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 57 selected countries, including Macedonia. While fellowships are awarded to individuals, the need for training must occur within the context of the local organisation for which an applicant works.

The NFP offers the following options:

·         Fellowships for master’s degree programmes

·         Fellowships for PhD studies

·         Fellowships for short courses

·         Tailor-made training

·         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.

Contact persons:

Related internet link:

 Nuffic website, NFP pages   

Huygens Programme

For information about Huygens Scholarship Programme, available for students from the Republic of Macedonia, please visit the website of the Netherlands Organization for Cooperation in Higher Education-  NUFFIC. As of 2006 year this programme is no longer administered by the Embassy, i.e. the applications must be submitted directly to NUFFIC.  

Netherlands Fellowship Programme - Macedonia EU Studies

In a co-financing arrangement with the Government of Macedonia, the Netherlands has made available for the period up until academic year 2008/9, a limited number of scholarships targeted at present or future Macedonian civil servants who wish to obtain a masters' degree in EU-related disciplines in the Netherlands. Apart from requirements pertaining to the academic qualifications, applicants will have to commit to work for the Government of Macedonia for a fixed number of years after obtaining a degree. The programme is executed by the  Secretariat for European Affairs (SEA) from the Macedonian side and NUFFIC from the Netherlands side. Important: queries about this fellowship programme must be directed to SEA, not to the Embassy.

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.

Related internet links:

 http://www.cross-agency.nl

 http://www.sep.gov.mk