Ghent Masters Scholarships for Developing Countries, Belgium

During its meeting of 23 May 2001, the Board of Directors decided that special measures would be taken to provide postgraduate scholarships to candidates from developing countries who wish to obtain a master's degree at Ghent University.

In view of the changes in the Flemish Higher Education System the information in the call for applications has been adjusted at the Executive Committee meeting of 9 November 2006. Each year, a maximum of 10 scholarships can be awarded.

Scholarship type and duration

The master scholarships are awarded for the duration of the studies, aiming at the delivery of a Ghent University diploma after max. 2 years of study. The scholarship is in principle paid for the total duration of the studies. In case of a 2-year study programme, the 2nd year will be paid upon successful completion of the first year (minimum 60 credits)

Eligible Master Grants programmes 2013-2014

International Master of Science in Rural Development
International Master of Science in Environmental Technology and Engineering
Master of Science in Technology for Integrated Water Management
Master of Advanced Studies in European Law
Erasmus Mundus: Master of Science in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation
Erasmus Mundus: European Master of Science in Nematology
Master of Science in Plant Biotechnology
Master of Science in Statistical Data Analysis
Master of Science in Photonics Science and Engineering
Master of Science in Textile Engineering
Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering
Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering

+ 7 International Course Programmes (ICP)*

Master of Science in Aquaculture
Master of Science in Environmental Sanitation
Master of Science in Food Technology
Master of Science in Nematology
Master of Science in Physical Land Resources
Master of Science of Nutrition and Rural Development
Master of Science in Marine and Lacustrine Science and Management 

*All residents from the VLIR-UOS country list can only apply for an ICP-scholarship (International Course Programme) and not for a Master grant.
Residents from Angola, Myanmas, Niger, Pakistan, Algeria, China and Namibië can apply for a Master grant (PDF) .

Exception: ICP-students already in their first master and resident of the VLIR-UOS country list can apply for the master grant.

Eligibility criteria

Degree

Applicants for master's programmes should already have obtained a bachelor degree when they submit the application.

Nationality

• If you are a new student applying for an ICP: Master Grants country list ICP (PDF) 
• If you are a new student applying for an ICP and your country is on the VLIR-UOS country list, please apply for the VLIR-UOS scholarship instead. You cannot apply for a Master Grant.
• If you are a student applying for an ICP, but already in your first master: Master Grants country list (PDF) Priority, however, will be given to the categories on the country list with the lowest levels of development and income. 
• If you are an applicant for another programme than the ICP's, you must come from and should be nationals of one of the developing countries on the Master Grants country list (PDF). Priority, however, will be given to the categories on the country list with the lowest levels of development and income. 

Language and proficiency

The application is to be made in English. The applicant should have a very good command of the English language. Click here to see the requirements.

Applicants who already received a Master Grant in the past, are not eligible.

Selection procedure

Eligibility check

Application files that do not comply with all eligibility criteria or submission requirements, will not be considered for selection.

Selection Committee

The Council for Development Cooperation (COS or Commissie Ontwikkelingssamenwerking) makes a selection of the applications based in part on the recommendations obtained from a working group of this Council and proceeds to formulate well-founded recommendations to the Executive Committee of Ghent University.

Selection criteria

The recommendations are based on:

• The qualifications of the applicant for the master grant (this also implies that the chances of overly qualified candidates might increase);
• Students who successfully follow the first year of a Master Grant programme at Ghent  University may have a higher chance of selection;
• There is no strict age limit, altough applicants below 40 years are preferred;
• The significance of the master's programme for the student's country;
• Validation of the knowledge in the student's country;
• The student's nationality (see nationality);
• The motivation of the applicant.
• IMPORTANT selection criterium: Proof of relation with UGent: Demonstrate that the university of your studies, your current or future employer has a relation with Ghent University (former or current). For example: staff exchange, research projects, publications, etc.

For Ghent University it's important that for the type of grants you are applying for, the students will return to their home country upon their study and add to the UGent international network in developing countries. Therefore as a prerequisite we ask that you can demonstrate that the university of your studies, your current or your future employer has already a former or current relation with UGent. It's an asset if this is in the field of your study, but if there's already collaboration in another field, that's also good.

In view of the extremely high number of Master Grant applications we normally receive, your application will not be eligible if there's no relation at all. It's up to the applicant to add documents or letters that support this institutional link.

Funding

The scholarship consists of an allowance of €1000 per month and the yearly tuition fee with a maximum of 80€. Once you get an intstallation fee of 500€. In case of increased tuition fee for the master's programme, Ghent University will only reimburse the refundable part. Airline ticket and visa costs are carried by the student.  

Deadline and decision

Deadline

New students: 21st December 2012

Students already in their first Master at Ghent University and students already having official admission to Ghent University:

• time till the first of March 2013 to ask for the application form
• time till 31st of March 2013 to send the soft and hard copy of the filled in application form

Decision

The final decision will be taken on the first Council for Development Cooperation following on the 30th of April 2013.

If you would have more questions, send an e-mail to developmentcooperation@UGent.be

For further information, please visit the official website at http://www.ugent.be/en/research/devcooperation/mastergrants.htm#general-information

CUD Scholarships Program for Developing Countries, Belgium

Overview of the Scholarships programmeWithin the programme for international courses and training programmes, CIUF-CUD grants each year 150 scholarships for participation into the courses and 70 for participation into the training programmes.
You will find on this site a list of international courses and training programmes for which there is a possibility of scholarship and, for information purposes, the modalities of introduction of an application as well as the rules of selection in force within the 2013-2014 programme.
Practical information about Belgium is also available on this site. 

RULES OF SELECTION
The following criteria will apply for the selection of holders of scholarships:

1. Only applicants originating in developing countries, qualify for selection. To be eligible, candidates must reside and work in their country at the time of the introduction of the file.
2. ONLY the nationals of the following countries are authorized to postulate with our SCHOLARSHIPS :  
South Africa, Algeria, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Colombia, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guinea, Haïti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Uganda, Peru, Philippines, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, El Salvador, Senegal, Suriname, Tanzania, Palestinian territories, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe
3. At the beginning of the programme, candidates must be less than 40 years old for courses, and less than 45 years old for training programmes.


4. Candidates must be holders of a degree that is comparable to a Belgian University graduate degree ("licence"). However, for certain programmes different rules of admissibility may be defined, and these are specified hereafter, where appropriate.


5. Candidates must show professional experience of at least two years upon termination of their studies. Where candidates are holders of a postgraduate degree delivered by an university of an industrial country, they must show professional experience of at least three years upon termination of their studies.


6. Candidates must have a good knowledge of written and spoken French; for programmes organised in another language, good knowledge, in writing and speaking, of this language, is required. Moreover, the candidate will be asked to commit himself to study French in order to be able to participate in daily life in Belgium.


7. Candidates are not allowed to apply FOR MORE THAN ONE PROGRAMME.

Applicants must not first obtain admission to one of the French-speaking universities of Belgium in order to apply for grants from the CUD.

NO TREATMENT WILL BE GIVEN TO FILES THAT :

• Are incomplete
• Are sent by fax or e-mail
• Arrive at CUD beyond the set deadline (indicated on this site)
• Are not provided on the adequate file (downloadable on this site), and in the language in which the programme is provided
• Do not correspond to a programme presented in this site
• Refer to more than one programme
• Are not accompanied by the parts to join obligatorily (copy certified of the diploma,...). Photocopies or documents scanned of the certified copies are NOT accepted
• Do not respect one the criteria of conformity clearly mentioned in the site (certified diploma, age, professional experience,...)

Apply for a grant from the CUD is absolutely FREE. Any application containing an envelope with money will be automatically rejected.

During the selection process between admissible files, CIUF will take account of the following criteria:

The academic curriculum
For courses, priority will be granted to candidates who have not yet obtained a postgraduate degree, save for exceptional circumstances specified in the application file.


The benefit of previous scholarships

Priority will be granted to candidates who have not yet benefited from a scholarship in Belgium.


Professional experience

CIUF grants scholarships as a matter of priority to candidates who, upon termination of their University studies, have had the opportunity of practising a profession in relation to problems of development. The social impact of professional experience constitutes an element of assessment.


Membership of a partner institution
Candidates who are appointed by an institution with which CIUF has concluded a partnership, either within the framework of institutional co-operation or within the framework of an own-initiative programme, will be granted priority in case of equality on the other selection criteria.


The commitment of the candidate to development activities

Special attention will be given to files of candidates who, beyond their academic qualities, have shown commitment to development issues. This commitment may materialise in having worked with the most disadvantaged social categories, and in having tried to define with them the efficient means to defend and promote their interests.


Nationality

CIUF aims at diversifying the geographic origin of the scholars. It sees to it that in the overall of the international courses and training programmes organised in the framework of its North-Actions programme, candidates origina-ting in sub-saharian Africa represent 50% of the total number of scholars.


Equality of sexes

CIUF grants special attention to the participation of women in the international courses and training programmes organised within the framework of the North-Actions programme.


Perspectives of future reinstatement

Major guarantees are required concerning the return of the candidate to his country of origin or to another developing country, as well as his reinstatement in a profession that enables him to put the training acquired in Belgium at the service of development (e.g. labour contract, formal promise of appointment) and to produce a multiplier effect to the benefit of his country of origin. 

HOW TO INTRODUCE AN APPLICATION

HOW TO INTRODUCE AN APPLICATION FOR A SCHOLARSHIP? 

• This file can be taken from our web-site.


• It will be carefully completed and returned, ONLY by POST MAIL or EXPRESS MAIL, to CUD, that must be in their possession at the latest by FEBRUARY, 13, 2013* (we do not hold account of the postmark, we take into account only the files arrived in our buildings for the date limits at the latest)
• No acknowledgement of receipt will be provided
• Only applications presented on the appropriate file, and in the language of the programme, will be submitted to the selection committee.


• All elements of the file must be transmitted simultaneously. No complementary file will be admitted at a later stage.


• The candidates selected and of reserve will receive an e-mail at the end of the selections (end of May 2013). The not selected candidates will receive an e-mail in the current of june 2013.


• No document transmitted to CUD will be returned to the candidates.


• No treatment will be given to files that do not respect one of the rules of selection clearly mentioned on the web site (certified diploma, age, professional experience,...).

* before JANUARY, 18 2013 for the following trainings :

• stage à l'Usage des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication dans les Bibliothèques Universitaires
• stage méthodologique en appui à l'innovation en agriculture familiale

For more information, please visit the official website at http://www.cud.be/content/view/339/208/lang,/