The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) are demand-driven fellowship programmes designed to promote capacity building within organizations in 62 developing countries by providing training and education through fellowships for professionals. The NFP is initiated and fully funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the budget for development cooperation.
The scholarships allow candidates to pursue Master studies, PhD studies, or short courses at Dutch Universities or academic institutions.
Field(s) of study:
The scholarship covers many fields of study including: Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries; Architecture and Town Planning, Arts and Humanities; Business Administration and Management; Education; Engineering; Environmental Science; Fine and Applied Arts; Law; Mass Communication and Information Science; Mathematics and Computer Science; Medical and Health Science; Natural Science; Tourism and Leisure; Social and Behavioral Science; and Transport and Communications.
The target group
The NFP target group consists of professionals who are nationals of and work and live in an NFP country. The chances of obtaining an NFP fellowship increase if you live and work in Sub-Saharan Africa and/or if you are a woman.
Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Autonomous Palestinian Territories, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Macedonia, Mali, Moldova, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippine, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, South Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
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.
The fellowship
An NFP fellowship is intended to supplement the salary that you should continue to receive during the study period. The allowance is a contribution towards your costs of living, the costs of tuition fees, visas, travel, insurance and thesis research, as specified in the NFP Rules and Regulations for fellowship holders.
Eligibility
A candidate applying for an NFP fellowship must:
- Be a professional with at least three years work experience;
- Be a national of, and working and living in one of the countries on the NFP country list valid at the time of application. If for whatever reason a candidate stays in another country than his or her home country for more than 90 days before the start of the course and/ or programme, he or she is not considered to be living and working in his or her 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;
- 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;
- not be employed by:
a. a multinational corporation
b. a bilateral donor organisation;
c. a multilateral donor organisation;
d. a large national and/or large commercial organisation;
e. an international NGO.
- Have submitted a complete application with all the required documentation before the appropriate fellowship application deadline;
- Be employed in a subject area to which the study will make a relevant contribution;
- Have a clear-cut, functional relationship with a relevant employing organization and be in a position to introduce the newly acquired skills and knowledge to that employing organization;
- Be available full-time to pursue the course or programme without interruption, and be physically and mentally able to participate in the entire programme;
- Endorse the objectives and aims of the NFP. The aims of the NFP cannot be achieved if the fellowship holder does not return his or her home country;
- A candidate applying for an NFP-PhD fellowship must:
a. not have accepted an NFP-PhD fellowship in the past;b. pursue the PhD study following a ‘sandwich’ or ‘picnic’ model, which means that at least
a quarter of the PhD study activities in the context of field research must take place in the candidate’s home country and/or region. A quarter of the PhD study is calculated from the start date of the PhD-study (research) until the end of the NFP-PhD fellowship.- A candidate applying for an NFP-SC fellowship must:
a. not have accepted more than one NFP-SC fellowship in the past;
b. not have accepted an NFP-SC fellowship in the year prior to the fellowship application.A candidate applying for an NFP-MA fellowship must:
- not have accepted an NFP-MA fellowship in the past;
- A candidate participating in an NFP-RC fellowship must:
a. be an NFP, MENA, NPT or MENA alumni, having completed
b. not have accepted more than one NFP-RC fellowship in the past;
c. not have accepted an NFP-RC fellowship in the year prior to the fellowship application.Procedural obligations- A candidate and/or fellowship holder must follow the NFP procedures as described on the Nuffic website .
The candidate must:
a. request admission directly from the Dutch institution, not via Nuffic. The candidate must contact the Dutch institution for information regarding admission;
b. submit the fellowship application before the appropriate fellowship application deadline. Fellowship applications received after the fellowship application deadline will not be considered and will not be assessed further for a fellowship;
c. apply for a fellowship for a short course or master’s degree programme on the NFP course list or apply for a fellowship for a PhD study at one of the eligible institutions. Fellowship applications for courses or programmes that are not on the NFP course list or for PhD-studies at institutions that are not eligible will not be considered and will not be assessed further for a fellowship;
d. submit a complete fellowship application. The candidate cannot make any changes or additions to the fellowship application after it has been submitted, even if the fellowship deadline has not yet passed. Fellowship applications that are not complete when submitted will not be considered and will not be assessed further for a fellowship;
For the 2013-2014 Netherland Fellowship, the first deadline for fellowship applications is 5 February 2013 depending on the course. The deadline for academic applications is earlier, about 1-2 months earlier than the fellowship applications deadline. Therefore, candidates are strongly advised to start the application procedure for admission as early as possible. The next deadlines are 7 May and 1 October 2013.
For More Information:
Download the NFP Rules and Regulations(156.5 kB)
9 comments