The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with Nuffic, has created a scholarship programme for Canadian students to study in the Netherlands in 2015, marking the 70th anniversary of liberation from World War II German occupation in which Canadian soldiers played a significant role.
The “liberation scholarships” will be awarded to 70 students for up to six months across five sectors; peace and justice, the creative industry, energy, nature, and history. Canadian students will also be able to transfer credits over to their home institutions.
The one-off scholarships mark the relationship between the two countries and are also intended to encourage more Canadians to study in the Netherlands.
“These Liberation scholarships underline the close historical ties between our countries”
“These Liberation scholarships underline the close historical ties between our countries,” Freddy Weima, Director-General of Nuffic told The PIE News. “It will give a great opportunity to 70 Canadian students to study in Holland.”
The project was initially spearheaded by the Dutch embassy in Ottawa, which approached Nuffic in 2013, hoping to benefit from the latter’s experience in the management of scholarship programmes.
Canadian-based Dutch businesses are also being approached for input over coming months.
Weima confirmed that around 24 Dutch universities are already signed up to the programme. “Dutch Research Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences are looking forward to welcoming them,” he said.
Subject areas of the scholarships either symbolise the “liberation” theme or showcase the Netherlands’ greatest research and enterprise strengths that have also influenced Canada.
Energy scholarships have been chosen owing to the Netherlands’ active industry which also has a base in Canada, meanwhile nature scholarships will showcase its strengths in the water, soil and waste sector which has impacted Canadian agriculture.
Peace and justice scholarships incorporate politics, law, human rights, international relations, and American studies. And the creative industry scholarships include industrial design, digital media, modern dance and architecture.
While around one million Canadians have Dutch ancestry, there are very few Canadians in the Netherlands and only 300 students from Canada studied in the country this year.
