Eligibility criteria
- Only applicants who are a national AND a resident of one of the following 31 countries can apply:
- Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Cameroon, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Niger
- Asia: Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia, Palestinian Territories, Vietnam
- Latin America: Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Nicaragua, Peru
- The maximum age for an Advanced Master programme candidate is 40 years. (Age on 1 January of the intake year.)
- Applicants who previously obtained a scholarship from the Belgian government or were previously enrolled in a Flemish higher education institution to attend a master programme or equivalent are not eligible
- Applicants need to hold relevant professional experience in order to be selected for this scholarship:
Sector of employment Professional position and responsibilities Master of Development Evaluation and Management:National Institutions, Poverty Reduction Strategies and Aid government institutions (including public research institutions)donor agencies (including international NGOs, bilateral and multilateral donors)civil society (including research institutes, universities) middle-management positions with policy responsibilities and/or responsibility for managing the interfacebetween different policy levels (e.g. national to international, national to local) orbetween different arenas (e.g. government-donors, INGO-national NGO)development intervention or poverty reduction initiatives, oriented towards macro-levelpolicy Master of Development Evaluation and Management:Development Interventions and Local Institutional Change government institutions (including public research institutions)donor agencies (including international NGOs, bilateral and multilateral donors)civil society in the South (e.g. at research institutes or universities, or with local NGOs or entrepreneurial associations) middle managers with policy responsibilities and/or managerial responsibility at the interfacebetween different policy levels (e.g. local to national, national to international) orbetween different arenas (e.g. civil society-government, government-donors, INGO-national NGO)development interventions or poverty-reduction initiatives in micro-level or meso-levelprojects and programmes Master of Governance and Development:Governance, Peace and Conflict public action domain within:government institutions (including public research institutions)donor agencies (including international non-governmental organisations, bilateral and multilateral donors)civil society (including advocacy groups, research institutes and universities) -
Master of Governance and Development:Local Governance and Poverty Reduction public action domain withingovernment institutions (including public research institutions)donor agencies (including international non-governmental organisations, bilateral and multilateral donors)civil society (including research institutes and universities) research on the interface between the transnational, national and local level and/or between state and non-state development actors Master of Globalisation and Development local, regional and/or national government institutionsresearch institutes or universitieslocal NGOs, advocacy or entrepreneurial associationsinternational organisations (e.g. international NGOs, bilateral and multilateral institutions) middle or upper management or policy/policy research positions with at least some experience at the interfacebetween different policy levels (e.g. international to local, national to international) orbetween different arenas (e.g. civil society-government, government-international forums and institutions, INGO’s-NGOs)development or poverty-reduction initiatives micro-level or meso-level projects and programmes and/or macro-level policymaking -
Benefits
- The basic allowance of 1150 EUR per month covers the cost of meals, transport, personal expenses and accommodation. It is the responsibility of the Flemish host university to arrange accommodation for master scholars (e.g. ICP). In some cases the scholars have to pay for their accommodation from their scholarship themselves. In other cases the accommodation cost will be paid directly by the university and will thus be deducted from the monthly allowance. In that case the university should inform the scholars about these practical arrangements in advance. Priority should be given to university residences.
- Indirect travel costs. This allowance covers:
- Medical expenses for obtaining a doctor’s certificate (including costs for obligatory vaccinations and necessary medication);
- Legalisation of documents;
- Transportation to and from the embassy and/or airport in the home country and Belgium (remark: national flights as part of itinerary from or to Belgium are of course paid separately
- Visa application fee (in non-Belgian embassies), handling fees (for example from Visa Facilitation Services (VFS)) or mailing costs for couriers.
- For obtaining the visa15 or for legalisation of documents, additional costs can be reimbursed if the scholar’s residence is situated far from the embassy/diplomatic post:
- If the responsible diplomatic post is not located in the country of residence of the scholar and he/she is obliged to travel to another country;
- If visiting the diplomatic post requires an overnight stay.
- In this case, the following costs can be reimbursed, if approved and upon submission of original receipts to the Flemish host university:
- the most economical national or international itinerary (airplane or bus or …, 1 economy ticket)
- for South programmes a per diem of maximum 25 EUR per day OR the local per diem as agreed on and accommodation costs up to a maximum of 50 EUR per night for up to maximum 10 days (only if a stay is required by the embassy).
- for ITP/ICP scholars a per diem of maximum 20 EUR per day and accommodation costs up to a maximum of 50 EUR per night for up to maximum 10 days (only if a stay is required by the embassy).
- Logistical allowance: The logistical allowance is to be used to cover among other things
- all kinds of general expenses related to living in Belgium incurred by the scholar at the start of the scholarship (e.g. cooking materials, household utensils, …);
- all expenses for educational materials and study-related personal costs incurred by the scholar (paper, pens, manuals, courses, computer, storage media, etc);
- all expenses for thesis printing and mailing/shipping teaching materials (manuals, courses,
computer, etc.) back to the home country.
The allowance is a one-time payment and can be paid at the beginning of the programme.
It is possible for South programmes (such as IUC) to decide not to (fully) grant this allowance to the individual scholar, but to invest the (rest of the) allowance into the programme, on the condition that this policy is mentioned in the management manual of the programme, duly approved by VLIR-UOS and communicated to the involved parties, including scholars.
- Programme related travel costs
Costs for traveling between Flemish campuses in different cities will be reimbursed only if they take place in the framework of an official interuniversity master programme organised by different Flemish universities and as recognized by VLIR-UOS, and only for transportation costs between the cities of the Flemish universities that are part of the interuniversity project. The following ICP programmes are officially labelled as interuniversity programmes: Master of Science in Food Technology (KU Leuven and UGent), Master of Science in Water Resources Engineering (KU Leuven and VUB), Master of Science in Marine and Lacustrine Science and Management (VUB, UA and UGent).
The most economical transportation formula must be chosen (e.g. season ticket; bus or train, or …) and proof needs to be submitted by the scholar. The host institution is responsible for supporting the scholar finding the most economical formula - Source / More information for applications: Official Website.
