More than 100 killed in ISIS suicide bombings in Syria

Niles Williamson

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility for multiple bomb blasts which ripped through residential neighborhoods in the Syrian cities of Homs and Damascus on Sunday, leaving more than 100 people dead and wounding hundreds of others.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, twin car bombs ripped through an Alawite-majority district loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, killing at least 67 people and wounded at least 100 others.

As many as four explosions were reported in southern Damascus near the Shiite Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque. At least 50 people were killed and 200 injured when ISIS militants detonated a car bomb and then set off explosive belts.

The devastating attacks came just hours after US Secretary of State John Kerry announced that an agreement had been reached with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for the “cessation of hostilities” in Syria, for the second time in less than two weeks.

“We have reached a provisional agreement, in principle, on the terms of the cessation of hostilities that could begin in the coming days,” Kerry told reporters in Amman, Jordan after speaking to Lavrov via telephone. He stated that US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin would speak in the coming days to discuss a way of implementing the deal.

Ominously, Kerry warned that the only alternative to a ceasefire agreement would be “the complete destruction of Syria itself.” He reiterated that the conflict would only end once Assad was removed from power, stating, “With Assad there, this war cannot and will not end.”

Earlier this month, the secretary of state had warned in an interview with the Washington Post of a “Plan B,” i.e., a dramatic escalation of US military operations, if Russia and Iran did not adhere to US dictates for a ceasefire.

The deadline for the implementation of a ceasefire, worked out more than a week ago between the American-led coalition and Russia in Munich, passed last Friday with no respite in fighting.

The five-year-old conflict has been fueled by the United States and its allies, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, with the aim of overthrowing Syrian President Assad, a key ally of Russia and Iran in the Middle East.

The CIA and intelligence agencies in Saudi Arabia and Turkey have funneled fighters, weaponry and money to support forces the Obama administration has defined as “moderate,” including the Al Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front and the Islamist militia Ahrar al-Sham.

ISIS is itself a direct outgrowth of the bloody US regime-change operations in both Syria and Iraq, and has been used to justify daily bombing raids throughout Syria along with the deployment of US Special Forces.

As Kerry made clear in his statements on Sunday, ongoing US military operations in Syria, couched in terms of the so-called War on Terror and the fight against ISIS, are aimed ultimately at the ouster of Assad and the establishment of a pliant pro-Western puppet government.

The US and its allies have sought some sort of ceasefire agreement with Moscow to allow for its proxy forces to regroup, because Russian airstrikes in support of Assad’s military forces have been increasingly effective in driving back the rebel groups backed by the US and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks.

These developments increasingly threaten to bring the US and Russia, the two largest nuclear powers in the world, into direct conflict with one another on the ground and in the air in Syria.

In the last month, the Syrian army with Russian support, has been able to seize control of strategic portions of the northern city of Aleppo from rebel militias, including the al-Nusra Front, and cut off a key military supply route from Turkey.

In November, NATO member Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet along the Turkish-Syrian border in a deliberately provocative action.

In recent days, Turkish officials have been warning of plans to invade northern Syria, motivated by a desire to halt the advance of Syrian Kurdish forces, which have been consolidating their control over portions of northern Syria with US and Russian support.

On Saturday, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted that Turkey had the right to intervene militarily in Syria and elsewhere to defend itself from “terror organizations.”

Turkey has blamed the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) for a bombing attack last week in Ankara which killed 28 people, including 20 high-ranking soldiers.

According to Hurriyet, Erdogan made the remarks at a UNESCO meeting in the southern city of Gaziantep, just 60 miles north of Aleppo, stating, “Turkey has every right to conduct operations in Syria and the places where terror organizations are nested with regards to the struggle against the threats that Turkey faces.”

“No one can restrict Turkey’s right to self-defense in the face of terror acts that have targeted Turkey,” Erdogan warned.

Syrian society has been devastated by the imperialist stoked civil war over the last five years. The UN estimates that nearly 5 million Syrians have registered as refugees in neighboring countries, with millions more internally displaced.

According to a recent report released by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, since 2011 at least 470,000 people have been killed in Syria as a direct or indirect result of the fighting. The report found that 11.5 percent of the pre-war Syrian population has either been killed or wounded. Overall life expectancy has dropped from 70.5 years in 2010 to 55.4 years in 2015.

Eurostat estimates that more than 250,000 Syrians applied for asylum in Europe between 2014 and 2015. Over the last year thousands of asylum seekers, many of them Syrian, have drowned seeking to reach Europe by crossing either the Mediterranean Sea or the Aegean Sea, as part of the greatest refugee crisis since World War II.

War and the 2016 US elections

Joseph Kishore

Amidst the endless media commentary, debates and stump speeches by the major candidates for US president, there is virtually no discussion of the active preparations of the ruling class for an immense escalation of war following the elections in November.

The elections themselves are being held under conditions of expanding militarist violence all over the world. In the Middle East and North Africa, the Obama administration launches air strikes in Libya even as NATO-member Turkey and US-ally Saudi Arabia consider a ground invasion of Syria. A leading German newspaper recently commented that a Turkish invasion, resulting in a conflict with Russian forces backing the Syrian government, could quickly “mean ending a cold war [between the US and Russia] and starting a hot one.”

US denunciations of Russia’s role in Syria come amidst a relentless militarization of Eastern Europe in the two years since the Western-backed coup in Ukraine. The right-wing nationalist Baltic states and Poland are being armed and given a virtual blank check to stage actions against Russia with the knowledge that they will be backed by the US and NATO.

In East Asia, under the framework of the “pivot to Asia,” the Obama administration is developing a network of military bases and alliances to encircle China, while denouncing Beijing for “militarizing” the region. The New York Times last week called on the US and its allies to continue “to ensure the free flow of navigation and to continue sending ships and planes across the sea,” a reference to the Obama administration’s provocative policy of sailing military vessels within territorial waters claimed by China.

The US escalations point inexorably in the direction of war with Russia or China, whether as the outcome of deliberate actions by American imperialism or the unplanned result of Washington’s ceaseless bullying and saber-rattling. Behind the scenes, the strategists of American imperialism are concerned that the gargantuan US military is insufficiently massive for the tasks set before it. Vast resources are to be poured into expanding the apparatus of destruction, and the reintroduction of the draft is being actively considered. Concrete war plans are being worked out at ruling-class think tanks and in Pentagon offices.

To prevent alerting the public to the catastrophic implications of these operations and block any public debate, the Obama administration is seeking to delay a full-scale military escalation until after Election Day.

The American ruling class has a long tradition of initiating major military operations shortly after an election. Woodrow Wilson was reelected in 1916 on the slogan “He kept us out of the war.” Only a few months after his second inauguration, the United States declared war against Germany.

Franklin Roosevelt campaigned in 1940 on the promise that he would not send American soldiers into World War II, but by December 1941, the US was at war with both Germany and Japan.

Lyndon Johnson campaigned in 1964 as the “peace candidate” before vastly escalating US military operations in Southeast Asia soon after he was inaugurated. Richard Nixon claimed in 1968 to have a plan to end the Vietnam War. He followed his election with the bombing of Cambodia.

The 2000 elections were held just before the launching of the “war on terror.” In the 2002 mid-term elections, both the Democrats and Republicans agreed to exclude the impending war with Iraq from their campaigns. Four months after the elections, in March of 2003, Bush launched the invasion.

In the current election, the political establishment and the media are collaborating even more intensely to keep the ongoing military operations and those that are to come entirely off the agenda.

On the Sunday talk shows this past weekend, which featured Republican candidates Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, there was hardly any reference to US foreign policy. Aside from a brief reference by Trump to the possibility of “World War III” in Syria, none of the candidates spoke of the situation in Middle East or the risk of a conflict with Russia or China.

In the Democratic town hall event prior to last week’s Nevada caucuses, not a single question on war was asked of Sanders or Clinton.

The campaign has, of course, seen many statements from the candidates proclaiming their devotion to American imperialism. On the Republican side, Trump—the personification of all the filth and reaction built up during 15 years of the “war on terror”—has issued a series of fascistic calls for murder and aggression all over the world, and his rivals have followed suit. In his victory speech following the South Carolina primary Saturday, Trump proclaimed that under his presidency “we’re going to build our military so big, so good, so strong, so powerful that nobody is ever going to mess with us.”

On the Democratic side, to the extent that she has differentiated herself from Obama, Clinton has done so from the right, calling for a “no fly” zone in Syria that would quickly bring the US into a conflict with Russia.

As for the supposed “socialist” Bernie Sanders, he has proclaimed his support for the Obama administration’s war policy in the Middle East as well as other aggressive actions. In a Democratic Party debate earlier this month, Sanders denounced “Russia’s aggressive actions in the Crimea and in Ukraine” and declared his support for a policy of “beef[ing] up our troop level in that part of the world to tell Putin that his aggressiveness is not going to go unmatched.” To emphasize the point, he added, “We have to work with NATO to protect Eastern Europe against any kind of Russian aggression.”

In recent campaign events, Sanders has denounced “authoritarian Communist China.” Besides backing the administration’s policy in Syria and Obama’s extension of the US occupation of Afghanistan, he has endorsed the use of drones and Special Operations forces, at one point affirming that as president he would do “all of that and more.” He has insisted that the United States maintain the largest military in the world.

But on the detailed plans being worked out by the Pentagon and the CIA to massively escalate the wars in the Middle East and intensify the provocations and war preparations against Russia in Eastern Europe and against China in the South China Sea, nothing is said by any of the candidates of either party.

There is a conspiracy of silence. It includes not only the politicians of the two big business parties, but also the middle class organizations that were involved in the antiwar protests in the run-up to the 2003 Iraq war. These groups have long since integrated themselves into the Obama administration and lent their support to the operations of American imperialism. They are doing everything they can to oppose the development of a movement against war.

The working class and youth, overwhelmingly opposed to war, must not be caught unawares. The work of developing a political movement against war must proceed with extreme urgency.

Last week, the International Committee of the Fourth International published a crucial statement, “Socialism and the Fight Against War,” which reviews in detail the expanding maelstrom of imperialist violence and elaborates the political foundations for the building of a new anti-war movement based on the following principles:

• The struggle against war must be based on the working class, the great revolutionary force in society, uniting behind it all progressive elements in the population.

• The new anti-war movement must be anti-capitalist and socialist, since there can be no serious struggle against war except in the fight to end the dictatorship of finance capital and put an end to the economic system that is the fundamental cause of militarism and war.

• The new anti-war movement must therefore, of necessity, be completely and unequivocally independent of, and hostile to, all political parties and organizations of the capitalist class.

• The new anti-war movement must, above all, be international, mobilizing the vast power of the working class in a unified global struggle against imperialism.

The WSWS urges all of our readers, in the United States and internationally, to carefully study this statement, discuss it with your coworkers, and contact the Socialist Equality Party today to help build a socialist, internationalist and revolutionary movement of the working class against war.

Should Europe Impose Sanctions on the Maldives?

Richard Howitt


One key test of democracy in countries where it has only recently emerged is based on how far the rights of the political opposition are fully respected. There is a temptation for governments to dismantle the tools that enabled them to be elected in fledgling democracies, to use newly-acquired power to hold on to that power. In countries where there has been conflict - real and political - there is further fuel to exact reprisals against political opponents.

In small nations, it is highly personalised too. Such is the case of the Maldives. World famous for its luxury holidays, the Maldives has become notorious for abuse of democratic and human rights.

A thirty-year dictatorship ended in the country with the first democratic transition of power in 2008, only for its newly elected president to be removed in what he alleged was a coup four years later, but where anti-democratic claims exist on both sides.

Today, human rights groups point to what they call a large number of political prisoners; opposition parties allege large-scale corruption; security forces prevent rallies and political campaigning by the opposition parties and any attempt to publicly criticise the government makes the attempter subject to arrest and intimidation.

The same human rights groups also accuse the international community of pressing local parties to accept the inquiry commission's findings that allowed a return to elections after 2012 but of failing to press on for the implementation of fundamental police and judicial reforms contained in the same report.

With the situation deteriorating in the period since, in 2015, the European Parliament voted to support moves towards targeted sanctions against political and business figures responsible for the abuses, while the Commonwealth appointed a Ministerial Action Group, which may suggest moves towards its own ultimate sanction of possible suspension.

The European Parliament's standing delegation with South Asia visited the Maldives last week. Polarisation in the country is personalised around the treatment of the former President Mohamed Nasheed, who was arrested by his successors for illegally ordering the detention of a judge and later seeing that the charge converted to terrorism, and subsequent conviction to thirteen years in prison. Conceding to international pressure, Nasheed was recently flown to London for medical treatment. 

The Delegation was the first of the international observers to be able to publicly inspect the prison conditions in which he is being held. The "special protection quarters" inside the prison were clean and with basic comforts, but were still far from the Maldivian foreign minister's outlandish claim that he "had access to his own swimming pool."

A separate meeting with Nasheed's legal team yielded first-hand evidence of how defence lawyers had been given insufficient time to prepare the case; of defence witnesses unable to be called; and of deep 'conflicts of interest' in the court - for instance, the judge and prosecutor also acted as witnesses in the same case.

The challenge for Europe and others internationally, is to raise these concerns without appearing to be partisan towards the former president and running the risk of alienating the incumbent government, whom we most hope will listen.

The Delegation also raised high profile cases of alleged political prisoners, such as those of former Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb; Col (retd) Mohamed Nazim; and the apparent lack of a credible investigation in the disappearance of journalist Ahmed Rilwan Abdullah who is still missing.

Incumbent Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen made a speech telling foreigners to mind their own business just hours after telling the aforementioned visiting Delegation that he would "follow the trail of evidence in corruption cases, wherever it leads."

Candid admissions during informal exchanges by the members of parliament from the governing party that "we are only doing to the opposition what they did to us," suggests that the roots of the country's problems do not lie with one person or party, but with the political maturity inside this young nation. However, the wealth of the tourist market and the integral part it plays within the country's politics mean the threat of sanctions may be one of the few actions that can have real impact.

Given the rising Saudi and Chinese influence, and the island nation's notorious distinction of being the source of the highest number of foreign fighters per capita to the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, the Maldives is not a country Europe should disengage with.

Nevertheless, there is evidence that its senior political and business figures do not want their foreign travel banned or their foreign bank accounts frozen, even more than genuinely those of us in Europe reluctantly consider deterring our tourists from enjoying the islands' exotic charms.

Already, the EU has sent an Italian judge to assess the country's legal system, which may lead to joint action between ourselves and the Maldives to address the fundamental judicial flaws that beset the country.

Later this month, the Commonwealth Ministers will produce their report and the European Parliament and a UN Assistant Secretary-General will visit the islands, in a fresh attempt to kick-start inter-party talks that can seek to overcome the current crisis.

Such concerted international pressure has already succeeded in getting one political prisoner free, least temporarily.

The same pressure must be continued - the threat of sanctions included - to permanently ensure that democracy is not lost in the whole country.

Korean Government Scholarship Program

Program Overview

The Korean Government Scholarship Program (KGSP) supports the future global leaders and promotes the international cooperation in education by inviting talented international students to Korea for an opportunity to conduct advanced studies at higher educational institutions in Korea.

Qualifications

[Graduate Program]

Scholarship Period	Master's Degree	1 year Language Courses + 2 year Degree Courses
	Doctoral Degree	1 year Language Courses + 3 year Degree Courses
Qualifications	① The applicant and his/her parents must hold foreign citizenships. * Applicants with the Korean citizenship are not permitted to apply for this program. ② Applicants must be under 40 years of age of the selection year. ③ Applicants must hold a Bachelor's or Master's degree as of September 1st of the selection year. * Applicants who have completed an undergraduate program, a master's program, or a doctoral program in Korea are ineligible to apply for the program. ④ The academic achievement of the applicants must meet one of the followings: - The grade point average (GPA) must be no less than 2.64 on a 4.0 scale, 2.80 on a 4.3 scale, 2.91 on a 4.5 scale; or - The overall grades must be no less than 80% out of 100%

[Undergraduate Program]

Scholarship Period	Bachelor's Degrees (5 years)	Korean language course(up to 1 year) + Bachelor's degree course requirements(4 years)
	Associate Degrees (3 years)	Korean language course(up to 1 year) + Associate degree course requirements(2 years)
Qualifications	Prospective applicants must meet the following qualification criteria; ① Must be a citizen of the country to which the scholarship is offered, which also applies to the applicants' parents ② Have graduated or will be scheduled to graduate from high school as of March 1st of the invitation year ③ Must possess above 80% (out of 100%) cumulative grade point average (CGPA), or must be within the top 20% (out of 100%) in rank in high school.

Selection Procedure

[Graduate and Undergraduate Program]

1st SelectionApplicants submit their applications either to the Korean Embassies around the world or to the partering universities in Korea. The embassies and universities select the successful candidates among the applicants in the 1st round of selection. The applicants of the successful candidates will then be forwarded to NIIED. 

2nd SelectionThe NIIED selection committee selects the successful candidates among those who passed the 1st round.

3rd SelectionAmong the successful candidates who have passed the 2nd round, the applicants of those who applied through the Korean Embassies will be reviewed by universities for admission. Successful candidates must get admission from at least one of the universities.
 

Announcement of final successful candidates will be made

Scholarship Benefits

[Graduate Program]

Airfare	Round-trip economy class ticket
Monthly Allowance	900,000 KRW per month
Research Allowance	210,000 KRW for scholars in the field of humanities and social sciences; 240,000 KRW for scholars in natural and mechanic sciences
Settlement Allowance	200,000 KRW upon arrival
Language Training Fee	Full coverage
Tuition	All admission fees are waived by the host institution (university) The tuition is covered by NIIED and the university.
Dissertation Printing Costs	Reimbursement of 500,000 ~ 800,000 KRW depending on actual costs
Medical Insurance	20,000 KRW per month (limited coverage)
Korean Proficiency Grants	100,000 KRW per month for scholars with TOPIK Level 5 or 6

[Undergraduate Program]

Airfare	Round-trip economy class ticket
Monthly Allowance	800,000 KRW per month
Settlement Allowance	200,000 KRW upon arrival
Language Training Fee	Full coverage
Tuition	All admission fees are waived by the host institution (university) The tuition is covered by NIIED and the university.
Medical Insurance	20,000 KRW per month (limited coverage)
Korean Proficiency Grants	100,000 KRW per month for scholars with TOPIK Level 5 or 6

APPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME OPEN ALL YEAR ROUND

Türkiye Scholarships has launched Research Fellowship Programme with an aim to encourage international researchers and academics to work with Turkish academics on collaborative researches in Turkey and contribute to the development of the international scientific interaction between researchers.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

Research proposals that has been conducted previously by the applicant or the advisor will not be accepted.

Research areas are limited to social sciences and humanities subjects announced by Türkiye Scholarships and applicants are required to state the specific research topic in the application. 

(To see the suggested research areas for the 2016-2017 academic year, click here)

Scientific competence of the applicant, scientific/academic value of the research proposal and its feasibility are taken into consideration in the evaluation process. Also, the proposed research's contribution to applicant's career development, his/her country and host institution are evaluated.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applications are received online. Applicants may submit their applications throughout the year. Candidates must fill in the application form in the link below, scan required documents and upload them to the online form.

Applications are evaluated within 3 months from the date application is submitted. Candidates are informed of the outcome of their applications by e-mail. The e-mail consists of the follow-up information as well for successful applications.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Phd holders or PhD candidates who are citizens of countries other than Turkey may apply to the Research Fellowship Programme.

Candidates must have completed their PhD studies or be at the dissertation stage.

Also, it is essential that candidates have an official Acceptance / Invitation Letter from a university in Turkey for research.

(To have an Acceptance / Invitation Letter, researchers should contact the universities individually)

(To see the suggested list of Turkish universities, click here)

Other requirements are as follows:
- Being under 45 years old as of application date (preferably),
-For PhD students, being enrolled at a university doctoral program abroad and being at the dissertation stage,
-Having a PhD diploma for PhD holders,
-Certifying the language proficiency required for the research.
-IF personal data will be collected with the methods such as experiment, survey, focus group discussion, practice, having the "Ethics Committee Approval Certificate" from the Ethics Committee of the university;
-IF a study will be carried out on historical monuments and archeological sites with non-public information, documents from institutions and organizations, having "Legal Permit" taken from a related governmental institution,

AMOUNT OF THE GRANT

Monthly grant for the year 2016 is 3.000 TL (almost 1.000$). Fellowship does not include costs such as accommodation, insurance and tuition fee. If deemed appropriate by Research Fellowship Evaluation Committee, researcher's academic activities (conferences, panels, symposiums, survey, field research, etc.) may be supported.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Applications will be evaluated by Research Fellowship Evaluation Committee.
• Research Fellowship Programme is for a  maximum of 12 months.
• Researchers conduct their researches under the guidance of an academic advisor from the Turkish university which candidates receive Acceptance / Invitation Letter.
• Grants will only be paid for the months the researchers stay in Turkey during the research period.
• Researches are tracked with reports that researchers prepare periodically and are evaluated by Research Fellowship Evaluation Committee.
• Researchers have to submit Final Report to Türkiye Scholarships Office at the end of their studies.

Click to apply:basvuru.ytb.gov.tr

Türkiye Scholarships Office: T.C. Başbakanlık Yurtdışı Türkler ve Akraba Topluluklar Başkanlığı Mevlana Bulvarı No:145 Balgat Çankaya / ANKARA – TÜRKİYE

For information and requests:
research@turkiyeburslari.gov.tr

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MENA Scholarship Programme (MSP)

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Scholarship Programme (or MSP) offers scholarships to professionals from ten countries. The scholarships can be used for short courses in the Netherlands. The programme is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Aim

The overall aim of the MSP is to contribute to the democratic transition in the participating countries. It also aims at building capacity within organisations by enabling employees to take part in short courses in various fields of study. 

Scholarships are available for short courses with a duration between two and twelve weeks.

For whom?

The target group is professionals (with a maximum age of 45) who are nationals of and working in one of the following countries: 

• Algeria 
• Egypt 
• Iraq 
• Jordan 
• Lebanon 
• Libya 
• Morocco 
• Oman 
• Syria 
• Tunisia

While scholarships are awarded to individuals, the need for training must be demonstrated in the context of the organisation for which the applicant works. The training must help the organisation develop its capacity. This means that employers must nominate an applicant and motivate his or her application in a supporting letter.

To be eligible for an MSP scholarship you:

• must be a national of, and working and living in one of the countries on the MSP country list valid at the time of application;
• must have an employer’s statement that complies with the format EP-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),
• international NGO’s (e.g. Oxfam, Plan, Care);
• must have an official and valid passport (valid at least three months after the candidate's submission date);
• must have a government statement that meets the requirements of the country in which the employer is established (if applicable);
• must not be over 45 years of age at the time of the grant submission.

Obligations

Obligations for NFP and MSP fellowship holders 

You can use an MSP scholarship for a number of selected short courses in one of the following fields of study:

• Economics
• Commerce
• Management and Accounting
• Agriculture and Environment
• Mathematics
• Natural sciences and Computer sciences
• Engineering
• Law Public Administration
• Public order and Safety
• Humanities
• Social sciences
• Communication and Arts

How to apply

You need to apply directly at the Dutch higher education institution of your choice. 

1. Check whether you are in the abovementioned target groups. 
2. Check whether your employer will nominate you. 
3. Download an overview of short courses eligible for an MSP scholarship:
   MSP course list April 2016(61.4 kB)
4. Contact the Dutch higher education institution that offers the course of your choice to find out whether this course is eligible for an MSP scholarship and how to apply.

Selection process

The Dutch higher education institution will let you know whether your application is accepted or not. To get more insight in the process, please check the step by step NFP selection process in our infographic:

NFP selection process(3.2 MB)

New Zealand International Doctoral Research Scholarships

New Zealand Government 
PhD Degree

Deadline: 15 July 2016
Study in: New Zealand
Course starts 2016/2017

Brief description:

The NZIDRS, funded by the New Zealand Government and administered by Education New Zealand, provides scholarships for international students to undertake PhD study at a New Zealand university.

Host Institution(s):

New Zealand Universities: AUT University, Lincoln University, Massey University, University of Auckland, University of Canterbury, University of Otago, University of Waikato, Victoria University of Wellington

Level/Field(s) of study:

PhD Degree Programme in any discipline offered by participating Universities in New Zealand

Number of Scholarships:

Not specified

Target group:

International students who are not citizens or permanent residents of New Zealand or Australia.

Scholarship value/duration:

The NZIDRS covers the following for a TOTAL of three years: university tuition fees and associated student levies, an annual living stipend of NZ$25,000 (tax-free), and medical insurance coverage up to NZ$600 annually.

Eligibility:

You must meet ALL five eligibility criteria. These criteria are non-negotiable.

1. You must hold a minimum grade equivalent to a GPA of 3.7 on a 4.0 scale OR an A to A+ average in your most recent or highest post graduate tertiary qualification
2. You must have a confirmed, non-conditional offer of place for a (direct-start) PhD programme at a New Zealand university
3. If you have commenced your PhD studies in New Zealand, your start date must be after1 July 2015
4. You must conduct your PhD study in New Zealand (not from a distance)
5. You must not hold citizenship or PR status in New Zealand or Australia.

Application instructions:

In order to apply for the NZIDRS, you must have already received a non-conditional offer of place for PhD study at a New Zealand university.  You must download and complete the NZIDRS 2016 application form and submit it together with the required documents to Education New Zealand before 15 July 2016.

IMPORTANT NOTE: APPLY for the NZIDRS ONLY if you meet ALL eligibility criteria, if you can provide ALL required documents by the deadline, or  if your proposed research clearly aligns with the selection criteria.

It is important to read the NZIDRS Terms and Conditions and visit the official website (link found below) to download the application form and for detailed information on how to apply for this scholarship.

Website:

Official Scholarship Website: http://www.enz.govt.nz/how-we-work/scholarships/nzidrs

Agbami Medical and Engineering Professionals Scholarship Award / 2016

Applications are invited from FULL-TIME, 100 and 200 level undergraduates from any state of the Federation, studying any of the under listed courses in universities within Nigeria:
Medicine & Surgery
Dentistry
Pharmacy
Engineering
QUALIFICATION PROCESS: Interested applicants should click on the "How To Apply" tab to proceed.

Application closes Midnight 9th March, 2016 
Please note that applicants for the Agbami scholarship are ineligible to apply for any other scholarship program sponsored by "STAR" or any of its Co-venturers, including the NNPC/CNL JV scholarship program published simultaneously with the Agbami scholarship program

Selected students will be invited for computer-administered qualifying tests in selected examination centers nationwide. Short-listed candidates for the qualifying test will be invited by email and SMS text messages. All applicants are therefore advised to ensure that valid GSM telephone numbers and personal email addresses are properly entered into the e-forms on the web site.

Please note that applicants for the Agbami scholarship are ineligible to apply for any other scholarship program sponsored by "STAR" or any of its Co-venturers, including the NNPC/CNL JV scholarship program published simultaneously with the Agbami scholarship program.


Application is open to full-time 100 or 200 level students admitted during 2015/2016 or 2014/2015 academic session only.

1. Before you start this application, ensure you have clear scanned copies of the following documents


• Passport photograph with white background not more than 3 months old (450px by 450px not more than 200kb)
• School ID card
• Admission Letter
• Birth Certificate
• O' Level Result
• JAMB Result
• Local Government Area Letter of Identification

2. Ensure the documents are named according to what they represent to avoid mixing up documents during upload
3. Ensure you attach the appropriate documents when asked to upload 

To apply, follow the steps below:

1.    Click on "Apply Now" tab.
2.    Click on "Register Now" to create an account.
3.    Proceed to your email box to activate your account
4.    Click on www.scholastica.ng/schemes/agbami to return to Scholarship site
5.    Enter your registered email and password to upload your information.
6.    Enter your personal information, National Identification Number (if available), educational information, other information and upload required scanned documents.
7.    Ensure the name used in applications matches the names on all documentation in same order. Upload a sworn affidavit or certificate if otherwise.
8.    Ensure you view all documents after uploading, to eliminate errors during uploading.
9.    When asked to upload photo, upload a pass-port photograph with a white background.
10.  Recheck application information to avoid errors
11.  Click "Apply Now" to submit information
12.  You will receive an email and a sms that confirms your application was successful.
13.  Return to www.scholastica.ng, enter your Email and Password to download your verification profile and proceed to have your Head of Department sign the document.
14.  Upload a scanned copy of the signed verification profile, this would be used for verification.
15.  If National Identification Number (NIN) number was not available in step 6, to obtain your National Identification Number (NIN) 

• Visit http://ninenrol.gov.ng to register and learn more about the National Identity Number   
• Click "Create Account" and fill in the required  fields   
• Login with Email and Password to complete the form   
• After completion, schedule a date for photo and finger print capture   
• Visit any of the 37 capture centres http://www.nimc.gov.ng/?q=nin-registration-centres  to complete the registration process and obtain your National Identity Number   
• You can also do your total registration at the NIMC office 

16. Return to www.scholastica.ng/schemes/agbami and update application with National Identification Number (NIN) to ensure completion

Note: Multiple applications attract a disqualification penalty