship applications. Therefore, candidates are strongly advised to start the application procedure for admission as early as possible.

There is a good reason why NFP deadlines are scheduled so far in advance. Candidates need time to prepare for a long stay abroad. It takes at least three months to obtain a visa, for example, and other logistical arrangements also take time.

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