Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP)

Details

The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) promotes capacity building within organizations in 51 countries by providing fellowships for training and education for professionals. The NFP is initiated and fully funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the budget for development cooperation.

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

In addition, there are separate funds for tailor-made training courses and alumni activities.

Aim of the NFP

The NFP aims to help increase both the number and the competencies of skilled staff at a wide range of government and non-government organizations.

Each embassy has its own focus area to support the development goals of the Netherlands in each NFP country. The overall objective is to spend 35% of the budget on grants and study programmes in food security and private sector development.

The fellowships are further prioritized as follows:

• 50% of the budget is for applications from Sub Saharan Africa.
• 50% of fellowships have to be awarded to female applicants.

The fellowship

An NFP fellowship is intended to supplement the salary that the fellow should continue to receive during the study period. The allowance is a contribution towards the costs of living, the costs of tuition fees, visas, travel, insurance and thesis research. If applicable, the fellowship holder is expected to cover the difference between the actual costs and the amount of the personal NFP allowances.

The fellowships are awarded in a very competitive selection to highly motivated professionals who are in a position to introduce the newly-acquired skills and knowledge into their employing organization.

For whom?

The NFP is meant for professionals who are nationals of and work and live in one of the 51 NFP countries.

The countries have been classified into two categories (I and II).

Category I countries are priority countries and will receive more fellowships.

Candidates have to be nominated by their employer to be eligible for the fellowship. There also has to be a clear need for training within the context of the organization.

Criteria

• Be a national of, and working and living in one of the countries on the NFP country list;
• 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;
• 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 organizations,
  • bilateral donor organizations (e.g. USAID, DFID, Danida, Sida, Dutch ministry of Foreign affairs, FinAid, AusAid, ADC, SwissAid),
  • multilateral donor organizations, (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);

• Have an official and valid passport;
• Not receive more than one fellowship for courses that take place at the same time;
• Have a government statement that meets the requirements of the country in which the employer is established (if applicable).

How to apply

Apply directly with a Dutch higher education institution of your choice, taking into account the following steps:

1. Check whether you are in the abovementioned target groups.
2. Check whether your employer will nominate you.
3. Find a course with our study finder tool.
4. Contact the Dutch higher education institution which offers the NFP-qualified course of your choice for application procedures.

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 info-graphic:

Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP)