VLIR-UOS offers full Masters Scholarships in Belgium for students from Developing countries – half of this scholarship will be offered to African students and preference will be given to Women. The eligible training or Masters programmes are taught in English.
Application Deadline: Start and end dates of the application procedure can vary depending on the specific programme. Please check carefully (Final end date is towards April 2025).
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Eligible Countries
- 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
To be taken at (country): Belgium
Accepted Subject Areas: Only the following English-taught courses at Belgian Flemish universities or university colleges are eligible for scholarships:
Three year Professional Bachelor Programmes
- Bachelor of Hotel Management
- Bachelor of Applied Computer Science
One-year master programmes
- Master of Human Settlements
- Master of Development Evaluation and Management
- Master of Governance and Development
- Master of Globalization and Development
- Master of Cultural Anthropology and Development Studies
Two-year programmes
- International Master of Science in Agro- & Environmental Nematology
- International Master of Science in Rural Development (IMRD)
- Master of Aquaculture (IMAQUA)
- Master of Epidemiology
- Master of Science in Food Technology
- Master of Science in Marine and Lacustrine Science and Management
- Master of Statistics and Data Science
- Master in Sustainable Development
- Master of Transportation Sciences – Road Safety
- Master of Water Resources Engineering (WRE)
- Master of Science in Nutrition and Food Systems
- Master of Science in Sustainable Land Management
- Master of Science in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems (Mundus tropicalis c/o TROPIMUNDO)
About the Award: VLIR-UOS awards scholarships to students from developing countries to study for a master or training programme in Flanders, Belgium. VLIR-UOS funds and facilitates academic cooperation and exchange between higher education institutions in Flanders (Belgium) and developing countries, aiming to build capacity, knowledge and experience for sustainable development.
The master programmes focus on specific problems of developing countries. These are designed to enable graduates to share and apply acquired knowledge in the home institution and country. In the shorter training programmes the focus is on transferring skills rather than knowledge, thus creating opportunities for cooperation and networking.
Selection Criteria: The following criteria will be taken into account for the selection of candidates for a scholarship:
- Motivation. The candidate unable to convincingly motivate his application, is unlikely to be selected for a scholarship.
- Professional experience: Preference will be given to candidates who can demonstrate a higher possibility of implementing and/or transferring the newly gained knowledge upon return to the home country.
- Gender. In case of two equally qualified candidates of different sexes, preference will be given to the female candidate.
- Regional balance. The selection commission tries to ensure that 50% of a programme’s scholarships are granted to candidates from Sub-Saharan Africa, provided a sufficient number of qualifying candidates from this region.
- Leave No One Behind (LNOB): In case of two equally qualified candidates, preference will be given to candidates who can demonstrate that they belong to a disadvantaged group or area within their country or an ethnic or social minority group, especially when these candidates can provide proof of leadership potential.
- Previously awarded scholarships: Preference will be given to candidates who have never received a scholarship to study in a developed country (bachelor or master).
Eligibility: You can only apply for a scholarship if you meet the following requisites.
- Fungibility with other VLIR-UOS funding: A scholarship within the VLIR-UOS scholarship programme is not compatible with financial support within an IUC- or TEAM-project. Candidates working in a university where such projects are being organized, should submit a declaration of the project leader stating that the department where the candidate is employed is not involved in the project.
- Age: The maximum age for an ICP candidate is 35 years for an initial masters and 40 years for an advanced masters. The maximum age for an ITP candidate is 45 years. The candidate cannot succeed this age on January 1 of the intake year.
- Nationality and Country of Residence: A candidate should be a national and resident of one of the 31 countries of the VLIR-UOS country list for scholarships (not necessarily the same country) at the time of application.
- Professional background and experience: VLIR-UOS gives priority to candidates employed in academic institutions, research institutes, governments, social economy or NGO’s, or aim a career in one of these sectors. However, also candidates employed in the profit sector (ICP and ITP) or newly graduated candidates without any work experience (ICP) can be eligible for the scholarship. The ITP candidate should have relevant professional experience and a support letter confirming (re)integration in a professional context where the acquired knowledge and skills will be immediately applicable.
- Former VLIR-UOS scholarship applications and previously awarded scholarships: A candidate can only submit one VLIR-UOS scholarship application per year, irrespective of the scholarship type. Consequently, a candidate can only be selected for one VLIR-UOS scholarship per year.
- The ICP candidate has never received a scholarship from the Belgian government to attend a master programme or equivalent or was never enrolled in a Flemish higher education institution to attend a master programme or equivalent before January 1 of the intake year
Number of Awardees: VLIR-UOS will award up to 180 scholarships.
Value of Scholarship: VLIRUOS ICP Connect scholarships cover tuition fees, travel, insurance and living expenses (board and lodging). We only offer scholarships for the full duration of the study programme (12/24/36 months). It is not possible to apply for a partial scholarship or an extension.
Duration of Scholarship: The master programmes will last for one or two or three academic years.
How to Apply:
- To apply for a scholarship, you first need to apply for the Master programme.
- To apply for the Masters programme, visit the website of the Master programme of your interest. Follow the guidelines for application for the programme as mentioned on its website.
- In the programme application, you can mention whether you wish to apply for a scholarship. In case you do, the programme coordinator forwards your application to VLIR-UOS.
- Applications submitted by the candidates to VLIR-UOS directly will not be considered!
Visit Scholarship Webpage for more details
