Introduction  
Educationalinstitutions in the Netherlands offer international short courses,providing professional training at post-secondary level in severalfields of study. The courses lead to a certificate or a diploma andtheir duration varies from two weeks to 12 months. An NFP fellowship,which is granted for the duration of the course, covers the tuitionfees plus the costs of international travel, subsistence, books andhealth insurance.

The list of eligible short courses can be downloaded (aspdf, 193 kB). The main criteria for eligibility of courses on the listare relevance of the course and cost efficiency. It should be notedthat this list is a provisional list, based on a survey conducted amongall potential Dutch providers in early 2005.

The website should be consulted for the latest information, because information may be altered and courses might be added well into 2006.

Eligibility  
A candidate applying for a fellowship for a short course 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 to one of the short courses on the current list;
  This means that the applicant must have met all the requirements set by the Dutch institution;
• have completed an NFP Short Course Application Form and havesubmitted all the required documentation to the Netherlands embassy orconsulate;
• be nominated by the employer, who pledges to continuepayment of the candidate's salary and to hold a job open while theemployee is in the Netherlands. It may be acceptable if the employerstates that at least part of the salary will continue to be paid, andthat the organization complies with all the formal NFP requirements ifthe fellowship is awarded. It should be realized, however, that NFPallowances are not sufficient to support family members, either in thehome 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 the language of instruction (English in most cases).
  Candidateswho have received their tertiary education in any language other thanEnglish must provide evidence in the form of a score in aninternationally recognized test, such as IELTS (a score of at least
  6.0)or TOEFL (a score of at least 550 points on the paper based test or 213points on the computer-based test). An exception to this rule is madefor candidates who have received their tertiary education in theEnglish language, and for candidates who have attended a course orprogramme with a Dutch  educational institution before, but no longerthan four years ago;
• be available for the entire period of the course and be physically and mentally able to take part in the entire course;
• declare that they will return to their home country immediately after the short course has ended.

Joint Courses
A number of short courses takes place,partly or as a whole, in one of the NFP countries. NFP fellowships willbe available only for participants originating from the NFP countrywhere (part of) the course takes place and for participants from aneighbouring country.

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

Application for admission at a Dutch educational institution
1)Applicants first apply for admission to the short course of theirchoice. Applications should always be directed to the Dutch provider ofthe course. The short courses overview (download as pdf, 90 kB) provides the academic application deadlines for each short course.
2)The provider assesses the application and decides whether or not theapplicant's educational background and other experience meet thespecific requirements for the course in question. The provider theninforms all applicants of its decisions. Candidates who have beenaccepted receive a letter to this effect.

Candidates are eligible for a fellowship only if theyhave been admitted to the course of their choice and meet all thecriteria. Being admitted to more than one course does not mean that thecandidate can apply for more than one fellowship. Candidates will haveto select one course before applying for a fellowship.

Application for a fellowship
3) Candidates then apply for an NFP fellowship through the Netherlands embassy or consulatein their own country. Some embassies require applications to besubmitted in duplicate. In some countries applications have to besubmitted to the embassies through local governmental organizations.Candidates are therefore advised to check any local regulations withthe Netherlands embassy in their country.
4) Candidates mustcomplete an NFP Short Course Application Form and submit it togetherwith all the required documents to the embassy or consulate. Theseforms can be obtained from the embassy or consulate and can also be downloaded (as pdf, 113 kB).
5) There are several fellowship application deadlines for short courses (downloadas pdf, 53 kB). Each entry on the short courses overview indicateswhich deadline applies at the various Netherlands embassies andconsulates.
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.
6)Completed fellowship application forms must be submitted to theNetherlands embassy or consulate in the applicant's own country. Theembassy or consulate checks each application against the criterialisted above, giving special attention to the following:

• whether the application was submitted before the deadline;
• whether the candidate has presented a letter of admission to the short course 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 course is on the list of short courses 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 statement endorsing theapplication and guaranteeing that the candidates salary will be paid infull or in part during his or her absence and that a job will be heldopen for him or her;
• whether the candidate can offer proof of a sufficient command of the language of instruction;
• whether the candidate fulfils any other specific requirements set by the embassy, consulate or country in question.

Important news about the Embassies. Read more.

7) The embassies and consulates forward all fellowship applications that meet all the criteria to Nuffic.
8)Nuffic decides how many fellowships will be available for each course.The allocation of fellowships over the various courses is based on thenumber of eligible fellowship applicants for each course.
9) TheDutch providers select the candidates who will receive fellowships. Theprovider informs all candidates directly of their decisions, andapplies to Nuffic for a grant.
10) Nuffic awards the grant for theprovider to cover the fellowship holders' costs, including the tuitionfees. The provider pays each fellowship holder a subsistence allowancefor the duration of the short course.
11) The Dutch providers willbe responsible for administering fellowships, making logisticalarrangements, and giving guidance to the fellowship holders.

Deadline for applications  
On the short course overview (downloadas pdf, 90 kB), each entry includes the application deadlines foracademic admission and a reference to the fellowship applicationdeadline set by the Netherlands embassies and consulates. Thesespecific deadlines are listed for each country in an annex to theoverview: Ã¢â‚¬ËœFellowship application deadlines of Netherlands embassies and consulates for short courses starting in 2006' (download as pdf, 53 kB).

A letter of admission should be in the candidate'spossession well before the embassy's deadline for submitting fellowshipapplications. Therefore, candidates are strongly advised to start theapplication procedure for admission as early as possible.

Selection of the candidates who will be awarded NFP fellowships forshort courses takes place approximately one and a half months after thedeadline.

Reference:
http://www.nuffic.nl/nfp/