Tuesday 27 August 2013

Commonwealth Professional Fellowships for Developing Commonwealth Countries in UK, 2014

Commonwealth Professional Fellowships provide an opportunity for mid-career professionals from developing Commonwealth countries to spend a period of time with a UK host organization working in their field for a program of professional development. The duration of the fellowships between one and three months which may be extended up to a maximum of six months. The fellowships cover the living expenses for the fellow as well as a return airfare to the UK. It also provides £800 funding support to the host organization, with a budget of up to £3,000 available for attendance at conferences, on short courses, and other eligible costs. The CSC cannot accept any applications directly from prospective Fellows. The application will close on 7 October 2013.
Study Subject(s): Applications are sought for programs within the broadly defined fields of agriculture/fisheries/forestry, economic growth, education, engineering/science/technology, environment, governance, and public health. Course Level: Commonwealth Professional Fellowships support mid-career professionals to spend a period of time with a UK host organization working in their field for a program of professional development. Scholarship Provider: Commonwealth Scholarships Commission (CSC) in UK Scholarship can be taken at: UK
Eligibility: To be eligible for a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship, candidates should:
-Be Commonwealth citizens, refugees or British protected persons, and must be permanently resident in a developing
Commonwealth country
-Normally have at least five years’ relevant work experience in a profession related to the subject of the application, by the proposed start of the Fellowship.
-Be available to commence their Fellowship within the prescribed dates as stated on the CSC website
-Not have undertaken a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship in the last five years.
-Not be seeking to undertake an academic program of research or study in the UK. Academics are eligible to apply for the scheme, but only to undertake programs of academic management, not research or courses relevant to their research subject.
-The CSC wishes to promote equal opportunity, gender equity and cultural exchange. Applications are welcome from the many different races and origins that comprise the Commonwealth’s rich variety of cultures, traditions and institutions.

Scholarship Open for Students of Following Countries: Fellows must be from eligible Commonwealth countries (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Falkland Islands, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Montserrat, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Rwanda, St Helena, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tristan da Cunha, Turks and Caicos, Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia and Zimbabwe).
Scholarship Description: Commonwealth Professional Fellowships support mid-career professionals from developing Commonwealth countries to spend a period of time with a UK host organization working in their field for a program of professional development. Fellowships are typically about three months but can be between one and six months in length, and can include limited time for attendance at short courses or conferences, as well as visits to other organizations. Programs must have a demonstrable development impact in the Fellow’s home country and the Fellow must be able to show how the knowledge and skills they will gain during the Fellowship will be disseminated after their return home.
Number of award(s): The maximum number of fellows that can be nominated by an organization in one year is six. The CSC will decide upon the actual number of Fellows chosen.
Duration of award(s): Fellowships should normally be between one and three month’s duration, although applications for longer periods (up to a maximum of six months) will be considered, but only when a strong case for the additional time has been made. The duration of the Fellowship should, however, be long enough to allow for serious development of professional skills, so the CSC will not be able to consider applications for awards of less than one month.
What does it cover? Each Commonwealth Professional Fellowship provides:
- A return economy airfare from the Fellow’s home country to the UK
-A monthly (or pro rata) living allowance for the duration of the Fellowship (currently £1,467 per month regionally, £1,819 per month for those based in the London Metropolitan area). Exceptionally, depending on the programme arranged, a peripatetic living allowance may be payable. Further details if applicable will be detailed at the time of offer.
-An arrival allowance of up to £824 at current rates, including an element for warm clothing.
-A fixed amount for excess baggage for return travel only, dependent on the airport destination. The British Council will advise the Fellow of the amount close to the date of departure.
-A flat rate contribution of £800 to the costs of the host organisation(s), in respect of the administration and support of the Fellow, setting up of appropriate meetings, and any materials required, as well as costs of incidental travel for the Fellow during the award.
-Fees for any conferences or short courses attended during the period of the Fellowship, providing that these have been approved at the time when the application was considered by the CSC. Reasonable fees up to a maximum of £3,000 will be agreed in the context of the length of the programme, but full justification should be given for the amount being claimed. Fees should also be included in the application to cover the cost of travel for visits to other organisations in the UK, where these form an integral part of the programme.
-Other fees, for which the CSC will consider requests from the nominating organisation on a case-by-case basis. However, when planning an application, nominating/host organisations should bear in mind the following restrictions:
-Induction/evaluation programmes must be in scale with the programme.
-Modest fees including catering, room hire, and facilitator hire for such programmes may be agreed; however, fees for facilitators for evaluation programmes will not be approved.
-Additional accommodation costs may be recovered from the Fellow’s stipend.
-Requests for funds for cultural events, mobile phones,laptop computer hire, professional association memberships, and contingencies will not be approved.

Selection Criteria: 2013 applications for Commonwealth Professional Fellowships will be judged on the following criteria:
-the extent to which the proposed Fellowship will ensure the transfer of skills relevant to the needs of a Commonwealth developing country
-the extent to which those skills will lead to practical benefits for the developing country following the Fellowship
-the extent to which the Fellowship will have a ‘catalytic effect’, either within the developing country concerned, or in establishing new relationships with the UK.

Notification: Not Known
How to Apply: -Applications for Commonwealth Professional Fellowships must come from UK organisations – the CSC cannot accept any applications directly from prospective Fellows. An online application form is available at website. The first section of the form should be completed by a representative of the host organisation; the second section of the form should then be completed by the prospective Fellow(s). The CSC cannot accept applications directly from individual candidates and these will not be acknowledged. If you have a query about Commonwealth Professional Fellowships, please email professional.fellowships-at-cscuk.org.uk.
-If you are a contact at a prospective host organisation interested in making an application, you will need to register to use our Electronic Application System (EAS). To do this, please write to the CSC on your organisation’s headed paper providing the full name and email address of the person who will make the application and who will act as the main contact should the Fellowship go ahead. This letter can be sent by post to or as an attachment by email to professional.fellowships-at-cscuk.org.uk. They will then be able to set you up as a nominator on the EAS, and will email you instructions on how to apply. Organisations that have been previously registered on the EAS can use the login and password already provided, but should email professional.fellowships-at-cscuk.org.uk to inform the CSC that you intend to make an application in 2013 (Round 2). Once registered to use the EAS, there are three stages to making an application:
-Complete the Nominator’s part of the application form and ‘release’ it.
-Notify the prospective Fellow(s) and ask them to log into the EAS as an Applicant, complete their part of the form and ‘submit’ it. They need to notify you once this has been done.
-Log back into the EAS and ‘nominate’ the Fellow(s) to the CSC.
All three stages need to be completed by the published closing date.

Scholarship Application Deadline: The closing date for applications for 2013 (Round 3) Commonwealth Professional Fellowships is 7 October 2013.
Further Official Scholarship Information and Application

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