The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) are demand-driven fellowship programmes designed to promote capacity building within organizations in 61 developing countries by providing training and education to their mid-career staff members.
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 NFP is funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the development cooperation budget.
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.
The fellowship
An NFP fellowship is intended to supplement the salary that the fellowship holder should continue to receive (at least partially) during the study period. The allowance is considered to be a contribution towards the cost of living for one person, whether in the Netherlands or in another country. The fellowship can also cover the costs of tuition fees, visas, travel costs, insurance and thesis research.
How to apply?
If you want to apply for PhD studies, master’s degree programmes or short courses you must first gain academic admission to the course of your choice before applying for a fellowship through the Netherlands embassy or consulate in your country. Also, you can only apply for an NFP fellowship if the course is on the NFP course list for that particular year.
In all cases, you are advised to contact the Netherlands Embassy, Consulate or local Nuffic Neso office 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, is available at Netherlands Embassies and Consulates, Nuffic Neso offices or from this website under the three different sub-programmes as mentioned above.
NFP country list
Scholarship search engine
Grantfinder is an online search engine that browses a range of Dutch scholarships for international students who wish to come to the Netherlands.
