The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes

30 Sep 2008

The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) are demand-driven fellowship programmes designed to foster capacity building within organizations in 57 developing countries by providing training and education to their mid-career staff members.

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 deprived groups and/or from marginalized regions.

The NFP are funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the budget for development co-operation.
 

Employer support

The need for education and training must be linked to the institutional development of the organization the applicants are working for.  This means that applicants must be nominated by their employers. In fact, applications without the support of an employer will not be considered.
 

NFP sub-programmes

NFP master’s, NFP short courses and NFP PhD studies award fellowships to individuals. NFP also finances refresher courses for NFP alumni who would like to prolong the effect of earlier learning and update their knowledge and skills.
 

Applying for NFP

Applicants for PhD studies, master’s degree programmes or short courses must first gain academic admission to the course of their choice before applying for a fellowship through the Netherlands embassy or consulate in their country. Also, they can only apply for an NFP fellowship if the course is on the NFP course list for that particular year.

In all cases, applicants are advised to contact the Netherlands embassy, consulate or Neso well in advance for specific instructions, and to inquire about specific local procedures and deadlines, requirements and selection criteria. These may differ from the general information provided on Nuffic’s website or in the brochures.
 

More information

More information about NFP, including the application forms, are available at Netherlands embassies and consulates, Neso offices or from this website under the three different sub-programmes as mentioned above.
 

NFP country list

To be eligible for an NFP fellowship, applicants must be a national of one of the following countries:

Afghanistan

El Salvador

Nepal

Albania

Eritrea

Nicaragua

Armenia

Ethiopia

Nigeria

Autonomous Palestinian Territories             

Georgia

Pakistan

Bangladesh 

Ghana

Peru

Benin

Guatemala

Philippines

Bhutan

Guinea-Bissau                          

Rwanda

Bolivia

Honduras

Senegal

Bosnia-Herzegovina

India

South Africa

Brazil

Indonesia

Sri Lanka

Burkina Faso

Iran

Suriname

Burundi*

Ivory Coast**

Tanzania

Cambodia

Jordan

Thailand

Cape Verde

Kenya

Uganda***

China (excl. Hong Kong and Macao)

Kosovo*

Vietnam

Colombia

Macedonia

Yemen

Costa Rica

Mali

Sudan

Cuba

Moldova

Zambia

DR Congo*

Mongolia

Zimbabwe

Ecuador

Mozambique

 

Egypt

Namibia

 

*    These countries will be added to the NFP country list as of 1 January 2009.

**  The Netherlands Embassy in Abidjan is closed. For the time being it is therefore not possible for people from Ivory Coast to apply for the NFP.

*** The fellowship desk of the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Kampala, Uganda will be closed from 4 March to 30 August 2009. In this period the fellowship desk will only deal with selected applicants who were awarded a fellowship.
 

Scholarship search engine

Grantfinder is the online search engine which brings together a range of Dutch scholarships for international students who wish to come to the Netherlands. Visit www.grantfinder.nl.