Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP)
Educational institutions in the Netherlands offer international fellowships for short courses, master’s degree programmes and PhD studies. The duration of the courses varies from two weeks to 4 years An NFP fellowship, which is granted for the duration of the course, is intended to contribute towards the costs of living, to cover the costs of tuition fees, and cost for visas, travel, insurance, etc. The NFP fellowships are awarded by the NUFFIC, The Netherlands organisation for International Co-operation in higher Education on behalf of the Dutch Government.
A candidate applying for an NFP fellowship must:
• be a national of and working in Sri Lanka;
• have been unconditionally admitted by a Dutch institution to a course. This means that the applicant must have met all the requirements set by the Dutch institution;
• be nominated by his or her employer, who pledges to continue paying the candidate’s salary and guarantees the candidate will be able to return to an equivalent position at the end of the fellowship period.
• not be employed by a large industrial, commercial, international or multinational organization, which can be assumed to have sufficient resources of its own to finance staff training;
• offer evidence of proficiency in speaking and writing the language of instruction.
• be available for the entire period of the course and be physically and mentally able to take part in the entire course;
• declare to return to their home country immediately after the short course has ended.
The above overview is only a short summary of the requirements. For more information on NFP please visit 
www.nuffic.nl
The application and selection procedure
The application and selection procedure consist of the following steps:
Application for admission at a Dutch educational institution
1. Applicants first apply for admission to the course of their choice. Applications should always be directed to the Dutch provider of the course.
2. The provider assesses the application and decides whether or not the applicant’s educational background and other experience meet the specific requirements for the course in question. The provider then informs all applicants of its decisions.
Application for a fellowship
3. After receiving their letter of admission, candidates can apply for an NFP fellowship by presenting two sets of a completed NFP course application form to the Netherlands embassy in Colombo, accompanied by the necessary documentation.
4. The embassy or consulate assesses each application and forward all fellowship applications that meet all the criteria to Nuffic.
5. Nuffic decides how many fellowships will be available for each course.
6. The Dutch providers select the candidates who will receive fellowships. The provider informs all candidates directly of their decisions, and applies to Nuffic for a grant.
7. Nuffic awards the grant for the provider to cover the fellowship holders’ costs, including the tuition fees.
Candidates should NOT send their fellowship application forms directly to Nuffic or to the Dutch provider, but should forward them to the Netherlands embassy in Colombo.
The two sets of applications should be submitted well before the deadline. nuffic applications
The form can be obtained from the Netherlands embassy in Colombo. Government employees must submit their application through the External Recourses Department.
List of documents/information required for Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP):
• The provisional admission letter from the host institute in the Netherlands stating the conditional acceptance of the candidate in the course.
• An official result of an English language test (TOEFL/IELTS) if English is not the candidate’s native language. (The test score should not be older than two years as the test loses its validity after two years).
• A letter from the employer endorsing the study plans and guaranteeing that the salary will continue to be paid and the job will be held during the candidates study period.
• A copy of a passport that should be valid for the whole study period.
• Certified/attested copies of educational records.
• One current passport picture.
• A copy of the birth certificate (if it is in Sinhala or Tamil, then with an English translation). Legalised copy of birth certificate is required if the applicants stay in the Netherlands extends three months duration.
For more detailed information on NFP please visit www.nuffic.nl or contact the Consular Call Centre of The Netherlands embassy in Colombo on +94-11(0)-2596914 on Monday to Friday between 11.00-15.00 local time.
The International Institutes Cooperation Programme
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