International MSc Scholarship in Rural Development, 2019/2020

The International Master in Rural Development (IMRD), offers the opportunity to become an international expert on rural development in its diversity of approaches and applications. Scholarships for masters and undergraduate students in developing countries are offered by both the European Commission (as it is an Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Degree EMJMD course) and the Belgian Government VLIR-UOS.

Course Level: Masters

Eligible Countries: 

For Erasmus Mundus:

• Countries labelled as Partner countries under the EMJMD Consortium agreement.

For VLIR-UOS:

• 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 (University): Through IMRD you can study at least one semester at the following universities:

within Europe

• Ghent University (Belgium)
• Humboldt University of Berlin (Germany)
• Agrocampus Ouest (France)
• University of Pisa (Italy)
• Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra (Slovakia)

outside Europe

• ESPOL (Ecuador)
• China Agricultural University (China)
• Nanjing Agricultural University (China)
• University of Arkansas (USA)
• University of Pretoria (South Africa)
• University of Agricultural Sciences of Bangalore (India)

Eligibility Criteria:

For Erasmus Mundus:

Applicants which have the official nationality of an Erasmus+ Partner Country, and who meet the IMRD admission requirements and have been be academically admitted by the IMRD Management Board to participate the IMRD programme. Other eligibility requirements of the program include:

• Applicants must have at least a Bachelor’s degree of min. 3 years from a university or recognized equivalent in preferably bioscience engineering or agricultural sciences, (preferably agricultural economics) with good overall scores (at least a second class or equivalent, preferably higher).

• Applicants must be able to demonstrate through their transcripts basic science training in: (i) mathematics and/or statistics; (ii) agronomy and/or biology and/or environmental sciences; and (iii) social sciences/sociology and/or rural development and/or economics.

• Language requirements:
  The English language proficiency can be met by providing a certificate (validity of 5 years) of one of the following tests:
  –    TOEFL IBT 80
  –    TOEFL PBT 550
  –    ACADEMIC IELTS 6,5 overall score
  –    CEFR B2 Issued by a European university language centre
  –    ESOL CAMBRIDGE English CAE (Advanced)
  Language of instruction is not accepted anymore, except applicants who are nationals from or have obtained a bachelor and/or master degree in a higher education institute with English as mode of instruction in USA, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland or Canada, and in the latter case a certificate that the mode of instruction was English has to be submitted.

For VLIR-UOS:

VLIR-UOS offers a limited number of full scholarships for students each year, according to a specific list of eligibility criteria. Applicants need to be a national AND resident of one of the 31 scholarship countries at the time of application.

Selection: The selection of awardees of these scholarships, is conducted by the IMRD Management Board. They take their decision carefully after assessing all complete application files of the academically admitted candidates for the IMRD programme who applied correctly and timely for the Scholarships.

Number of Awardees: Not specified

Value of Scholarship:  

For Erasmus Mundus:

• 2 year Programme Costs for the IMRD programme (= 2 x 9,000 => 18,000 EUR)
• 2 year full worldwide insurance coverage
• contribution to travel and installation costs (either 5,000 or 7,000 EUR)
• 24 monthly subsistence allowances (= 24 x 1,000 => 24,000 EUR)

The EMJMD Student Scholarship does not include:

• visa costs
• study material
• transportation costs from one mobility to another

For VLIR-UOS:

• The scholarship covers ALL related expenses (full cost).

Duration of Scholarship: 2 years

Method of Application: 

Visit Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Webpage   and  VLIR-UOS Scholarship Webpage for details  

Scholarship Application Deadline: 28th February, 2019