MSP Tunisia

The MENA Scholarship Programme offers Tunisian professional impact makers up to (and including) 45 years training opportunities at Dutch education institutions in the Netherlands. This scholarship is offered by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of the Shiraka programme and is managed by Nuffic.

What's on this page?

Requirements

A limited number of approximately 20 scholarships a year is awarded to female and male professionals who are:

  • highly motivated;
  • living and working in Tunisia;
  • 20 to 45 years old;
  • proficient in English;
  • working in one of the priority areas fitting the MSP approach for Tunisia;
  • using and transferring their knowledge and experience in their employing organisation after the training;
  • agreeing to the MSP obligations and conditions (155.1 kB).

English proficiency

You need English language skills because most courses are offered in English.

Priority areas

You have to be working within one of the following priority themes:

  • sustainable local economic development
  • water management and environment (including waste treatment)
  • rural innovation
  • sustainable tourism management
  • local governance
  • women entrepreneurship
  • land management and informal settlement regularisation
  • food security

Partners

  • ministries, particularly Ministries of Agriculture
  • investment and international cooperation
  • local affairs
  • tourism and environment
  • small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
  • organisations
  • trade and labour unions
  • universities
  • education institutes
  • semi-government/public enterprises
  • cooperatives

Since 2016, the Netherlands Embassy in Tunis has developed and initiated a new approach with the aim to focus on the North Western region of Tunisia (four governorates: El Kef, Siliana, Beja and Jendouba. The region is one of the most deprived in the country, but with real untapped potential).

The short and midterm objectives are:

  • to make the difference;
  • to be even more effective;
  • to maximize synergies between all the multiple NL programmes and support instruments.

To do so the Embassy will try as much as possible to redirect all the projects, activities and support programmes (central and delegated) to the focus region. In this regard and in order to serve the bilateral cooperation policy of the Embassy, we would like to give the priority to applicants from the above mentioned governorates.

Employer statement

You need an employer statement (68.4 kB) that is signed by you and your employer. It shows us that your employer supports your application. And that you can share the knowledge and experience you gained in the Netherlands once you return to Tunisia. This is required because the MSP is focused at strengthening organisations by strengthening people.

Government statement

If you are a civil servant in Tunisia you need a signed government statement (25.7 kB). This certifies the support of the Tunisian government for your MSP application. If you work for a non-governmental organisation, a govenrment statement is not required.

To arrange a government statement, please contact the Ministry (level of Chief Cabinet, President, Director General, Director General of International Cooperation). Please note that this can take 2 to 4 weeks.

Other requirements

The education institution will inform you on the requirements needed for your application. Most of the courses are designed for professionals with at least a BSC-level (or equivalent) and a minimum of relevant working experience. Applications from students will not be taken into consideration.

In order to apply for one of the courses you must motivate:

  • that you work within the priority themes for Tunisia as mentioned above;
  • how the courses will strengthen both you and the organisation you work for;
  • how you will use your newly gained knowledge and experience in your organisation after your study.

We especially encourage women to apply for a scholarship. 50% of all scholarships per country are reserved for women.

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’’Please go there and study in Holland and you will never never forget this nice experience and it will change your life for the better. You will feel that when you return back really you gained something you will never get from another place ’’ - Afnan Ayesh

Available courses

This is the provisional MSP course list for the application round that is opening between 1 April and 20 May 4 pm CEST. Please note that some education institutions have an earlier deadline.

iCRA

Application deadline: 20 May 2025, 4 pm CEST
www.icra.global
Contact information: registration@icra.global

Course
Making Agribusiness Work

IHE Delft Institute for Water Education

You have to apply in 2 steps:
1. Firstly, apply for academic admission at IHE Delft
2. Only candidates who meet the admissions criteria will receive an email to apply for a MSP scholarship in Nuffic’s online application system.

Application Deadline: 20 May 2025, 4 pm CEST
www.un-ihe.org/courses/on-campus
Contact information: shortcourseregistration@un-ihe.org

Courses
Water Conflict, Cooperation and Diplomacy
Remote Sensing for Agricultural Water Management
Water Quality Assessment and Monitoring
Water Resources Assessment using Remote-Sensing Data
Water Resources Planning under Changing Climate and Environment

Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam

Application deadline: 20 May 2025, 4 pm CEST
www.ihs.nl
Contact information: admission@ihs.nl

Course
Urban Management Tools for Climate Change

University of Twente

Application deadline: 20 May 2025, 4 pm CEST
www.itc.nl
Contact information: a.scheggetman@utwente.nl

Courses
Remote Sensing and Digital Image Processing
Photogrammetry and 3D Mapping

University of Amsterdam (UvA)

Application deadline: 20 May 2025, 4 pm CEST
https://summerschool.uva.nl/programmes/summer-programmes.html
Contact information: Summer-info-gsss@uva.nl

Course
The Circular City: Towards a Sustainable Urban Ecosystem

MDF Training & Consultancy

Application deadline: 20 May 2025, 4 pm CEST
https://www.mdf.nl/courses
Contact information: registration@mdf.nl

Courses
Training and Facilitation Skills
Management of Development Projects and Programmes
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
Gender Mainstreaming in Development

Maastricht School of Management (MSM)

Application deadline: 16 May 2025
www.msm.nl
Contact information: MSM-executiveprogrammes@maastrichtuniversity.nl

Courses
Responsible Business: CSR, Gender Equality & Sustainable Impact
Leading organisations in a digital era

The Hague Academy for Local Governance

Application deadline: 6 May 2025
https://thehagueacademy.com/
Contact information: scholarships@thehagueacademy.com

Courses
Local Economic Development
Multilevel Water Governance
Gender Responsive Governance
Fiscal Decentralisation and Local Finance
Digital Transformation in the Public Sector
Local Security Governance and Peacebuilding
Citizen Participation and Inclusive Governance
Inclusive Service Delivery and the SDGs
Urban Governance: Resilient and Smart Cities
Local Climate Response
Migration and Local Authorities

Royal Tropical Institute

Application deadline: 20 May 2025, 4 pm CEST
https://www.kit.nl/study
Contact information: m.molenaar@kit.nl

Course
Feminist Edge

How to apply

You always have to apply in 2 steps:

  1. Apply for academic admission through the education institution.
  2. Apply for the scholarship through Nuffic's online application system. Please check the conditions for receiving the link at the education institution of your choice.

Contact the education institution of your choice well in time to receive more information about the application procedure and deadlines.

To apply:

  • Check whether you fit the requirements and approach for Tunisia.
  • Choose a course from the list above.
  • Contact the education institution offering the course as soon as possible. We strongly advise you to contact the institution of your choice long before an application round opens, as additional academic requirements may be needed.
  • Apply for an MSP scholarship through a link for Nuffic’s online registration system which you receive from the education institution. Please check the conditions for receiving the link at the education institution of your choice.

Twice a year you can apply during an application round for a MSP, usually in February and in September. Results of applications are announced 3 to 4 months after application.

Selection criteria

The MSP is a very competitive scholarship. Only a small number of the best candidates receive a scholarship. The available scholarships are equally distributed across the participating countries, taking into account the available budget and the quality of the applications. 50% of all scholarships per country are reserved for female applicants. Preference is given to candidates who have not received a MSP, Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP) or Shiraka scholarship before.

Questions

Please contact the education institution where you want to study on questions regarding your application for the MSP scholarship. For other questions please feel free to contact Nuffic on msp@nuffic.nl.

Other opportunities for Tunisia

Don’t fit the MSP requirements? Or would you like to do another course? An independent and up-to-date overview of English-taught programmes in the Netherlands is available in the Studyfinder.

We also highlight the following other scholarships for Tunisia: