Belgium: Belgian Bilateral Scholarship 2010/2011

Overview

The Belgian Bilateral Scholarship Programme

Within the framework of its cooperation programme with Vietnam, the government of Belgium wants to support the government of Vietnam in its efforts to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development. The Belgian Bilateral Scholarships (BBS) constitute an important component of this cooperation programme, which aims to contribute to the long-term growth and stability of Vietnam.

For the academic year 2010-2011, 40 scholarships are made available for Vietnamese nationals who want to obtain Master or PhD degrees from universities in Belgium.

A full scholarship will cover a return ticket to Belgium, all tuition fees, basic health insurance and a monthly stipend and allowances.

For Mixed PhD award holders, the scholarship only covers the period spent in Belgium. In addition, support for fieldwork costs (data collection, experiments, materials for experiments etc.) is also available. Award holders have to prepare a justified cost estimate signed by both Vietnamese and Belgian promoters and submit it to BTC Hanoi for approval.


Who can apply

The Programme encourages applications from all provinces and regions of Vietnam, from public institutions, civil society, NGOs and the private sector.

For Mixed PhD scholarships, only applicants coming from Universities and Research Institutes are eligible for BBS programme.

Candidates should have good academic records and relevant working experience with the desired studies.

Candidates should show potential to contribute to the development of Vietnam.
Women and candidates coming from remote areas are strongly encouraged.

Eligibility

For Master studies:

 Applicants must be nationals of, and residing in Vietnam;
 Not being older than 35 years (as of 28th December 2009);
 Having a full-time official university degree;
 Having 02 full years’ experience (after undergraduate study up to December 2009). The experience must be relevant to the selected Master:
 Candidates must be fluent in English or in French. Minimum requirements by the BBS Programme are:
o for French: TCF score of at least 400 or DELF B1 or equivalent certificates;
o for English: IELTS score of at least 6.0 or 550 TOEFL pBT or 79 TOEFL iBT. Institutional TOEFL will NOT be accepted.

For Mixed PhD studies:

 Applicants must be nationals of, and residing in Vietnam;
 Not being older than 40 years (as of 28th December 2009);
 Having at least 01 full year of working experience after Master study (as of 28th December 2009);
 Candidates applying for a Mixed PhD scholarship must have a research subject and an acceptance letters of the Belgian and Vietnamese promoters before submission of their application;
 Candidates must be fluent in English or in French. Minimum requirements by the BBS Programme are:
o French: TCF score of at least 400 or DELF B1 or equivalent certificates;
o English: IELTS score of at least 6.0 or 550 TOEFL pBT or 79 TOEFL iBT. Institutional TOEFL will NOT be accepted.

Important Note:
 Candidates must already have a high level of English or French proficiency in order to enable them to cope with post-graduate study in Belgium. Candidates are therefore strongly advised to contact directly Belgian universities for specific requirements of the different courses concerning language certificates and score.
 Applicants are not obliged to have a letter of admission from a Belgian university for the academic year of 2010-2011 before submission of application and/or interviews. However, holding such a letter of admission will be an advantage.
 GRE/GMAT is required by some universities for courses in Economics, Finance or Natural Sciences. Please check this requirement directly with the university you want to apply for before submitting an application to the Embassy.

Documents that should accompany the completed application form

All documents in Vietnamese must be a legalised true copy, with certified translation into English or French
 A copy of birth certificate.
 Copies of University / Master degrees.
 Copies of academic (University / Master) transcripts.
 Copies of the international language certificates or the notice of the result.
 A short explanation about the grading system in Vietnam, certified by Vietnamese universities (This document aims to assist the Belgian universities to better understand the meaning of the grading system in Vietnam, and therefore to be able to assess the qualifications of applicants through their transcripts).
 Two (2) letters of recommendation (professional or academic) with detailed references, with certified translation into English or French (if necessary).
 Authorization letter of the current employer (see Template in Annex 1 of the Application form).
 A curriculum Vitae.
 A copy of the admission letter from a Belgian university for the academic year of 2010-2011 (if available).
 A self-addressed envelope, where you wish to receive the letter informing about the result of your application.

For candidates applying for Mixed PhD scholarships, in addition to the above-mentioned documents, the following documents need to be submitted:
- Acceptance letters from the Belgian and Vietnamese promoters. In these letters, the promoters are expected to give their initial assessment on the proposed research;
- The work plan signed by the candidate and both Belgian and Vietnamese promoters (see Template in Annex 2 of the Application form);

Submission and Deadline

One (01) original and three (03) copies of the completed application forms attached with the above mentioned documents are to be sent in a sealed envelope marked “Application for 2010/11 Belgian Bilateral Scholarships” no later than 17h00, Monday 28th December 2009 to:

Development Cooperation Division
Embassy of Belgium
9/F Hanoi Towers - 49 Hai Ba Trung street, Hanoi

Applications sent by mail will be checked based on the date of the post stamp. Applications sent by fax/email or sent/received after the deadline will be rejected.

Selection procedure and process

The Belgian Embassy will screen the application forms and draw up a shortlist of candidates. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview either in Hanoi or in Ho Chi Minh city. Candidates must ensure that they are available for the interview during this period.

Only the application files of the candidates who passed the interview will be sent to the Belgian universities for an assessment and issuing of admission letters. Scholarships will be awarded only when a letter of admission issued by the chosen university is available.

Important Note:

Besides the criteria to assess the applicants’ qualification and motivation, the Selection Committee will also take into consideration the geographical, sectoral and institutional balance before making a final decision on awarding the scholarships.

Further information

For all questions related to the Belgian Bilateral Scholarship Programme, please contact the following persons at the Belgian Embassy in Hanoi:

Mrs. Ngo Thu Huong
Attaché-adjoint (Development Cooperation)
In charge of the BBS Programme
ThuHuong.Ngo@diplobel.fed.be

or

Mrs. Ho Phuong Loan
Programme Assistant
PhuongLoan.Ho@diplobel.fed.be


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