The IHE Delft Water and Development Partnership Programme, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is providing scholarships for two-year Research MSc in Water and Sustainable Development in the framework of a research project on Dutch Water Trade.
This project critically examines the implications of prioritizing Dutch business opportunities within development cooperation policies. With Dutch water expertise being internationally renowned, especially this sector sees chances to use aid for further expanding their foreign portfolio. While in many cases this Dutch involvement may lead to meaningful and sustainable outcomes, past experiences also show the downside of Dutch approaches to managing water and Dutch private interventions also contributed to harm done to communities and ecosystems such as depletion aquifers and pollution of water sources. This research project will employ qualitative social science methods to study several cases of Dutch private sector interventions which affect water sources and community and ecosystems that depend on this water, including cases on dredging in coastal zones, foreign-owned agri-businesses and abstractions for industrial water use. These research insights will be used to engage in policy advocacy campaigns to fostering sustainable and inclusive approaches in engaging Dutch private sector in development cooperation.
To strengthen capacity on this topic and conduct research within this project, there are three full scholarships available. These scholarships include the total cost of the Research MSc Programme in Water and Sustainable Development: Tuition fee, insurance, international travel cost, field research costs and an allowance for the cost of living and accommodation during the complete study period.
The scholarship requires that students conduct their internship and MSc research within the Dutch Water Trade project and follow modules that help them prepare for this research, which will be determined in consultation with the project team. Moreover, the students will need to contribute to and participate in wider activities of the project, including contributing to seminars, policy advocacy activities and writing of academic publications.
The deadline to apply for this scholarship is 1 June 2026.
Nationals from all non-European low- and middle-income countries are eligible for this scholarship, with priority given to citizens of the following countries:
- Middle East: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Yemen
- Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Somali, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda
- Sahel: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria
- Small Island Development States: Belize, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Federated State of Micronesia, Montserrat, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome & Principe, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.
Eligibility criteria
- Academic admission to the Research MSc Programme in Water and Sustainable Development | IHE Delft Institute for Water Education. First read very carefully the information about the programme. When you scroll down to the end you find the procedure for application for academic admission.
- Nationals of a non-European low-and middle-income country, with priority to the countries mentioned above
- Agree to conduct MSc research within the Dutch Water Trade project on one of the cases identified in consultation with the project team.
- Agree to conduct an internship during the MSc programme with one of the project partners focused on strengthening your policy advocacy skills.
- Active participation in and contribute to the project activities, including organizing seminars, contributing to policy advocacy activities and co-authoring journal publications.
- Confirmation to return to country of origin or other priority country of the programme.
- Receipt of motivation statement in which you demonstrate affinity with the topic of the research project. You must use a special template, which you find in the text below.
Selection criteria
- Strong priority to female candidates.
- Strong motivation, including demonstrated affinity with the topic of the research project. To evaluate this, you must complete and return a motivation statement, which you find below under application procedure.
- Strong academic background and preferably experience with qualitative social sciences including ethnographic methods.
- Preference to candidates with relevant work experience
Application procedure
- If you are a national from one of the eligible countries and meet the eligibility criteria, please complete the motivation form and return it to: Ineke Melis, fellowship and admission officer: i.melis@un-ihe.org. First apply for academic admission to the research MSc programme and only after you have received your academic admission letter, complete and return the motivation statement.
- After its receipt and approval, you will take part in the scholarship selection.
If you are from one of the eligible countries and meet the eligibility criteria and are interested in studying at IHE Delft, we advise you to apply for admission as soon as possible. We furthermore advise you to brush up your English and, if required, timely sign up for an English language test, as this is a requirement* for final admission and scholarship eligibility.
If no sufficient English test results are received before the scholarship application deadline of 1 June 2026, you will not be eligible to take part in the selection for the scholarship.
Timeline
The deadline to submit your motivation statement (and English test results) is 1 June 2026.
The outcome of the scholarship selection will be announced in July 2026.
