NUFFIC Scholarship procedure for RMS Applicants

Furthermore, make sure that your expression of interest fits in the priority areas of your country. If your application is not well motivated and your expression of interest is not in line with the country focus, we will not be able to nominate you for a scholarship.

Please study the procedure and requirements carefully, prepare yourself well and register in the online system of Delta.

These are the steps to apply for an OKP and MSP scholarship.
Step 1a:      Check if you are eligible for OKP
Step 1b:      Check if you are eligible for MSP   
Step 2 a:     Apply at MSM (https://campus.msm.nl/login)
Step 2b:      Registration in Delta for OKP or MSP
Step 3:        Selection of candidates

We will explain every step in detail below. 

Step 1a: Check if you are eligible for OKP

You must meet all the below criteria that support the aim of the OKP to be eligible for a scholarship.

• Please check the obligations and conditions of the Orange Knowledge Programme before you apply.
• You must be a national of, and working and living in one of the selected countries on the OKP country list. Check the Country List under How to apply on: www.studyinholland.nl/okp.
• You are nominated by your employer, who pledges to continue paying your salary and guarantees that you will be able to return to the same or an equivalent position at the end of your scholarship period. This means that you must have an employer’s statement that complies with the format Nuffic has provided. All information must be provided and all commitments that are included in the format must be endorsed in the statement. 
• Your scholarship application should be in line with the Country Plan of Implementation or Country Focus for the country concerned.
• You must not be employed by an organization that has its own means of staff-development. Organizations that are considered to have their own means for staff development are for example:
  - multinational corporations (e.g. Shell, Unilever, Microsoft),
  - large national and/or a large commercial organizations,
  - bilateral donor organizations (e.g. USAID, DFID, Danida, Sida, Dutch ministry of Foreign affairs, FinAid, AusAid, ADC, SwissAid),
  - multilateral donor organizations, (e.g. a UN organization, the World Bank, the IMF, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, IADB),
  - international NGO’s (e.g. Oxfam, Plan, Care);
• You must have an official and valid passport (until at least 3 months after your application date);
• You must not receive more than one scholarship for courses that take place at the same time;
• You must have a government statement that meets the requirements of the country in which the employer is established (if applicable, see step 2);
• Your command of English is good enough to participate fully in the training. MSM reserves the right to check this.
• The scholarship applicant has been admitted to the course or program for which he/she wishes an OKP scholarship.

For more information on the general eligibility criteria please read: OKP information for applicants.

Priority areas for the OKP scholarships
The embassies have a key role in aligning the OKP program with local priorities and needs, as part of the overall country strategy of the Ministry. The program supports the country strategy, priorities, programs and initiatives from perspective of capacity building and knowledge development. Each of the Dutch Embassies in the OKP countries work within the policy lines of the Dutch government. Within this framework they have set priorities for their field of work. 

The OKP programme offers opportunities in fields related to the priority themes of the Dutch government:

• Food and nutrition security
• Water, energy and climate
• Sexual and reproductive health and rights
• Security and the rule of law

The countries in the programme each focus on one or more of these themes. Together with the local embassy they decide which themes are applicable for each country.  This is done by focusing on the local needs of each participating country.In addition, the following cross-cutting themes are important in all participating countries:

• Private sector development
• Inclusivity of women and marginalised groups
• Environment

To check which themes apply for your country, check the country themes page.

Step 1b: Check if you are eligible for MSP
To be eligible for an MSP scholarship: You are a national of, and working and living in, one of the following countries from the MSP country list valid at the time of application: Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Syria*, Tunisia. Check the Country List on: https://www.nuffic.nl/en/subjects/scholarships/mena-scholarship-programme-msp. 

*MSP is not currently open to professionals applying from Syria. Applicants with the Syrian nationality may apply if they are residing and working in one of the other MSP countries listed.

• Check the obligations and conditions before you apply:
• You are a mid-career professional and are nominated by your employer, who pledges to continue paying your salary and guarantees that you will be able to return to the same or an equivalent position at the end of your scholarship period. While scholarships are awarded to individuals, the need for training must be demonstrated in the context of the organization for which the applicant works. The training must help the organization develop its capacity. This means that you must have an employer’s statement that complies with the format Nuffic has provided. All information must be provided and all commitments that are included in the format must be endorsed in the statement. 
• Your scholarship application should be in line with the country focus for the country concerned.
• You must not be employed by an organization that has its own means of staff-development. Organizations that are considered to have their own means for staff development are for example:

- multinational corporations (e.g. Shell, Unilever, Microsoft),
- large national and/or a large commercial organizations,
- bilateral donor organizations (e.g. USAID, DFID, Danida, Sida, Dutch ministry of Foreign affairs, FinAid, AusAid, ADC, SwissAid),
- multilateral donor organizations, (e.g. a UN organization, the World Bank, the IMF, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, IADB),
- international NGO’s (e.g. Oxfam, Plan, Care);

• You must have an official and valid passport (until at least 3 months after your application date);
• You must not receive more than one scholarship for courses that take place at the same time;
• You must have a government statement that meets the requirements of the country in which the employer is established (if applicable, see step 2);
• You must not be over 45 years of age at the time of the grant submission.
• You have a good command of English to be able to participate fully in the training. MSM reserves the right to check this.
• The scholarship applicant has been admitted to the course or program for which he/she wishes an MSP scholarship

Also, check this page for further information about NUFFIC and the MSP scholarship

Step 2a: Apply at MSM
You will need to be admitted to our program before you can apply for the NUFFIC OKP or MSP scholarship. To register at MSM, please follow this link to the MSM application portal to create an applicant profile. Then submit an application to MSM for the RMS-program. After this, you will be informed if you are selected to submit your application into the NUFFIC (Delta) system.

Before you apply make sure you have the required documents available:

• Certified English translated scanned copy Master degree/diploma
• Certified English translated scanned copy Master transcript/grades
• CV/Resume in English
• Proof of English proficiency
• Motivation letter (see below paragraph about the motivation letter)
• Copy valid passport
• Expression of interest

If you are admitted to the program, MSM will send you an official admission letter. With the admission letter you can prepare your application for the OKP or MSP Scholarship.

Since the reviewing process takes some time, we advise you to submit your application as soon as possible. The expression of interest is part of the application procedure.

Step 2b: Registration in Delta for OKP and MSP
Delta is the online registration system of NUFFIC where you apply for the OKP and MSP scholarship. If your MSM application meets the NUFFIC requirements, you will receive a link to get access to the Delta system where you can submit your NUFFIC application.

Before applying for an OKP or MSP scholarship, make sure you have prepared the required documents. Your application has to be completed and submitted in one go. You cannot update, change or complete your information after you have submitted your application.  Please use the formats provided by Nuffic and submit all the required documents in the EXACT way as specified. Otherwise your application will be rejected. Required documents are only accepted in pdf format and their size may not exceed 2Mb. Please ensure that the quality of your scans is proper and that everything is clear and readable. You can use for example ilovepdf.com to convert to pdf or downsize if necessary.

Motivation letter
Make sure that you provide a compelling motivation about how your participation in the program will make a positive impact on you, your organization and your country. This motivation will weigh heavily in the selection procedure and you will need to impress the embassy, Nuffic and MSM. Have this prepared so you can copy/paste it into the online application form. Questions that are asked in your Nuffic application are:

• What is the issue or problem you want to address in your country?
• For granting scholarships the MSP & OKP program focuses on specific priority themes for each country. 
  Click here for the OKP country priority themes.
  Click here for the MSP country priority themes.
• How will this course enable you to address this issue?
• How will you address this issue with your position within your organization?

In short, your application should be clear on long-term goals, identify clear indicators of outcomes (both with regard to your personal effectiveness & your contribution to strengthening organizational effectiveness).

 The required documents

• Copy of a valid passport (until at least 3 months after your application date)
• Employer’s statement: please use the required template – download here. As specified in the overall aim of the scholarship: the need for training has to be evident within the context of an organization so the employer statement is a very important document, please fill it out EXACTLY as specified by Nuffic and use the format provided by Nuffic on letter head paper from your organization;
  NUFFIC will accept Employer Statements that have been signed digitally and/or have not been stamped, provided there are no doubts regarding the authenticity and the employer statement meets all other requirements as mentioned. 
• Government statement OKP:  A number of governments of OKP countries require a statement from the government before candidates can apply for a scholarship. In this statement the government expresses its support for the scholarship application.
  
  Please, check this overview to see if this applies for your country. If a government statement is required for your country, please use this format provided by Nuffic. In the overview per country, you can find information on who should sign the government statement and to whom the statement requirements apply. If unsure, kindly check this with your government and/or the Netherlands embassy.
• Government statement MSP: A number of governments of MSP countries require a statement from the government before candidates can apply for a scholarship. In this statement the government expresses its support for the scholarship application.
  
  Please, check this overview to see if this applies for your country. If a government statement is required for your country, please use this format provided by Nuffic. In the overview per country, you can find information on who should sign the government statement and to whom the statement requirements apply. If unsure, kindly check this with your government and/or the Netherlands embassy. 
• Admission letter

Once you have everything complete, please go to the Delta website and submit the required information, upload your documents and complete the registration.

NB You cannot update, change or complete your information after you have submitted your application. If you want to update your information or documents, you have to register once more in Delta. We will only consider your last application.

Apply as early as possible
Make sure that you apply as soon as possible.  The processing time of your application will take some time and for the application in Delta, you will also need to gather several documents. Only complete and correct applications will be considered. In case of any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us via rmsadmissions@msm.nl. 

Step 3: Selection of candidates
The application process until awarding takes about 10 weeks starting from the application deadline. MSM can nominate your application for an OKP or MSP scholarship if your application meets the OKP or MSP eligibility criteria. The selection procedure is as follows:

• MSM submits a grant request to Nuffic requesting funding for eligible scholarship applications.
• The applicable Netherlands Embassy will check the individual applications on their eligibility and will assess the applications based on the eligibility criteria and the Embassy country focus area(s).
• Only eligible applications will be taken into further consideration. Applications that do not meet the eligibility criteria will be rejected.
• The selection will be determined by the available deadline budget, the number of applicants and the quality and suitability of the applications. 
• Candidates whom have been nominated will be informed of the outcome of the selection by MSM