Vrije University VUFP/OTS South Africa Scholarship Program 2021/2022 for South African Students – The Netherlands

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is collaborating with OTS to attract South African students to VU. The VU Fellowship Programme (VUFP) sponsors the OTS scholarship programme. We encourage South African students to apply for the combined OTS/VUFP South Africa scholarship programme.

Application Deadline: 1st February 2021

Eligible Countries: South Africa

To be Taken at (Country): The Netherlands

About the Award: The VUFP/OTS South Africa scholarship is for talented, motivated South African students who need financial support to study at VU Adam.

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Type: Masters

Eligibility: The applicant must meet the following eligibility criteria in order to be considered for this scholarship. Failure to meet one or more of these criteria automatically means the student is not eligible for this scholarship.

Eligible candidates should:

• apply for the first year of a full-time English taught Master’s programme at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam starting per September 2020.
• have the South African nationality and are not eligible for support under the Dutch system of study grants and loans.
• should not have a degree from an education institution in the Netherlands.
• be able to comply with the conditions to obtain a Dutch visa/residence permit.

Other conditions

Students already enrolled in a two-year Master’s programme who have not been awarded the VUFP scholarship in 2020/2021 are not eligible to apply for the VUFP/OTS South Africa scholarship 2020/2021.

• The scholarship will only be granted to a student once and is explicitly intended for the Master’s programme for which it has been awarded.
• Please note that students starting their programme in February are not eligible for the OTS/VUFP Scholarships.

Selection Criteria:

• Academic performance, GPA of at least 3.2 (South African grading system)
• Motivation
• Financial need
• Contribution to diversity at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
• The quality of the application itself (motivation, accuracy, consistency)

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award:

• The VUFP/OTS South Africa scholarship covers the tuition fees. It does not provide any additional allowance towards study or living costs.
• As the grant is not a full scholarship, it may be necessary to find additional funding to be able to finance your studies and stay completely. Students requiring a residence permit in the Netherlands must prove to the IND (Immigration and Naturalisation Office) that they have sufficient financial means.

Duration of Award:

• For 1-year master’s programmes: max 1 year.
• For 2-year master’s programmes:  The VUFP/OTS South Africa scholarship can be granted for a one or two-year Master’s programme. The scholarship will only be extended for the second year of the two-year Master’s programme if 100% of the credits of the first year have been achieved.

How to Apply:

1. Register for an English taught Master’s programme (from 1 October 2020) at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. 

Students register for a Master’s programme in Studielink and after that in the VUnet portal. Here you can find more information on how to apply for one of our English taught Master’s programmes.
Deadline: 1 February 2021

2. Submit VUFP/OTS South Africa application via Neso South Africa (starting from 1 November 2020) 

Email:  [email protected]
Website Neso South Africa: www.nesosouthafrica.org
Deadline: 1 February 2021

Required documents
For the VUFP/OTS South Africa programme, 5 documents in PDF format are required:

a: OTS application form

b: Proof that the admission process with Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has started
  Please submit your (conditional) admission letter 

c. Transcript, GPA and grading scale 
Please mail the transcript and grading scale of your qualifying degree with a clear explanation of the GPA calculation. 
Students who apply for an OTS/VUFP South Africa scholarship need to have a GPA of at least 3.2 according to the South African grading system. 

d. Motivation form (use format)
We would like to know your motivation for applying to the VUFP/OTS South Africa Programme. You have the use the appropriate format for this, we do not except other formats.
You need to answer the following questions on the motivation format:

1.    Introduce yourself in max.100 words
2.    What makes you a good candidate for the OTS/VUFP South Africa scholarship? (max. 150 words)
3.    Why do you need a scholarship to study at VU? (max.150 words)
4.    Diversity and inclusion are important to VU. How can you contribute to these values? (max.150 words)

e. Curriculum Vitae (CV)
We strongly recommend the use of the Europass format.

• GOODLUCK

Visit Award Webpage for Details