Master Mind Scholarships Academic year 2018-2019 awarded by Ministry of Education (Flemish)

Flemish  Ministry  of  Education
Master programmes
Deadline:  30th April 2018
Course starts:  September 2018



1.  General description
The  Flemish  Ministry  of  Education  awards  scholarships  to  outstanding  students  for  Master programmes  in  Flanders  and  Brussels.  The  programme  aims  to  promote  Flanders  and  Brussels  as  a top study destination.
Applications  will  be  accepted  from  all  Flemish  universities,  Schools  of  Arts  and  the  Antwerp Maritime Academy.

It  is  estimated  that  30  to  40  international  excellent  students  can  benefit  from  the  Master  Mind Scholarships 2018-2019.

2.  General eligibility criteria

• The  applicant  applies  to take up  a Master  degree  programme  at a  higher  education institution in Flanders (hereafter ‘Host institution’).

• The applicant should have a high standard of academic performance and/or potential:

• The student has a Grade Point Average of 3.0 out of 4.0: https://www.foreigncredits.com/resources/gpa-calculator/

• The student has a sufficient knowledge of the English language:

• an overall band score of minimum 7.0 on the IELTS test;

• a minimum total score of 100 on a TOEFL test;

• a C1 level on the Certificate in Advanced English (CAE);

• or a similar result in another official language test.

Students who apply for a Master programme in Arts have at least:

• an overall band score of minimum 6.5 on the IELTS test;

• a minimum total score of 90 on the TOEFL test;

• a B2 level on the Certificate in Advanced English (CAE);

• or a similar result in another official English language test.

The Host institution also performs an academic check of the student’s file.  The student has to be  accepted  by  the  Host  institution  to  be  able  to  receive  the  scholarship  even  if  the  Host institution’s decision is taken after awarding the scholarship to the student.
All  nationalities  can  apply.  The  previous  degree  obtained should  be  from  a  higher  education institution located outside Flanders.
Students who are already enrolled in a Flemish higher education institution cannot apply.
Student mobility during the master programme is allowed. However, at least half of the credits of the master programme must be obtained at the Flemish Host institution. 

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY CERTIFICATES

 3.  Modalities 

• The duration of mobility is minimum 1 academic year  (60 ECTS)  and maximum the full  duration of the master programme (120 ECTS). The incoming student is awarded a maximum scholarship of €8.000 per academic year according to the modalities mentioned in the appendix 1 Payment of the scholarship.

• The  Host  institution  can  ask  the  applicant  for  a  tuition  fee  that  equals  the  rate  of  the  yearly tuition  fee  for  a  student  from  who  receives  a  study  grant  from  the  Flemish Government .  The rate  for  the  academic  year  2018-2019  is  €108,8.  This  rate  may  increase  slightly  from  year  to year.  The  exact  applicable  rate  for  2019-2020  will  be  communicated  to  the  Master  Mind beneficiaries before the 1st September 2019.

• There  are  a  number  of  scholarships  reserved  for  students  from  certain  countries:  Japan  (3), Mexico (3), USA (5). These countries are priority countries for the Flemish government.  If these numbers of scholarships are not taken up, they will be awarded  according to the ranking of the candidates as decided by the Flemish Selection committee.

• Students  should  not  combine  this  fellowship  with  another  scholarship  from  the  Flemish Government.

• Upon  completion  of  the  mobility  all  students  are  expected  to  submit  an  essay  for  which  a format is provided and to fill in a short questionnaire about their mobility.

• A maximum of 20 applications can be submitted per higher education institution.

4.  Application
Step  1:  The  applicant  submits  his/her  application  to  the  Host  institution.  Beware  of  internal deadlines set by the Host institution; some institutions have as deadline 15thFebruary 2018!
Step 2: The Host institution accepts the application of the candidate.
Step  3:  The  Host  institution  starts  the  application  procedure  for  the  Master  Mind  scholarship  by creating the candidate’s application file in the Mobility-Online tool.
Step 4:  The applicant receives an email generated by the Mobility-Online tool  notifying him/her of being preselected for a Master Mind scholarship.
Step 5:  The applicant registers in the Mobility-Online tool and completes his/her application file  in the Mobility-Online tool before the deadline.
Documents to be uploaded:
-  Passport photo
-  International passport or national registration card
-  Transcript of records; if written in another language than Dutch, French or English, a certified translation must be enclosed.
-  English language test results or Letter of exemption provided by the Host university
-  Letter of motivation written in English
-  Two letters of recommendation from professors  of  your (previous) Home university, University of Applied sciences, School of Arts or recent employer written in English.
-  Copy  of  acquired  diploma(s);  if  written  in  another  language  than  Dutch,  French  or  English,  a certified translation must be enclosed.
-  Three  reasons  of  motivation  for  submission  (at  least  150  words)  of  the  candidate’s  file formulated  by  the  Host  institution  in  English;  format:  entry  box  in  the  application  form  or  a separate document. 
Step  6:  The  Host  institution  validates  and  submits  the  completed  application  file  in  the  MobilityOnline tool before the deadline of midnight  30th April 2018 GMT+1. Applications validated submitted after midnight 30th April 2018 GMT+1 will not be accepted.
5.  Selection
In  collaboration  with  the  Flemish  Ministry  of  Education,  a  Selection  Committee  will  make  the selection after the application deadline, based on the following criteria:

•  the quality of the applicant’s motivation (30 points);

• the applicant’s previous study results in the Transcript of records (30 points);

• the reasons for recommending the applicant in Recommendation letter 1 (10 points);

• the reasons for recommending the applicant in Recommendation letter 2 (10 points);

• motivation for submission by the Host institution (10 points);

• top talent profile of the applicant (10 points).

6.  Timing 

• Launch of call: December 2017

• Deadline for application at Host institution: see appendix 2 below (available on: http://www.studyinflanders.be/en/scholarship-programmes/master-mind-scholarships/)

•  Deadline for application: 30th April 2018

• Selection: May 2018

• Announcement of selection results: June 2018

• Start of mobility: September 2018

Should you have  questions  about the scholarship programme,  please  contact  the  Host  institution or the VLUHR-secretariat: mastermind@vluhr.be.

Deadlines applications Flemish higher education institutions Universities:
KU Leuven / University of Leuven: 1st March 2018
University of Antwerp: 15th February 2018
Ghent University: 1st March 2018
Hasselt University: 15th February 2018
Vrije Universiteit Brussel: 15th March 2018

University colleges (Arts and Nautical Sciences):
Antwerp Maritime Academy: t.b.c.
Artesis Plantijn University College Antwerp: 1st March 2018
Erasmus University College Brussels: t.b.c.
Karel de Grote University College: t.b.c.
LUCA School of Arts: t.b.c.
PXL University College: 1st March 2018
University College Ghent: 16th March 2018

Payment of the scholarship

• The scholarship amounts to €8.000 for the academic year 2018-2019 and €8.000 for the academic year 2019-2020 in case an application was submitted for a two-year Master programme.

• A first installment of €4.000  is transferred to the student’s bank account  (European or Belgian bank account only) prior to the start of the academic year in July 2018 or in September 2018. If a student prefers to  have the first installment paid on the bank account in  his home country  (not  Europe), a first  installment  of  €2.000  will  be  made  on  the  student’s  bank  account   in  July  2018.  

• A  second installment of €2.000 will be made on a Belgian account opened by the student in September 2018.

• If a student follows a preparatory programme, the first installment of the scholarship will be delayed until he/she successfully succeeds the preparatory programme.

• A second installment of €3.000 is transferred in February 2019 upon completion of the first semester.

• A final installment of €1.000 is transferred upon completion of the first academic year  in July 2019 or  in  September  2019  in  case  of  re-sit  examinations.  If  a  student  completes  a  one-year  Master programme, but does not obtain the Master degree at the end of the academic year in July 2019, or in September 2019  in case of re-sit examinations, the final installment of €1.000  will not be awarded.

• If a student enrolled in a two-year Master programme does not obtain 54  ECTS after the first and after the  re-sit  examination  sessions  of  the  first  year  2018-2019,  the  student  cannot  start  the  second academic year 2019-2020, and will not be awarded the third installment of €1.000.

• In case of a two-year Master Programme, and on the condition that at least 54 ECTS were obtained in the first academic year, €4.000 is transferred to the student’s bank account prior to the start of the second academic year 2019-2020 (or in September 2019 in case of re-sit examinations).

• A second installment of €3.000 is transferred in February 2020 upon completion of the first semester of the second academic year.

• A  final  installment  of  €1.000  is  transferred  upon completion  of  the  second  academic  year  (in  July 2020, or in September  2020  in case of re-sit examinations). If a student does not obtain the Master degree at the end of the second year, the final installment of €1.000 will not be awarded.

• In  case  of  discontinuation  prior  to  the  end  of  the  Master  programme  for  which  a  Master  Mind scholarship has been awarded by the Flemish Government: if a student only completes part of a one or  two-year  Master  programme,  he  or  she  will  need  to  refund  part  of  the  scholarship,  e.g.  when  a student only completes one semester, he or she can keep half of the totally awarded   sum i.e. €4.000.