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VLIR-UOS Scholarships in Flanders 2011 – Ghent University Belgium

About VLIR-UOS:
VLIR-UOS (Flemish Interuniversity Council – University Development Cooperation) is responsible for managing and making policy on the university development cooperation funds of Belgium’s Directorate-General for Development Cooperation (DGDC). VLIR-UOS funds and facilitates academic cooperation between Flemish higher education institutions and their partners in developing countries through programmes and projects that share and develop knowledge and expertise.

Detail:
This programme provides courses at university level on the most important aspects of aquaculture, for both marine and freshwater organisms. The programme takes a multidisciplinary, interuniversity and international approach, and aims at the acquisition of fundamental knowledge and skills with the main objectives being:
1.to deliver researchers able to design and  perform research in various aquaculture fields;
2.to deliver experts who can draw and implement strategies for future development in the aquaculture industry;
3.to form key persons who can act as a nucleus in their local environment through dissemination of their acquired knowledge;
4.to deliver academically trained staff for the aquaculture industry.
The learning outcomes and competencies will differ from student to student as each one will follow his/her own customized program, with a solid foundation in the basic principles of aquatic production. However, the common learning outcomes of the Master of Science in Aquaculture program can be summarized as follows:
1.to have acquired knowledge on the biology and ecology of aquatic organisms (shellfish, finfish, etc.) and to be able to apply this to aquatic production;
2.to be capable of characterising, analysing and evaluating different forms and systems of aquatic production;
3.to understand the interactions between human activity, environmental conditions and aquatic exploitation, and to determine potential ameliorating interventions;
4.to acquire a scientific approach to formulating and testing hypotheses, to be able to design research protocols, as well as to collect and analyse data and to research scientific literature;
5.to be capable of reporting both orally and in writing the results of their work;
6.to understand and communicate with the industry, and be familiar with the practicalities of commercial ventures;
7.to understand the ethical considerations of animal production and experimentation;
8.apart from these academic competencies and professional insights, students will have improved their social and generic skills and language knowledge;
9.to have adopted a problem-solving capacity so that he/she can occupy an independent and responsible position as an aquaculture specialist.
The study programme comprises two years of study, with courses as: Aquatic Ecology; Biology of Aquatic Organisms; Fish Culture Techniques; General Aspects of Aquaculture; Microbial Ecology and Environmental Sanitation; Physiology of Aquatic Organisms        ; Technology of Fishery Products; Algae Culture; Aquatic Farm Management Training; Mollusc and Crustacean Culture; Aquaculture and the Environment; Larviculture and Larval Food Production           ; Applied Statistics; Management in the Aquaculture Industry; Aquaculture Genetics; Diseases in Aquaculture etc. Subject to the Faculty’s approval: elective courses to a total amount of 15 credits, to be chosen from a list of courses from UGent and the partners of the European Master in Aquaculture and Fisheries: National University of Ireland, Cork; Wageningen Universiteit en Research Centre; Universidade do Algarve, Institutt for fiskeri- og marinbiologi, Universitetet i Bergen, Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet; Uniwersytet Warminsko – Mazurski wOlsztynie. Subject to motivation max. 5 credits of the 15 can be chosen from all other programmes of UGent.

Eligibility:
The programme is open to holders of a bachelor’s degree in exact or applied sciences, equivalent to at least three years’ university studies or a degree in Veterinary Medicine, Civil Engineering or Agricultural Engineering or any related area. Holders of other degrees must follow extra courses. Every application will be carefully examined individually. Some background in aquaculture is recommended.
The applicant must be proficient in the language of the course or training programme, i.e. English. Command of the English language is a very important criterion for admission. With the exception of those who have a diploma (Secondary Education, Academic Bachelor Degree, Master Degree) issued by an institution officially recognized by the Flemish Government, applicants must be able to prove their proficiency in English. There are 4 possibilities to supply this proof:
1.TOEFL certificate (the UGent TOEFL code is 2643) with:
a.a minimum total score of 550 on the paper based test, or
b.a minimum total score of 79 on an internet based test.
The test validity is max. 2 years.
2.IELTS with a minimum overall band score of 6.
The test validity is max. 2 years.
3.Proof of at least 1 year of comprehensive English-based instruction at a university or recognized equivalent.
4.Proof of a successful “Intermediate Academic English” test at the Ghent University Language Center.

Application and selection procedure:
Applicants applying for both academic admission and a VLIR-UOS scholarship need to consider both the admission requirements and the scholarship criteria.
Applicants applying for academic admission but not for a scholarship simply need to fulfill only the admission requirements of the host university running the programme.
The host university is in charge of the academic admission of applications. Study results will be taken into consideration during the selection, but the most important academic selection criteria are relevant professional experience and prospects for applying the acquired insights after return to the developing country. The academic admission requirements are specific to every programme. Please peruse the requirements from the relevant programme.
A joint selection committee of VLIR-UOS and the host university is responsible for selecting scholarships. The host university – not the applicant – forwards the scholarship applications to the VLIR-UOS secretariat if the academic admission requirements are met. The VLIR-UOS scholarship criteria relate to the qualifications required of all scholarship applicants and selection criteria evaluated by the selection committee. Download the VLIR-UOS scholarship criteria at the bottom of this page.
All applicants receive an acknowledgement of receipt of their applications. Applicants whose proposals are deemed academically admissible and who are awarded a scholarship for the academic year 2010-2011 will be contacted by VLIR-UOS and the host university by e-mail in May and June 2010. Applicants whose proposals are deemed academically admissible will be notified by the host university.

Application for the academic year 2011-2012:
You can apply for a VLIR-UOS scholarship from the 1st of October 2010. You must fill in the pre-screening form at the bottom of the page of the programme you want to follow. You may only choose one programme. If you apply to more than one programme your details will be entered more than once in our central database and all your applications will be inadmissible. So you must follow the correct and complete procedure below.
1.Apply on the VLIR-UOS website via the pre-screening form: fill in name, birth date, country, etc…;
2.Receive a VLIR-UOS application/file number by return e-mail from VLIR-UOS;
3.Apply on the website from the host university through the link mentioned in the return e-mail from VLIR-UOS;
4.Write the received VLIR-UOS application/file number on the application file from the host university;
5.Send a printout of your application file along with all required documents (diploma transcripts, motivation, etc…) to the International Office of the host university, not to VLIR-UOS.

Deadline: The deadline to apply for a scholarship from VLIR-UOS is the 1st of February 2011.

Note: Applications that are incomplete, illegible or that reach the host university’s International Office after the deadline will be automatically rejected.Prospective students will not be allowed to enrol at UGent when they are unable to submit an official and by UGent recognized proof before the start of the Academic Period. For prospective students trying to obtain the “Intermediate Academic English” certificate at the UGent Language Center, the final language exam is the 22nd of September 2009. Failing to provide any of the abovementioned will result in not being allowed to enrol at UGent, thus this candidate will have to return back home.

Remark: Do not underestimate the level of difficulty of the UGent language test!

Number of VLIR-UOS Scholarships: 13

Contact:
Mr B. Van Delsen & Mr S. Vanopstal
Laboratory of Aquaculture & Artemia Reference Center
Ghent University
T +32 (0)9 264 38 43
F +32 (0)9 264 41 93
msc.aquaculture@ugent.be

Source: http://www.aquaculture.ugent.be