IHE Delft Water and Development Partnership Programme Scholarship

Who can apply

Academic admission to the MSc Programme in Water and Sustainable Development
National of one of the listed countries, and living and working in that country or another listed country
Agrees to conduct MSc research in their own country or region, tied to a project the programme supports there
Active participation in the programme's learning-network seminars
Confirms an intention to return to their country of origin, or another priority country of the programme, afterward
An employer statement, on IHE Delft's own template, submitted after receiving the academic admission letter; strong priority goes to employees of the programme's partner organisations and to female candidates
Sufficient English test results must be received before the scholarship deadline, or the applicant is not eligible for the scholarship selection even if otherwise qualified

Built for professionals already working in the field, not new graduates

This is not a general-purpose master’s scholarship. IHE Delft’s own eligibility criteria require academic admission to its MSc in Water and Sustainable Development, and separately require the applicant to be a national of one of the listed countries who is also currently living and working there, or in another listed country. The programme states plainly that “strong priority” goes to employees of its own partner organisations, so an applicant already working for one of those organisations starts from a real advantage over someone applying cold.

The research has to serve the applicant’s own region, not a free choice of topic

Scholars agree, as a condition of the award, to carry out their MSc research in their home country or region, tied to a project the Water and Development Partnership Programme already supports there, and to actively participate in the programme’s own learning-network seminars. This is a scholarship built around building capacity in specific regions, not funding research wherever a scholar personally wants to go.

Full scholarships are genuinely comprehensive, but the amount isn’t published as a number

A full award covers tuition, insurance, international travel, and a living and accommodation allowance for the entire study period, which is close to comprehensive as scholarships go. IHE Delft’s own page does not state a fixed euro figure for that living allowance, so do not treat any specific monthly amount quoted on an aggregator site as confirmed; ask IHE Delft directly if the exact figure matters to your planning. Partial scholarships, covering only part of the total cost, also exist, and the programme’s own advice is to apply for other scholarships in parallel, since its budget is limited.

The employer statement and English test are both real gates, not formalities

After receiving an academic admission letter, applicants must send a signed employer statement, using IHE Delft’s own template, to the programme’s admission and fellowship officer. Separately, English test results have to be in before the scholarship deadline; IHE Delft’s own page warns that without them, an otherwise eligible applicant “will not be eligible to take part in the selection for the scholarship,” a stricter cutoff than many scholarships apply to language requirements. Applicants eligible for IHE Delft’s separate Rabbani scholarship are advised by the programme itself to apply for that one too, since the two are not mutually exclusive.