Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) for Developing Countries 2016/2017

Brief description: Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) 2016/2017 is open for Masters, PhD and Short Courses applicants from Developing Countries

Application Deadline: Between 1 September and 13 October 2016

Offered annually? Yes

To be taken at: Netherlands

Accepted Subject Areas: The NFP offers candidates three sub-programmes to choose from:

• Master’s degree programmes
• Short courses
• PhD studies

About Scholarship: The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP), funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the budget for development cooperation, are designed to promote capacity building within organizations in 51 (previously 62) countries by providing training and education to mid-career staff.

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 is done by offering fellowships to mid-career professionals to improve the capacity of their employing organizations.

Scholarship Offered Since: Not Specified

Selection Criteria: Priority will be given to candidates who:

• live and work  in Sub-Saharan Africa;
• are women;
• belong to a priority groups and/or are from a marginalised region as defined by the Dutch embassy in your country. You can find these priorities on the embassy’s website.

Eligibility: To be eligible for an NFP fellowship, candidate must:

• be a professional and a national of, and work and live in one of the following countries.
• have been unconditionally admitted to a PhD programme at Leiden University.
• be nominated by their employers and have an employer’s statement that complies with the format Nuffic has provided (see step 5 of the application procedure below).
•  have an official and valid passport.
• (If applicable) have a government statement that meets the requirements of the country in which the employer is established (see step 4 of the application procedure below).
• not receive more than one fellowship for the courses that take place at the same time
• not be employed by an organization that has its own means of staff-development. Organizations 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 organisation, the World Bank, the IMF, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, IADB), international NGO’s (e.g. Oxfam, Plan, Care).
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that finances the NFP scholarships, has determined that 35% of the total NFP budget will be spent on grants and study programmes in food security and private sector development, 50% of the budget is for applications from Sub Sahara Africa and 50% of fellowships has to be awarded to female applicants.

Number of Scholarships: Several

Value of Scholarship: The fellowship is a supplement to the candidate’s salary and a contribution towards the expenses related to the course or study programme.

Duration of sponsorship: One year

Eligible African Countries: Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, Cape Verde, Uganda, Mali, Zambia, DR Congo, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Egypt, Namibia

Other Developing Countries outside Africa? Afghanistan, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Pakistan, Autonomous Palestinian Territories, Peru, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Philippines, Bhutan, Honduras, Bolivia, India, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Iran, Suriname, Jordan, Cambodia, Thailand, Kosovo, Colombia, Macedonia, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Yemen, Cuba, Moldova, Mongolia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nepal

How to Apply: Visit scholarship webpage for details on how to apply for NFP

Sponsors: The NFP is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the budget for development cooperation.