Orange Knowledge Programme

The Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP) is a scholarship programme funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is targeted at professionals from selected countries who, after their studies in the Netherlands, will be able to further develop and strengthen the organisations at which they work. Please find the information and instructions for submitting your scholarship request below.

Before you start applying, please take note of the following general conditions:

• Only our Master, Certificate and Short Course programmes are eligible for the OKP Scholarship. 
• You have to be a national of one of the OKP countries listed here.
• You must be employed at the time of the application and your employer must provide an employer statement.
• Important: there are selected focus areas for each country, applications that fall within the focus areas of your country are prioritised when the scholarships are assigned. So please check these areas before you start writing your motivation letter.   

Application process for the Nuffic OKP Scholarship

1) Submit your Master, Certificate or Short Course application at VHL University of Applied Sciences (VHL)

You first have to submit your application for admission to a Short Course, Certificate or Master programme at VHL University of Applied scienes. We will perform an eligibility check and let you know whether you can be admitted to the programme.

For detailed instructions on how to submit your application for a study programme at VHL, please consult our application page.

You will need to start your application by registering for the study programme of your choice in Studielink, which is the Dutch national student registration platform. The Studielink application deadline for the OKP Scholarship is 8 March 2023.

Are you applying for a Certificate Programme? Then you do not have to use Studielink, instead you need to start your application here. The application deadline for the OKP Scholarship is 8 March.

Are you applying for the Short Course? Then you do not have to use Studielink, instead you need to start your application here. The application deadline for the OKP Scholarship will be 19 March.

You will then receive an invitation to our application portal where you have until 12 March 2023 to upload the following list of required documents:
 

• colour copy of official diplomas or certificates of all previous education (secondary and university level and other relevant courses ) *
• copies of the corresponding lists of marks - transcripts of records*
• CV with a detailed description of your work experience
• letter of motivation of approximately 150-250 words. Please use the Europass format to complete your CV.
• internationally recognised certificate of proficiency in English language (e.g. IELTS, TOEFL or Cambridge CAE of FCE) **
• colour copy of ID or passport

*certification and translation of documents is required when documents are not written in one of the following languages: Dutch, English of German.

** the VHL institutional TOEFL code is: 4478.

**Please check the specific admission requirements of your study programme to see whether or not you might be exempted from providing proof of your English language proficiency. If you are not exempted, it is mandatory to provide proof of English proficiency with one of the mentioned certificates. What happens if you are not able to provide the above official language test results? If your previous education was taught in English and you can proof this with a medium of instruction statement from the university you can still apply. You then need to do an alternative online language test. After you hand in your medium of instruction statement you will receive further instructions from us.

Important:  In your CV or motivation letter, you will need to state that you wish to apply for the Nuffic OKP scholarship. This is to ensure VHL knows whether it needs to send you the instructions for the OKP application. Please also briefly explain in your CV or motivation letter why you would like to receive the OKP scholarship.

2) Register in the Delta scholarship application system

After VHL has performed the eligibility check, you will receive a letter (email) informing you about the results. Candidates who have been found eligible to be admitted to a study programme at VHL University of Applied Scienes will receive a letter with a link to the NUffic Delta application system and detailed instructions on how to submit your scholarship application.

The Delta application system will be open from 8 February - 30 March 2023 16:00 CET

Please note that the set of documents required for the application at VHL and for the scholarship differ. For the list of required documents needed for your application at VHL, please consult our application page. Regarding the OKP application, you will need to prepare a number of additional documents and upload them in the Delta system. The set of required documents for the OKP application includes:

• Employer statement
• Government statement (if applicable)
• Copy of passport
• Possible other documents. The system will inform the candidate which documents are required.

3) Results

After you have submitted your OKP application in Delta, your request will be processed by Nuffic. VHL then makes the first selection. You will be informed about whether or not you have been nominated for the first selection round a few weeks after Delta closed.

For the second selection round, the Dutch embassies will check eligibility and asses your application for the final selections. VHL will inform you about the results and the next steps once we receive the selection results from Nuffic in June.

We advise you to start applying for a Master or Certificate programme at VHL immediately after the Studielink application system opens. We will start assessing your file from November on. This way, you can make sure your application will be processed before the Delta scholarship application portal opens.

Please bear in mind that you need to agree with the rules and regulations of the OKP. Please consult the Obligations for OKP Fellowship Holders.