Introduction  
TheNetherlands' higher education sector offers a large number ofinternational master's degree programmes. They cover almost every fieldof study, allowing candidates to receive a postgraduate education andto earn either a Master of Arts degree, a Master of Science degree, ora Professional Master's degree. A Master of Arts or a Master of Sciencedegree is an academic degree, usually awarded by traditionaluniversities on completion of a postgraduate research-oriented courseof one to two years in duration. A Professional Master's degree isawarded by different types of institutes of higher education andfocuses on more professionally-oriented teaching programmes.
Professional Master's degrees are usually of shorter duration than a research-oriented Master's degree programme.

The duration of the programmes varies between 9 and 24 months. Thefellowships, which are granted for the duration of the programme, coverthe tuition fees plus the costs of international travel, subsistence,books, and health insurance.

The list of eligible master's degree programmes can be downloaded(as pdf, 315 kB). It should be noted that this list is based on asurvey conducted among all potential Dutch providers of internationalmaster's degree programmes in early 2005.
Information may be subject to alteration and master's degree programmes might be added to the list well into 2006. The website should be consulted for the latest information.

Eligibility  
An applicant for an NFP fellowship for a master's degree programme must:

• be a national of and working in one of the 57 developing countries on the list;
• have been unconditionally admitted by a Dutch institution toone of the master's degree programmes on the course list. This meansthat the applicant must have met all the requirements set by the Dutchinstitution;
• have completed an NFP Master's Degree Programme ApplicationForm and have submitted all the required documentation to theNetherlands embassy or consulate;
• be nominated by the employer, who pledges to continuepayment of the employee's salary and to hold a job open while theemployee is pursuing the Master's degree programme. It may beacceptable if the employer states that at least part of the salary willcontinue to be paid, and that the organization complies with all theother formal NFP requirements if the fellowships is awarded. It shouldbe realized, however, that NFP allowances are not sufficient to supportfamily members, either in the home country or in the Netherlands;
• provide statements explaining the motivation of both the applicant and the employer;
• not be employed by a large industrial, commercial and/or multinational firm;
• offer evidence of proficiency in speaking and writing thelanguage of instruction. Candidates who have received their educationin any language other than English must provide evidence in the form ofa score in an internationally recognized test such as IELTS (a score ofat least 6.0) or TOEFL (a score of at
  least 550 points on thepaper-based test). An exception to this rule is made for candidates whohave received their education in the English language, and candidateswho have attended a course or programme with a Dutch educationalinstitution before, but no longer than four years ago;
• beavailable for the entire period of the programme and be physically andmentally able to take part in  the entire programme;
• declare that they will return to their home country immediately after the study programme has ended.

Joint or Double Degree Programmes
A number ofmaster's degree programmes take place, either in whole or in part, inone of the NFP countries, for example as a "joint programme" or as a"joint degree programme". In these cases, the Dutch institution and thepartner institution in an NFP country deliver the programme together.NFP fellowships will be available only for participants originatingfrom the NFP country where the course (or part of the course) takesplace and for participants originating from a neighbouring country.

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The application and selection procedure  
The application and selection procedure consists of the following steps:

Application for admission at a Dutch educational institution:
1)Applicants first apply for admission to the master's degree programmeof their choice. Applications should always be directed to the Dutchprovider of the programme. The deadlines for these applications vary. Applicants are advised to consult the Dutch provider about theapplication deadline for their chosen programme, and to apply foradmission well before the deadline.
2) The provider assesses theapplication and decides whether or not the applicant's educationalbackground and other experience meet the specific requirements for theprogramme in question. The provider then informs all applicants of itsdecisions. Successful candidates will receive a letter indicating thatthey have been provisionally, but unconditionally admitted. Admissionmust be unconditional in terms of the candidate's education andlanguage proficiency. Admission may be granted provisionally, subjectto the candidate finding suitable funding for the course.

Candidates are eligible for a fellowship only if theyhave been admitted to their chosen master's degree programme and meetall the criteria. Being admitted to more than one course does not meanthat a candidate can apply for more than one fellowship. Candidateswill have to select one course before applying for a fellowship.

Application for a fellowship
3) After receiving theirletter of admission, candidates may then apply for an NFP fellowshipthrough the Netherlands embassy or consulate in their own country. Someembassies require applications to be submitted in duplicate. In othercountries applications have to be submitted to the embassies throughlocal governmental organizations. Candidates are therefore advised tocheck any local regulations with the Netherlands embassy in theircountry.
4) Candidates must complete an NFP Master's DegreeProgramme Application Form and submit it together with all the requireddocuments and information to the embassy or consulate well before thedeadline for applications set by the embassy or consulate. These formscan be obtained from the embassy or consulate and can be downloaded (as pdf, 115 kB).

Candidates should NOT send their fellowship applicationforms directly to Nuffic or to the Dutch provider, but should forwardthem to the Netherlands embassy or consulate in their own country.

5. The embassy or consulate checks each application against the criteria listed above. Special attention is given to:

• whether the application was submitted before the deadline;
• whether the candidate has presented a letter of admission to the programme in question;
• whether the information accompanying the application iscomplete and correct, and whether the required documentation (such aspassport, diplomas and language test) is in order;
• whether the programme is on the list of master's degree programmes starting in 2006;
• whether the course has added value for the sustainablecapacity development of the employing organization and the developmentof the NFP country;
• whether the employer has provided a letter endorsing theapplication and guaranteeing that the candidate's salary will continueto be paid in full or in part during his or her absence and that a jobwill be held open for him or her;
• whether the candidate can offer proof of a sufficient command of the English language;
• whether the candidate fulfils any other specific requirements set by the embassy or consulate.

Important news about the Embassies. Read more.

6) The embassies and consulates forward the fellowship applicationsthat meet all of the criteria to Nuffic before Nuffic's deadline.
7)Nuffic decides how many fellowships will be available for eachprogramme. The allocation of fellowships between the various programmesis based on the number of eligible applicants for each programme.
8)The Dutch provider then selects the candidates who will receivefellowships. The provider informs all candidates of its decisions, andapplies to Nuffic for a grant.
9) Nuffic awards the grant for theprovider to cover the fellowship holders' expenses, including thetuition fees. The provider pays each fellowship holder amonthlyallowance for the duration of the master's degree programme.
10)The Dutch providers administer the fellowships, make logistical arrangements, and give guidance to the fellowship holders.

NFP E-learning pilot 
Inthe future, the Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) may also awardscholarships for students to follow e-learning programmes leading to amaster's degree offered by higher education institutions in theNetherlands. Up to now, e-learning programmes were not included in theNFP course list because the structure of the programmes wasincompatible with the current NFP rules. To date, the NFP course listhas only included full-time programmes, because NFP scholarshipstudents are expected to be available for full-time study during theirstay in the Netherlands (or other place of study). However, e-learningprogrammes usually only require part-time participation by the student,along with a number of short residential courses where students cometogether and take part in full-time training, usually lasting a coupleof weeks. Another problem was that this type of programme might notprovide the opportunities and meet the needs of the NFP's key targetgroup, organizations and their mid-career employees in sub-SaharanAfrica. Internet access in these countries is not always widely oreasily available and is relatively expensive.

One of the aims of the pilot is to show how much of a problem theissue of Internet access really is. It is expected that the opportunityto study for a master's degree without the need to spend a number ofyears abroad will in fact appeal to the NFP's mid-career target group.January 2005, has seen the launch of a pilot for two e-learningprogrammes. A total of four fellowships have been made available forthe pilot and have been allocated to the two programmes that are beingused for the pilot (both received two fellowships). The programmes arethe Global MPA (Master of Public Administration) at the NetherlandsSchool of Public Administration (NSOB), and the Master of Public HealthProfessions Education at the University of Maastricht. If the pilotproves successful, and if more NFP fellowships will be made availablefor e-learning programmes in the future, the application, assessmentand fellowship award procedure will be the same as with the regularmaster's degree programmes.

Deadline for applications  
Academic application deadlines
Thedeadlines for admission to a master's degree programme vary and not alldeadlines were known to us when compiling this brochure. If no academicadmission deadline is stated in this brochure for your chosenprogramme, you should contact the Dutch provider directly for furtherinformation. It may occur that the provider's deadline for applying foradmission to a programme is later than the NFP deadline for fellowshipapplications. Nevertheless, fellowship applications cannot be takeninto consideration without a letter of admission to a master's degreeprogramme.

Fellowship application deadlines
There are twofellowship application deadlines for master's degree courses. One forcourses starting in the first quarter of 2006, and one for coursesstarting in the third quarter of 2006. Please check the list of fellowship application deadlines(download as pdf, 53 kB) for the specific deadline set by theNetherlands embassy or consulate in your country. A letter of admissionshould be in the candidate's possession well before the embassy'sdeadline for submitting fellowship applications. Therefore, candidatesare strongly advised to start the application procedure for admissionas early as possible.

There is a good reason why NFP deadlines are scheduled so far inadvance. Candidates need time to prepare for a long stay abroad. Ittakes at least three months to obtain a visa, for example, and otherlogistical arrangements also take time.

The selection of candidates who have applied for an NFP fellowshipfor a master's degree programme starting in 2006 will take place inNovember 2005 and in May 2006. The Dutch providers will inform allcandidates of their decisions towards the end of November/beginning ofDecember 2005 and the end of May 2006.

Find all the latest information at www.nuffic.nl/nfp