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VLIR-OUS: Travel grants for students (REI)
Flemish Interuniversity Council - University Development Cooperation (VLIR-UOS)
2317- Belgium
- Least Developed Countries
- Tonga
- Papua New Guinea
- Niue
- Micronesia, Federated States of
- Marshall Islands
- Zimbabwe
- Tunisia
- Swaziland
- South Africa
- ...
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Based on your location, you may be eligible. However, this is not the only criterion, and the information may be out of date. Always make sure you are well-informed before you apply!
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Summary
| Duration: | Max 1 months |
| Purpose: |
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| Level: |
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| Quota: | Not defined |
| Application deadline: | Every year in December and March/April |
| Benefits summary: | Every year in December and March/April |
Last update: 18 October 2011
Description
A travel grant is a financial sum of EUR1000 awarded to students at a Flemish university or university college so that they can make an individual study trip to a developing country. The study trip must be part of a recognised study component, such as a work placement or a thesis.
The Flemish universities and university colleges are responsible for awarding and administering the grants. VLIR-UOS funds the grants and is responsible for the programme framework.
With travel grants VLIR-UOS aims to give Flemish students the opportunity to get experience on the ground in a developing country within an academic context and so make them aware of development problems in a globalising world.
Eligibility
To be eligible for a travel grant you must meet the following criteria:
- You are enrolled at a Flemish university or university college.
- You are studying for one of the following degrees:
- professional bachelor's degree
- academic bachelor's degree
- bachelor's degree after bachelor's degree
- master's degree
- master's degree after master's degree
- doctor's degree
If you are studying for a bachelor's degree you should talk with the contact person (institutional coordinator for development cooperation, abbreviated to ICOS) at your university or university college to find out the first term you are eligible for a travel grant.
- You are a Belgian national or a citizen of a member state of the European Union or a member state of the European Free Trade Association (Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland).
- Your study at a Flemish university or university college is not part of a European exchange programme (e.g. Erasmus).
- You have never received a VLIR-UOS travel grant in the past.
- During your present studies, you have not received and are not receiving funding from the development cooperation budget (e.g. a VLADOC grant) or a grant for a study trip to a developing country.
Duration
The stay in the South lasts at least one month. There is no maximum duration.
You are normally required to take an English Proficiency Test if you come from a non-English speaking country.
Most European Universities recognise the IELTS test. More information
Benefits
A travel grant is in the sum of EUR1000, regardless of what you actually spend.
Application information
The new call for application is published each year at the end of September.
Before departure, the student must find a promoter at his or her own university or university college. He or she also has to find a local promoter in the destination country for guidance and supervision. The student is provided with practical and intercultural information at his or her own university or university college by way of preparation.
Documents that must be part of the application:
- Completed and signed application form (paper and electronic form)
- Electronic file
- Letter of recommendation from the Flemish promoter at a Flemish university or university college
- Letter of invitation from the local promoter (and where applicable a translation by the student into Dutch, English or French)
Every university and university college is responsible for selecting their own travel grants. VLIR-UOS sets general selection guidelines and shares the travel grants among the universities and university colleges.
The universities and university colleges submit the selection results to VLIR-UOS for approval and prepare an annual report on the selection system employed.
There are three possible selection outcomes. If an application does not meet the selection criteria it will not be selected. If all selection criteria are met the student may be given the status of full candidate or reserve candidate. A reserve candidate may be eligible for a travel grant if a full candidate does not take up a travel grant or if VLIR-UOS makes additional travel grants available to the university or university college after the second round. The candidates with the best applications are given priority, based on a ranking.
Relevant Links
Additional information
Your stay in a developing country must be part of a recognised study component for which you are awarded study credits. That may be a work placement or a thesis. Simply going to classes in a developing country is not enough. You can substantiate the development relevance of your intended activity on your application form.
Examples of activities:
- work placement in a hospital as a nurse or doctor
- work placement in a slum area with young people
- work placement teaching music in a primary school
- research into national parks and the impact for the local population
- research into fighting agricultural pests
- research into the use of digital information channels
- research into creative methods for learning foreign languages
- research into the development of a hydroelectric power station
You work with the local organisation in the destination country. This may be a university, university college, hospital, local government, NGO, local enterprise with a social purpose, association and so on.
A contact person known as the ICOS has been appointed at every university or university college with responsibility for monitoring travel grants. ICOS is the Dutch abbreviation of institutional coordinator for development cooperation. You should contact this person if you have any questions about travel grants. See chapter 10 in the call for travel grants 2010.
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