Cultural Heritage Scholarship Programme

Cultural Heritage Scholarship Programme

A one-year scholarship for a heritage master's programme in the Netherlands for applicants from selected countries

What's on this page?

• Countries
• About the programme
• Target group
• Eligibility criteria
• Required documents
• Programme course list
• Application process
• Selection procedure
• More information

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This programme offers students and young professionals from Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Suriname the opportunity to follow a one-year master’s programme in the Netherlands related to their cultural heritage, specifically related to objects stolen during the Dutch colonial era. The programme offers 15-20 scholarships to students from participating countries for one-year master’s programmes in the Netherlands, starting in September 2024. Are you ready for the chance of a lifetime? Apply for the Cultural Heritage Scholarship now!

Countries

You may be eligible for a Cultural Heritage Scholarship if you specialise in or study heritage, art art history, history or museum studies and are a national citizen of:

• Indonesia (through LPDP, different conditions apply)
• Nigeria
• Sri Lanka
• Suriname
• South Africa

About the programme

The Cultural Heritage Scholarship Programme is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by Nuffic, aligning with Dutch policy based on the Advice on Colonial Collections and Recognition of Injustice (link is external) from the Gonçalves Commission. Because of the imbalance of power during the colonial era, cultural objects were often improperly obtained. The Dutch government is keen to help rectify this historic injustice by returning cultural heritage objects to their country of origin and by strengthening international cooperation in this area. This initiative is in line with other efforts within this policy framework, such as the consortium colonial collections (link is external) and opportunities offered by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO (link is external) ). Both are currently offering research opportunities in the Netherlands on this topic: NWO call for proposals (link is external) and the NIAS–NIOD–KITLV Fellowship (link is external) .

Target group

This programme offers opportunities for motivated and highly committed younger (20-35) students and professionals to develop their knowledge of the international museum and heritage field, provenance research and the role of heritage in our society. After gaining new knowledge and skills, scholarship recipients must contribute to the museum and heritage field in their country for example by conceptualising exhibitions, conducting provenance research or supporting requests for return of objects currently in Dutch museums.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible you must meet the following criteria:

1. You possess the required nationality:

• Nigeria: you possess the Nigerian nationality. Your place of residence or employment not necessarily has to be in Nigeria at the time of submitting the application. However, candidates who live and work/study in Nigeria receive preference.
• South Africa: you possess the South African nationality or possess a permanent residency .
• Suriname: you possess the Surinamese nationality and live and/or work in Suriname or the Netherlands.
• Sri Lanka: you possess the Sri Lankan nationality and live and/or work in Sri Lanka.

2. You are not older than 35 at the time of submitting the application.
3. You hold (at least) a bachelor degree or will obtain a bachelor degree before 1 June 2024 in one of the following fields of study: Art history, heritage studies, museum studies, history, archaeology, or a related field.
4. The master’s programme for which you are applying must be on the Programme Course list and must be full-time during the academic year 2024-2025. The programme starts around 1 September 2024 and ends in September 2025 at the latest.
5. You are academically admitted to one of the programmes on the course list, this means:

• You must have received at least confirmation of your application for academic admission for the selected master’s programme (s) of your choice, at the time of submitting your scholarship application.
• Not later than Monday 15 April 2024 (14.00 CEST) you are at least conditionally admitted to the master’s programme (s) and you have submitted the (conditional) admission letter at Nuffic (via [email protected] ).
• Not later than 15 June 2024 you are unconditionally admitted and you have informed Nuffic (via [email protected] ).

Required documents

• a copy of a valid identification document.
• a motivation letter.
• a recent Curriculum Vitae (CV).
• 2 reference letters by professionals in the history, museum, art history, archeology or heritage sector or from teachers/professors preferably in one aforementioned field.
• A certified copy of your highest obtained diploma and transcript or if not yet available a recent copy of the transcript.
• ideally (un)conditional letter of admission, but at least a confirmation of your application for academic admission for the programme(s) for which you submit the scholarship application.
• a form of the obligations and conditions (121.5 kB) , signed by the applicant and a participating institution (a format will be released shortly). This document contains rules and regulations for the scholarship. By signing and submitting the format, you and the Dutch institution agree to these.
  

Programme course list

Name institution	Name master's degree programme
Leiden University	Track Heritage and Postcolonial Studies of the MA Colonial and Global History (link is external) MA Heritage and Museum Studies (link is external) MA Arts & Culture (track Museum Studies (link is external) & track Art History (link is external) )
Maastricht University	Specialisation Arts and Heritage: Policy, Management and Education of MA Arts and Culture (link is external)
Reinwardt Academy (Amsterdam University of the Arts)	MA Applied Museum and Heritage Studies (link is external)
University of Groningen	MA Arts, Cognition & Criticism (link is external) MA Curatorial Studies (link is external) MA History & Heritage Consultancy (link is external)
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU)	MA Global History & International Studies (link is external) MA Heritage Studies (link is external)

Scholarship holders are expected to select courses relevant to the purpose of the programme and to seize the opportunity to use their thesis research or internships, where relevant, to research topics relevant to the programme's goals.

Application process

You must apply through our online Delta portal (link is external) .

Please follow the steps below before applying for this scholarship opportunity.

Check if you meet the programme’s eligibility criteria.

Select a master’s programme from the Programme Course list (max. 3).

Apply for academic admission to the Dutch higher education institution offering the programme(s) of your choice.

Collect all required information and documents and apply for a Cultural Heritage Scholarship. Please note that it is not possible to save during the online application process. Therefore, make sure you have prepared all relevant information and documents in advance when applying online.

Apply in the Delta system (link is external) using the application instructions (209.4 kB) .

Please note: applications can be rejected if they are not complete (if not all required information or documents are submitted), if documents are not as requested or if the application is not submitted on time and, or not via the Nuffic online portal.

Deadline

The deadline to submit an application is Monday 8 April 2024 (16.00 CEST).

Selection procedure

After the application deadline, all applications will checked on eligibility. If your application does not meet the criteria, it will not be assessed further and will be rejected.
Eligible applications will be assessed on motivation, grade point average (GPA), experience in and ambitions for this topic based on the information provided in the application, such as Curriculum Vitae, obtained grades and motivation. The assessment will result in a ranking of pre-selected applications per participating country.
Applications are then selected starting from the highest rated application until the maximum amount of available budget (per country) is reached. The Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs has formulated country specific preferences such as a gender balance or specific knowledge cooperation needs. The preselection is adjusted to meet these country-specific preferences. After this the selection is final (and includes a number of reserve candidates). Reserve candidates can be selected in case a selected candidate refuses the scholarship or is not unconditionally admitted to their study programme in time.

After the selection

Nuffic aims to inform all applicants via email in May 2024. The selected scholarship holders can then inform the Dutch institution they are selected and, if needed, ask for advice on practical matters such as visa application and housing.
The scholarship amount per student will be paid by Nuffic to the Dutch institution. They will in any case monthly transfer a subsistence allowance to the scholarship holder.

Reporting

Within 4 weeks after the end of the study programme, scholarship holders must submit a (short) narrative report and a copy of your diploma. Dutch institutions must provide a financial statement.
More information about what exactly to submit and how to submit will follow as soon as possible.

Code of Conduct

Nuffic or programmes that Nuffic manages may not be involved in activities that involve unacceptable behavior, whether interpersonal violations, financial violations or abuse of power. Nuffic has an Integrity Code of Conduct to combat unacceptable behavior. In addition, activities involving the following situations/behavior are considered unacceptable:

• bankruptcy, insolvency or liquidation proceedings;
• failure to comply with obligations to pay taxes or social security contributions;
• money laundering or financing terrorism;
• terrorist crimes or crimes related to terrorist activities;
• irregularities;
• setting up a shell company; be a shell company.

Those who receive a grant through a program managed by Nuffic are expected to endorse and comply with this code of conduct.
Read our integrity policy. (link is external)

More information

For more information about the Cultural Heritage Scholarship Programme, please contact [email protected] .

Logo ministry of Foreign Affairs
Wherever possible and relevant in communication about the scholarship the Dutch university and/or the scholarship holder will mention the fact that the scholarship is funded (subsidized) by the Ministry, in order to inform the public domain about the results realized with the subsidy.
The logos and taglines that need to be used in the communication can be consulted online .