Refresher courses

Each year, UNESCO-IHE organizes refresher courses in Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and/or the Middle East, primarily for UNESCO-IHE alumni. The courses cover themes that are of direct relevance and importance to the region and the participants.

Closed for Registration

Registration for the 2015 Refresher Courses is now closed

Refresher courses 2015

Refresher courses take place every year in different continents with the financial support of EP-NUFFIC to contribute to the institutional development of the alumni's employing organisations and prolong the impact of the original training. The courses are open to alumni who have studied in the Netherlands with NFP scholarships and are living in countries included in the EP-NUFFIC country list.

Six Alumni Refresher Courses were successfully organised by UNESCO-IHE during 2015. The courses were held in Colombia, Indonesia, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and Sudan during the second part of the year addressing topics relevant for the regions. 484 alumni applied to participate and 20 scholarships per course have been granted, being the half for female alumni. The courses are evaluated by alumni as a very important experience to increase their knowledge as well as to reinforce their professional network. During the courses the participants attended classes, have a fieldtrip as well as time to share their own professional experiences

The alumni refresher courses, which are typically one week long, consist of interactive lectures, role-plays, group discussions, field trips, excursions, social events, country presentations by participants, and a final ceremony where certificates of attendance are awarded.

Objectives of refresher courses include:

Facilitating exchanges of experiences between alumni from different countries facing similar issues and problems in their professional capacities;
Enhancing and strengthening relationships among these alumni, and between them and UNESCO-IHE;
Adapting and improving the approaches and contents of courses held at UNESCO-IHE on the basis of the experiences and practices of professionals working in developing countries; and
Exploring opportunities for establishing and strengthening local and regional knowledge centres that are part of regional and global networks for capacity building in the water, environment and infrastructure sectors.

Application Procedure

Select the refresher course you would like to enroll
Once you have chosen your preferred course, access the online application form through the ‘click here to apply for this course’ link on that course’s web page.
Fill out the form and upload your CV and a copy of your passport.
By selecting 'scholarship' in the question 'how do you intend to pay for the course', you will automatically apply for a NFP fellowship, UNESCO-IHE will handle this.
Submit your information. UNESCO-IHE will now receive your information digitally and you will receive an automated e-mail message confirming your application and listing all your submitted information.
After the application deadline, UNESCO-IHE makes a selection of all applicants and sends a proposal to NUFFIC. After NUFFIC's approval, UNESCO-IHE will inform the selected candidates by email. One month before the start of the course, all applicants will be informed about the outcome of the selection.

Please take note that you can only register for one refresher course.

NFP Fellowships

The Netherlands Government has made full fellowships for a maximum of 20 participants available for each refresher course.

These fellowships include:

air travel (economy class) from the nearest international airport in the candidate’s home country to the refresher course country and vice versa. Please note that travel costs made to reach the airport in your home country will not be reimbursed,
transfer from the airport to hotel and vice versa. No other travel costs are refunded,
health insurance,
accommodation, including meals, for the duration of the course, up to a maximum of 15 days in total, depending on the date of arrival in and departure from the hosting country,
direct visa costs (no related costs, such as travel costs to the Embassy or hotel stay are refunded). The visa costs can only be reimbursed when the original receipts are handed in.

Fellowship Eligibility

You can apply for a fellowship if you fit the following criteria. You:

are a national of, and work and live in one of the current African NFP countries, for refresher courses held in Africa
are a national of, and work and live in one of the current Asian NFP countries, for refresher course held in Asia
are a national of, and work and live in one of the current Latin American and Caribbean countries, for the refresher course in America
received your Postgraduate Diploma course, Master of Engineering, Master of Science or PhD degree at UNESCO-IHE, and
graduated before or in 2013, and
studied on an NFP fellowship, and
have not attended any UNESCO-IHE refresher course or UNESCO-IHE short course on an NFP fellowship since 31 December 2013 and
arrange that your application is endorsed by your employer

By selecting 'scholarship' in the question 'how do you intend to pay for the course' in the application form, you will automatically apply for a NFP fellowship so no further action from your side is required.

Self Paying Participants

The courses are open to a limited number of self-paying participants who have the required background and work experience, and who are not necessarily alumni. The tuition fee for one course is Euro 210, to be paid in advance. This tuition fee covers registration, tuition, and fieldtrips (when applicable), all other costs such as meals, hotel and travel costs are borne by the participant.

More details can be provided upon request by contacting refresher@unesco-ihe.org.

Refresher Courses 2016

The refresher courses for 2016 will be published here in due course.