VLIR-UOS Water Resources Engineering Scholarships for Developing Countries

Overview

VLIR-UOS Water Resources Engineering Scholarships for Students from Developing Countries to Study at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. The Master programme of Water Resources Engineering is a two-year study programme with a total study load of 120 ECTS, equally spread over the 2 years. The first year consists of courses in Advanced Mathematics for Water Engineering, Statistics for Water Engineering, Irrigation Agronomy, Aquatic Ecology, Hydraulics, Surface Hydrology, Groundwater Hydrology, and water Quality Assessment, Monitoring and Treatment; and workshops in Hydrological Data Processing and GIS, and Hydrological Measurements and Remote Sensing. The second year of the Master programme has a total study load of 60 ECTS credits and consists of a common core of 2 courses (Systems Approach to Water Management, and Social, Political, Institutional, Economic and Environmental Aspects of Water Resources), an integrated project design (arid or humid case) and a Master thesis. In addition, the student selects three optional courses from the following list: Surface Water Modelling, Groundwater Modelling, River Modelling, Urban Hydrology and Hydraulics, Soil Water Modelling, Irrigation Design and Management, Advanced Aquatic Ecology, and any course relevant to water resources engineering, subject to approval by the Programme Committee.

Admission requirementsApplicants should hold a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (civil engineering, bioscience engineering, environmental engineering, or any other equivalent engineering degree) or Sciences (biology, geography, geology, etc). Applicants not belonging to a member country of the European Higher Education Council should hold a Bachelor’s degree from a four-year university programme with a minimum grade of second class upper division.Holders of a Master degree equivalent to the two-year Master degrees awarded by the Faculties of Engineering and Bioscience Engineering at K.U.Leuven or the Faculty of Engineering at the V.U.B. may be directly admitted to the second year. The equivalence of foreign degrees is evaluated on an individual basis.Given that English is the language of instruction, applicants must have a good command of spoken and written English (applicants of non-native speaking English countries should have a TOEFL score on the written test of at least 550; 213 on the computer-based (CBT) test; 79-80 on the internet based (IBT) test or an equivalent language test). For the IELTS a minimum of 6.5 is required.

For selection we take into account the following criteria:

Motivation: it is essential that the candidate’s motivation demonstrates the possibility of transferring knowledge or creating extension activities, and having a specific developmental dimension.
Professional experience, preferably in a research institution, a higher education institution, the government sector (national/regional/local), the sector of social economy, or an NGO. Preferably expertise in development relevant matters.
Present employment/reintegration perspectives, preferably in a research institution, a higher education institution, the government sector (national/regional/local), the sector of social economy, or an NGO. Preferably with the possibility to generate an impact through the transfer of knowledge, extension activities or otherwise. Not in the commercial profit sector.
Previous scholarships: prioririty will be given to the application of a candidate for a master programme who did not already has been granted a previous master scholarship. For a candidate for a training programme, the selection committee assesses the opportunity of a VLIR-UOS scholarship award, taking into consideration the candidates’ previous study and scholarship curriculum.
Gender: in case of two equally qualified candidates of different sexes, preference will be given to the female candidate. The selection commission will aim at a parity or relative balance between the number of men and the number of women awarded a VLIR-UOS scholarship.
Regional balance: the selection commission will try to ensure that 50% of a programme’s scholarships are granted to candidates from sub-Saharan Africa.
Social background: in case of two equally qualified candidates, preference will be given to candidates from a disadvantaged area within their country or an ethnic or social minority group, especially when these candidates can provide proof of leadership potential.

Nationality and place of residence
Only persons who are resident AND national of one of the following countries (not necessarily the same country for residence and nationality) are eligible for a VLIR-UOS scholarship. Please note that candidates must reside in one of these countries at the moment of application.

Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Asia: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Laos, Nepal, Palestinian Territories, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam
Latin America: Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay

Professional experience and employment perspectives

Present employment or reintegration perspectives are required for a training programme. The candidate must be currently employed or have a written (future) employer’s guarantee of (re)integration in an employment where the acquired knowledge and skills will be immediately applicable.

Scholarship

- Allowance 800€
- Family supplement 62€
- Accomodation premium 200€
- 1 return ticket, economy class

How to apply

You will need to follow the correct and complete procedure below:
1. Apply on the website via the application form of the Flemish host university: fill in name, birth date, country, etc…
2. Receive a return e-mail from the Flemish host university.
3. Send a printout of your application file along with all required documents (diploma transcripts, motivation, etc…) to the International Office of the host university (not to VLIR-UOS!).

Then you have correctly applied and can your application be considered. Scholarship application deadlines are: 1 February 2012

Period: September 2011 - September 2013
Language: English
Number of VLIR-UOS Scholarships: 16
Promoter: Prof. D. Raes (K.U.Leuven)
Prof. O. Batelaan (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

Contact:
Mrs G. Camps
International Study Programmes, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
T +32 (0)16 32 17 44
F +32 (0)16 32 19 99
greta.camps@biw.kuleuven.be
http://www.iupware.be

Please quote Scholarization.blogspot.com on your application when applying for this VLIR-UOS scholarship