Holland MENA Scholarships are funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and handled by Nuffic. This scholarship is a program that enables students from North Africa and the Middle East to undertake short courses in the Netherlands. The aims are to improve the building capacity of organizations and deepen the relationship between the Netherlands and the participating countries. In addition, MSP also aims to grant 50% of the award to female applicants.
Holland MENA Scholarship is designed to unleash the potentials of highly motivated professionals and for them to be able to share the knowledge with their organizations in their own countries. With this, the Netherlands can accentuate its image as a country of great knowledge.
Holland MENA Scholarship Program benefits
The Holland MENA Scholarship Program covers tuition fees, travel costs, visa fees, living allowances, insurances, study materials, and housing allowances. This is only valid for the whole duration of the program. A three-day extension may be granted by the Dutch institution in severe health conditions only. It will immediately notify the immigration authorities once the scholarship period ends. There is no possibility of extending the scholarship grant.
Eighty percent of the Holland MENA scholarship allowance will be provided at the start of the grant period. The remaining 20% is paid for after the grant is settled. All rewards are given in euros. Note that any excess in the initial payment after the final report will be returned to Nuffic.
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Eligibility criteria and requirements for the Holland MENA Scholarship Program
Applicant must be a professional and a resident of Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Lebanon, Tunisia, or Morocco. Syrians can also apply for the MSP provided that they are working or living in one of the mentioned countries. For Oman residents, there are no scholarships available at this moment.
There are different eligibility criteria and requirements per country, but here are the most basic ones for Holland MENA Scholarships. Competition is quite tough for this scholarship because there are only 20 slots awarded per year. They are equally allocated to the eligible countries. The basic requirements include, but are not limited to, highly motivated students living and working in the mentioned countries, 20 to 45 years old, English proficient, and must agree to the MSP obligations.
An employer’s statement under the format provided by Nuffic must be provided. This will show the support of your employer and is an implication of your willingness to share the knowledge you gained during your study in the Netherlands. A government statement should also be provided if you are a government civil servant.
Employees of organizations like multinational corporations, huge commercial associations, bilateral or multilateral donor associations, and internationally known organizations are not accepted. Belonging in the said organizations means that they have the ability for their own staff development. For example, these corporations include Shell, Microsoft, Unilever, USAID, SwissAid, Plan, Care, UN organization, the World Bank, and others not mentioned.
A valid passport of at least three months from the date of submission is required. Only one application is accepted per applicant. Submission of more than one will subject your application to consideration and may be nullified without notification.
Priority is given to students working in small and medium enterprise development, water management, agriculture and dairy food processing, environment and waste management, infrastructure, local governance, renewable energy, journalism, human rights, youth entrepreneurship, safety and security, mathematics, natural sciences, computer science, humanities social science, and communication arts. There are other priority areas specified in other countries. The themes that are given utmost importance by each country are summarized in this document. For more details, visit the links to the country where you are residing.
There are also some course specifications under the MSP. The course should be fully accomplished in the Netherlands, have English, French or Spanish as a medium of instruction, completed between 12 to 90 days, and must be registered in HODEX or Studiekeuze Webformulier.
Application procedure for the Holland MENA Scholarship Program
The application can be done in two ways. Either by admission through the academic institution or online application through Nuffic.
If you are applying through an academic institution, contact the university to know more about the application procedure, requirements, and deadlines. Contact details of the institutions are linked in the lower portion of the country pages.
A link can be found on Nuffic’s website for the registration. Check if you share the same approach as your home country and pick a course you’d like to take. Send your application and wait for the results. Should there be any questions, send an email to Nuffic.
You may also apply as a group if you have the same training needs through tailor-made training (TMT). This is for skills and knowledge development as a group.
Holland MENA Scholarship Program deadline
The scholarship period can last for two to thirteen weeks. Application for the Holland MENA scholarship can be done twice a year. The first round of applications is usually in February or March. Submission of applications ends by the last week of April. The assessment follows until the end of May.
Successful candidates are named in the first week of June. Another application is opened in September or October. The results are released three to four months after the application deadline. Calls for the opening of the application are posted here. Be more updated on the specific deadlines of your home country by visiting the links on the Nuffic website.
