IRO Doctoral Scholarship Programme for Developing Countries in Belgium, 2016-2017

Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven) annually invites applications for IRO doctoral scholarship programme available for students from Developing Countries. The IRO Doctoral Scholarships are only granted for doctoral programmes for a maximum period of 48 months and eventually for one pre-doctoral year as preparation period for the doctoral programme. Applicants may choose a research topic proposed by one of the KU Leuven Doctoral Schools: Humanities and Social Sciences Science, Engineering and Technology Biomedical Sciences or applicants may propose their own research topic. The application deadline is November 9th 2015.

Study Subject(s): Applicants for the IRO Doctoral Scholarship Programme may choose a research topic proposed by one of the KU Leuven Doctoral Schools: Humanities and Social Sciences, Science, Engineering and Technology Biomedical Sciences or applicants may propose their own research topic.
Course Level: Scholarships are available for pursuing PhD program at KU Leuven.
Scholarship Provider: Catholic University of Leuven’s Interfaculty Council for Development Cooperation, Belgium
Scholarship can be taken at: Belgium

Eligibility:
-The applicant must be a citizen of one of the countries on the OECD DAC table that are listed under the following categories: Least Developed Countries, Low Income Countries or Low Middle Income Countries.
-The applicant may not possess dual citizenship, where the second citizenship is from an EU country.
-The candidate must have been awarded his master’s degree or an immediately contiguous master’s degree no more than ten years prior to the 1st of October 2016 (including the ongoing calendar year).
The candidate must hold an academic qualification at least equivalent to a high distinction. Degrees obtained with a final score equivalent to second class second/lower division will not be taken into consideration.
-Excellent academic quality of the research project, focusing on the development relevance of the proposal.
-The candidate must demonstrate a development-oriented motivation.
-The candidate must be supported by a local co-promoter at the candidate’s home country to ensure embeddedness of the research within the country’s context.
-The candidate must be supported by excellent recommendations from relevant referees.

Scholarship Open for International Students: Students from one of the countries on the OECD DAC table that are listed under the following categories: Least Developed Countries, Low Income Countries or Low Middle Income Countries (Afghanistan, Kenya, Armenia, Angola, Korea, Dem. Rep., Belize, Bangladesh, Kyrgyz Rep., Bolivia, Benin, Tajikistan, Cameroon, Bhutan, Zimbabwe, Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, Congo, Rep., Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Cambodia, Egypt, Central African Rep., El Salvador, Chad, Fiji, Comoros, Georgia, Congo, Dem. Rep., Ghana, Djibouti, Guatemala, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana, Eritrea, Honduras, Ethiopia, India, Cuba, Gambia, Indonesia, Guinea, Iraq, Guinea-Bissau, Kosovo1, Haiti, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Micronesia, Federated States, Laos, Moldova, Lesotho, Mongolia, Liberia, Morocco, Madagascar, Nicaragua, Malawi, Nigeria, Mali, Pakistan, Mauritania, Papua New Guinea, Mozambique, Paraguay, Myanmar, Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Niger, Swaziland, Rwanda, Syria, Samoa, Tokelau, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tonga, Senegal, Turkmenistan, Sierra Leone, Ukraine, Solomon Islands, Uzbekistan, Somalia, Vietnam, South Sudan, West Bank and Gaza Strip, Sudan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Yemen and Zambia) can apply for this IRO Doctoral Scholarship Programme.

Scholarship Description: As one of its contributions to development cooperation, KU Leuven offers each academic year scholarships to deserving students from developing countries to do their PhD in the largest university of Flanders, Belgium. The programme is organized and managed by the Interfaculty Council for Development Cooperation. The IRO Doctoral Scholarship Programme has supported more than a hundred PhD graduates over the past ten years. After obtaining their doctorates at KU Leuven, these PhD holders are now valorizing their degrees in their home countries either in university academic research or in various sectors of industry. KU Leuven, which is situated at about 20 kilometers from Brussels, the capital of both Belgium and Europe, is the oldest university of the Low Countries. As such, it has a long-standing tradition of hospitality towards students and scholars from abroad. At present, almost 7,000 international students (about 15% of the total number of students at KU Leuven) have found their home away from home in Leuven.

Duration of award(s): The IRO Doctoral Scholarships are only granted for doctoral programmes for a maximum period of 48 months and eventually for one pre-doctoral year as preparation period for the doctoral programme. Applicants who have already been enrolled as self-supporting doctoral students at KU Leuven can only be granted the IRO doctoral scholarship for 4 years minus the number of years enrolled as doctoral student. The scholarship is renewed on a yearly basis in order to ensure progress from the doctoral student. The annual renewal of the scholarship depends on the annual evaluation of your doctoral progress by your promoter (supervisor) and by the Doctoral Commission of your Faculty. Further extensions are not possible under any circumstance.

What does it cover? The scholarship includes monthly basic amount € 1,415 (75% of the net salary of an assistant) paid at the end of each month for doctoral students and €1000 paid at the beginning of each month for Pre-doctoral students, Housing allowance of € 200/month with accompanying partner (and children), Social security covering health insurance, child allowance, occupational hazard and occupational illness, Tuition fee, Affiliation with a Belgian Health Insurance company, Third-party liability insurance (private life), Professional and accident insurance coverage; third party liability insurance (study related matters and for professional liability) and Return flight tickets for the whole family after completion of the doctorate.

Notification: Selection of the candidates will be in November 2015 – February 2016 and results will be announced in April 2016.

How to Apply: Applications may be submitted via online or post.

Application Form

Scholarship Application Deadline: The deadline for applications is November 9th 2015.

Further Official Scholarship Information and Application

Read more: IRO Doctoral Scholarship for Developing Countries, Belgium Scholarship Positions 2015 2016
http://scholarship-positions.com