Fellowship Office in brief

Albania is one of the 56 countries eligible for the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP)

The overall aim of the Fellowship Office of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tirana is to provide information and facilitate the process of the fellowship applications.

Study possibilities in the Netherlands

The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) are demand-oriented fellowship programmes designed to foster institutional development. The NFP are funded from the budget for development co-operation. The overall aim of the NFP is to help alleviate qualitative and quantitative shortages of skilled manpower and to do so within the framework of sustainable capacity-building. A wide range of organisations are eligible - governmental, private and non-governmental. They can include educational institutions, planning agencies, ministries, community-based organisations, and private enterprises, for example.

The NFP target group consists of mid-career professionals who are already in employment and who are nationals of one of 61 selected countries, including Albania. The NFP offers the following options:

• Fellowships for master’s degree programmes 
• Fellowships for short courses
• Fellowships for PhD studies
• Refresher courses

For the first three options, NFP uses a two-step application procedure. Applicants must first gain admission to the course or programme they have chosen. Only then can they apply for a fellowship. The appropriate fellowship application forms are available from the Fellowship Officer of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, who also can provide more information about country-specific opportunities and regulations.

To gain admission to a course or programme, an applicant has to contact the institution concerned directly. The required information can be found on the institutions’ websites.

The basic information on NFP can be found in:

• the NFP brochure, which describes the five NFP sub-programmes in general and contains the NFP course list, as well as an overview of all the deadlines for the sub-programmes; 
• the booklet ‘Rules & Regulations of the NFP’, which is written for the NFP fellowship holders, describes the obligations and rights of a fellowship holder, and provides an overview of the individual allowances and reimbursements per NFP sub-programme; 
• the   Nuffic website.

The two documents mentioned above are also published on the Nuffic website. Hard copy of the NFP brochure can be obtained from the Embassy.The information on the Nuffic website is frequently updated and should be used in preference to other sources.

Embassy Deadlines for NFP applications

Deadlines for Short Courses

NFP Short Courses – 1 March 2010
NFP Short Courses – 1 July 2010
NFP Short Courses – 1 December 2010

Deadlines for Master’s Degree courses

NFP Master Course – 1 March 2010
NFP Master Course – 1 October 2010

Deadlines for PhD Studies

1st Embassy deadline – 1 June 2010
2nd Embassy deadline – 1 October 2010

MTEC (Matra Training for European Cooperation)

Matra (the Social Transformation Programme for Central and Eastern Europe) was developed by the  Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support the transition from totalitarianism to pluriform democracies in Central and Eastern Europe.

Under the Matra programme the Netherlands has promoted bilateral co-operation to support the countries aspiring to become members of the European Union using a variety of instruments.

As of the 1st of January 2005, the new training programme Matra Training for European Cooperation (MTEC) was introduced. This programme, part of the Matra Programme for European Cooperation, is executed by CROSS. CROSS is part of EVD, the Agency for International Business and Cooperation of The Ministry of Economic Affairs.

MTEC consists of two different types of training:

1. Academic programmes in areas of good governance (duration: 12 – 24 months). The themes for the Academic programmes in 2009 are: International/European Law and Public Administration. (read more)

2. Training courses on transformation related issues, particularly concerning the preparation and finalisation of EU-accession (duration: 2-3 weeks). (read more)

As a result of the accession of 10 countries (of which eight countries were eligible for pre-accession support) to the European Union on May 1st 2004, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to further differentiate the policy for the Matra programme.

Related internet links:  http://www.cross-agency.nl/

Contact persons of the Fellowship Office (Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10.00 – 12.00 hrs)
Mrs. Aida Lahi and Mrs. Christine Kuijpers-Vlam : email:  tir@minbuza.nl