Sub-Saharan Africa Planning and Design Scholarship

Starting from 2016, the Department of Urbanism of the TU Delft provides two full scholarships to students from Sub-Saharan Africa aged between 22 and 28 to participate in the Summer School.

The scholarships cover travel costs, accommodation, and daily expenses during summer school (meals and transportation).

Selection process

We are looking for exceptionally motivated individuals with excellent communication skills, leadership qualities, and the capacity to work collaboratively in a group. They must demonstrate that they will make a notable contribution to the Summer School and they are able to multiply the knowledge acquired at their home institutions.

Selected students are expected to act as Ambassadors for TU Delft, the Centre for the Just City and the Delft Global Initiative and will help promote our learning philosophy and values.

This scholarship is only available to students from Sub-Saharan Africa . We strongly encourage female students to apply . (Please read our “diversity and opportunity” policy HERE).

Application for the scholarship ARE OPEN FROM 1 NOVEMBER of each year.

The selection process will involve the following steps:

Application starts (NOV)
Evaluation of CV, letter of recommendation by teacher, letter of motivation and short video from students (After 1st FEB).
ZOOM interview from selected candidates from previous phase (MARCH).
Announcement of recipients of scholarships (END MARCH).
Students will be provided with an invitation letter and assistance to obtain a Dutch visa. Visas are granted by the competent Dutch authorities and TU Delft has no say in the process. Students will be expected to travel to the Netherlands in July (exact dates will be announced later).

*PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS THE SCHOLARSHIP FOR THE SUMMER SCHOOL PLANNING AND DESIGN FOR THE JUST CITY. TU DELFT HAS OTHER SCHOLARSHIPS FOR SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA STUDENTS TO ATTEND OUR REGULAR MASTER COURSES. YOU CAN GET INFORMATION ABOUT THESE SCHOLARSHIPS HERE.

Please read carefully. This is the protocol for application for the Sub- Saharan Africa Scholarship for the Summer School Planning and Design for the Just City at the Schools of Architecture and the Built Environment and Technology, Policy & Management of the TU Delft, in the Netherlands.

This scholarship is intended for passport holders of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa between 22 and 28 years of age, studying in the following areas:

Architecture
Urban design
Spatial planning (town, urban and regional planning)
Environmental engineering
Water engineering
Urban law and management
Political sciences
Public administration
Areas that have a close relationship with planning and design of sustainable cities and communities.

You have to follow the instructions carefully in order to apply for the scholarship. If you fail to deliver one of the items required, we will not be able to take your candidacy into account.

Please, read instructions well before writing to us. For questions, please write to summerschool-bk@tudelft.nl

THE SCHOLARSHIP INCLUDES

A round-trip ticket between your country of origin and Amsterdam. The ticket will be organised and bought by TU Delft upon selection of the candidate and the granting of a Dutch visa. If a visa is not granted to you for whatever reason, the scholarship is automatically cancelled.
The fees for the SummerSchool will be waived.
A small amount of pocket money is enough for meals and transport for two weeks in the Netherlands.
Accommodation during your stay (you might be housed with a TU Delft student during the period of the Summer School). Note: we only arrange accommodation for recipients of the Sub-Saharan Africa scholarship. All other students must find accommodation by themselves.

THE SCHOLARSHIP DOES NOT INCLUDE

The fee for the Dutch visa in your country.
Your health insurance. This is mandatory for students coming to the Netherlands. Please look for international health insurance in your own country, as conditions and prices vary from country to country. We cannot give you any information about health insurance: you have to find information by yourself in your own country.
Any extra costs incurring from your stay (trips, transfers or other activities not included in the Summer School programme, including fines resulting from breaches of the law, damage to others and accidents. This includes extra costs connected to COVID 19 infections and other health hazards, even when COVID is contracted in the Netherlands. You must be insured).

INSTRUCTIONS

You need to find a teacher at your school who is willing to support your application. This teacher must be currently employed by a university in your country. This teacher needs to write a substantive letter of support. By “substantive” we mean, the letter should offer REASONS why you are deserving of a scholarship. The teacher also needs to make themselves accountable for your participation.
You need to write a 800-word motivation letter*. In this letter, you need to explain: Who you are and what makes you special. Where were you born? What’s your personal story? Do you have hobbies? Do you practice sports? Are you talented in something? How do you do at school? Why do you want to participate in the summer school? How will the summer school impact your education and future professional life? What are the main challenges for your city in the 21st century? How do you see your own role in tackling those challenges? How do you see the role of spatial planners or designers in the future of our cities and in society? What’s the role of spatial planners, architects and other professionals in our world in turmoil?*Don’t forget to include your full name, contact details, school you are attending and the name of your course at the top of the letter.Remember, we will also assess your level of proficiency in English through this letter, so it is important that your English is correct and clear. Please, keep the letter to a maximum of 800 words. See how to write a good motivation letter HERE.
A short CV (max two A4s) with your main achievements.
A SHORT MOVIE (3 minutes max) of yourself saying hello and saying who you are and why you would like to participate in the Summer School (you can make a movie with your smart phone. If you don’t have a smart phone, maybe you can borrow one from a friend. If you can’t make the movie, please tell us. You will not be disqualified). Please, see how to prepare a good introduction video HERE.
You DO NOT need to add your architectural/design portfolio.
Signed transcript/grade summary from your institution. If you don’t have access to a transcript, we need a document stating that you are a student at that institution.
UPLOAD YOUR MATERIALS TO THE ONLINE APPLICATION FORM.
DON’T FORGET TO LABEL ALL THE FILES YOU SENT US WITH YOUR FIRST NAME + LAST NAME + AFRICA. Example: John+Smith+Africa. doc
Please FILL IN THE ONLINE APPLICATION FORM and upload your materials there. You can put everything in a ZIP file.
You need to comply with ALL REQUIREMENTS to be eligible for this scholarship. (The only item we are flexible about is the short movie, but you need to give us a very good reason not to make a movie).
Fill in the form carefully, and don’t forget to mark the option “Sub-Saharan African Scholarship”.

APPLICATION FORM

Elsa Gidey, from EiABC in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, wins the Sub-Saharan Africa Planning and Design Scholarship

I am a graduating student from EiABC, Addis Ababa University, currently working on my final thesis. Besides achieving good grades, I participate in voluntary community organisations that help low income groups of society by building low-cost houses, collecting funds and also consulting services. I have hobbies like knitting, and designing traditional cloths as a contemporary fashion. I also have great communication and leadership skills. I was a coordinator and a team leader in group works and workshops for almost all my school years.

I wanted to participate in the TU Delft Summer School for three main reasons. First, I do hold a deep interest in the most fundamental aspects of the planning and designing with water; as well as a goal to devote my professional career towards understanding them. I explored the application of water in urban design by researching cases in European countries, especially from Dutch and Belgium. And throughout my experience, I realized that I need first-hand experience from these countries. And TU Delft summer school is the best scenario.

Second, Ethiopia is in a rapid developmental change. Cities are changing and new towns are emerging by bulldozing the old. The tension from the government for environmentally sensitive design is evident. Third, Holland is one of the best examples of water based city development. Through my research, I noted engineering and environment conscious solutions that the world should learn from. It is my dream to study these solutions and apply it to my developing country.

The summer school will benefit in many ways. I would be captivated to grasp an inside look at a modern and top notch program at TU Delft. It is quite evident that the experiences gained, both by the hands-on experience on topics of my interest and by the guidance of leading experts in the area. I firmly believe that curricula of the summer school will provide answers to my questions regarding my design profession in Addis Ababa. Furthermore, the diversity of students and teachers enrolling in this school will aid me in engaging in extensive discussion that could broaden my views, build my skills and make friends.

In my point of view, the challenge of cities in the 21^st century is the neglectfulness of evolving man made intervention onto the natural environment creating crisis at both land use pollution and atmosphere depletion. Hence, as an architect and planner, I believe that water is a sensitive issue of urban areas, and the future of our cities should be targeting at designing for sustainability.

FITSUM ABERA, from EiABC in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, wins the Sub-Saharan Africa Planning and Design Scholarship

The first recipient of the Summer School Scholarship was Fitsum Abera Angasa from the EiABC in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“Hello! My name is Fitsum Abera Angasa. I was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1989. In 2007, I joined the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development of the Addis Ababa University ( AAU – EiABC), and I got my bachelor in Architecture and Urban Planning in 2013. After two and half years in the practice, I got the chance to be an assistant lecturer at EiABC, in the chair of Basic Architectural Design in 2015. I am really interested to assist students and I love my work.

I was so excited when I was selected to receive a scholarship for the Summer School Planning and Design with Water. The summer school helped me learn the core values and processes in spatial planning and design. The summer school was well coordinated with many lectures by TU Delft professors, researchers and government officials, as well as site visits. We also worked in a group project which deals with water issues in Scheveningen, a harbor area, located in the west of The Hague.

At last I can proudly say that my summer school in TU Delft was fruitful , I took a lesson that can be applied in real practice and can be shared in my university.“

Text by Fitsum Abera, Bachelor of Architecture and Urban Planning. EiABC-AAU-Addis Ababa University

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“Delft Global Initiative focuses on problem-oriented interdisciplinary technical research on pressing societal challenges in the developing world, to meaningfully improve lives of people living in poverty”.

TU Delft Planning and Design for the Just City