The Netherlands organisation for international cooperation in higher education (NUFFIC) offers the opportunity to apply for a fellowship for the training course Decentralisation, Democratisation and Development, as part of the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP). To see if you are eligible for a fellowship and to learn more about the rules and regulations regarding the fellowship, please check the Nuffic-website.

Course content
How can governments become more knowledgeable of and responsive to the needs of the people? How do you create possibilities for greater political participation for ordinary citizens? How can local governments contribute to reaching the MDGs?     

This two-week training course discusses principles and practices of decentralisation in relation to good governance and sustainable development. It will zoom in on the design, implementation and support strategies for effective decentralisation in order to strengthen good local governance and development from the bottom up. By seeing, doing, discussing and exchanging experiences, you will be actively involved throughout the course.

Course objectives
This course helps you to:

• Assess decentralisation practices and the state of local governance in the countries you work in;
• Increase your knowledge on inter-administrative relations and local democracy in different parts of the world;
• Judge the impact of decentralisation policies on the realisation of poverty reduction;
• Find out about good practices in community based development (empowerment and participatory approaches, gender issues, micro-projects);
• Manage the reform process.

Who can sign in?
The course is designed for Staff of Ministries and Municipalities, bilateral donors, multilateral agencies and NGOs, who wish to be well-informed about the linkages between local governance, decentralisation and democratisation.

Practical information
For more information about this course and registration, please check
www.thehagueacademy.nl/training-programmes/open-courses-2011

Apply now!
We are ready for applications for CEMACUBE 2011! Applicants may apply for the CEMACUBE programme (as well as for scholarships) until the following deadlines:

• Category A students: December 1st, 2010
  
• Category B students: April 15th, 2011
  

ALL APPLICANTS MUST:

1. Carefully read our selection criteria, found here

2. Fill in the PDF application form (download PDF )

3. Prepare an electronic application package, containing the following:

• Completed PDF application form
• Copies of certified documents of academic credentials, including diploma and (if available) diploma supplement (including a certified translation if these documents are not in English, French or German). If you do not yet have a diploma, you must provide us with convincing proof that you will obtain your BSc degree before the CEMACUBE programme starts in September 2011.
• Academic and professional CV
• Letter of motivation (very important). For more information, click here.
  
• A passport sized photo
• A valid copy of your passport
• A valid copy of your TOEFL test results (or equivalent test that proves proficiency in English, check the specific requirements here).

 PLEASE NOTE: there are only two grounds for exemption from having to prove proficiency in English:

1. Applicants that are a native English speaker and completed secondary education in any one of the following countries: Canada, USA, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia
2. Applicants that have completed their bachelor education in any one of the following countries: Canada, USA, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia
   
   We make no exceptions to these rules. Students have to prove their proficiency in English if they do not meet either of the two requirements stated above.

4. Send their complete application package to cemacube@rug.nl

5. Send the PDF reference form (Download PDF), to at least two, but preferably three qualified referees, and make sure that they fill it in and send it to cemacube@rug.nlThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ' ); //-->, including the name of the candidate in the title of the e-mail.

It is the candidate’s responsibility that all referee forms arrive before the deadline. Referees must send their reference forms to us themselves – the candidate is not allowed to do this.

PLEASE NOTE:
Only complete dossiers with completed application forms will be considered for selection. You are welcome to add extra documents with additional relevant information. Please check that you send all documents required above to us in a single e-mail to cemacube email address. If you cannot send certain documents yet, please explain this in your application and indicate when we can expect to receive these remaining documents. This will avoid delays in the reviewing your application.

If you still have any questions about your application, please contact the administrative coordinator, Dr. Irma Knevel

The Nestlé Scholarship for Women, Worldwide was first awarded in 1997 and was initiated by a group of IMD MBA participants who wanted to encourage women to take the MBA.

Applicants must have been accepted into the IMD MBA program prior to their application.

Our scholarship applications are essay based, with winning essays typically including the following features:

* Relevance to the essay title
* Organization and structure
* Fully developed arguments
* Persuasiveness
* Personal element and/or passion

IMD reserves the right not to award a scholarship if the criteria are not met to the satisfaction of the jury/sponsors.

Number of scholarships: One
Amount: CHF 25,000
Geographic region: Worldwide (with preference given to developing countries)

Who can qualify: Accepted women candidates who demonstrate financial need. Employees of Nestlé and its subsiduaries are not elegible.

Criteria: Submitting an essay discussing the issue: "Does diversity in management impact the bottom line? If so, how?" (maximum 750 words)

Application Deadline: September 30

Contact: Scholarship essays, or questions, should be sent to mbafinance[at]imd.ch

Source: www.imd.ch/programs/mba/fees/scholarships/Nestle.cfm

The construction of the power waterway for high-head hydro-power plants is generally one of the most expensive project parts. The costs are especially high when a steel lined tunnel is needed. Extension of concrete lined sections is therefore of special interest and a topic of active research. Extending the usage of concrete lining beyond the usual design practice requires a new design model.

A project investigating this topic will be carried out at UNESCO-IHE and includes one PhD position. This advertisement concerns the PhD position at UNESCO‐IHE and the research topic entitled Coupled stress-seepage numerical design of concrete lined pressure tunnels.

Project description Bearing of internal water pressure by plane concrete lined pressure tunnels is limited by the low tensile strength of concrete. Shrinkage of concrete and cooling of the lining by first filling cause a gap between the concrete lining and surrounding rock mass and therefore the surrounding rock mass cannot be included in the bearing of the internal pressure. Low pressure grouting reconstitutes the contact with the surrounding rock mass and increases the bearing capacity, but still the bearing capacity of plane concrete lining is limited. The bearing capacity of the plane concrete lining can be considerably increased if the surrounding rock mass is radially grouted with high pressure grouting causing so called "pre-stressing" of the final concrete lining. Such a lining system, dependent on the tunnel geometry and rock mass characteristics, can be loaded by internal pressures to approximately 20 bars. This design method (developed by Seeber) is mostly used for plane concrete lined tunnels in Austria and by pressure tunnels around the world designed by Austrian designers.

The high pressure grouting pre-stresses the concrete lining, but also improves the rock mass characteristics; stiffness, strength and especially the tightness. Increase of the rock mass tightness allows for an additional effect that has until now not been used in the design of the lining. Relatively tight rock mass around the concrete lined tunnel reduces water losses and produces external water pressure that, as a contra-pressure, reduces the tensile stresses in the concrete lining. Including the contra-pressure in the design will allow for extended usage, by higher internal water pressures, of the radial grouting method with pre-stressing effect.

The method can be used for design of plane concrete lining in cases where standard Seeber theory reaches its limits. In the case of acceptable rock mass conditions and relatively tight rock mass, the suggested method will extend the applicability of the plane concrete lining with pre-stressing and reduce the length of much more expensive steel lined sections

Information and requirements

• The research will be carried out at the premises of UNESCO‐IHE in the Netherlands
• The PhD position is funded with a fellowship in accordance with Dutch NUFFIC regulations (monthly allowance of about € 1190, air travel, health insurance, ancillary expenses and tuition)
• Expected starting date is January 2011
• Duration of the project is 4 years
• Candidate must have a masters degree (average mark: 80% or above) in a discipline relevant to the topic, e.g. geotechnical engineering, tunneling, civil engineering, hydro-technical engineering etc.
• Applicants must demonstrate a strong interest and experience in conducting experimental and interdisciplinary research including mathematical modeling
• The applicant should be willing to co‐supervise masters students
• The applicant must be proficient in English and have excellent communication and writing skills
• Work experience in or related to tunneling and geotechnical engineering is essential

Application

Application including curriculum vitae, the names and contact details of two referees, a motivation letter and filled PhD application form (link) should be sent per post to the following address before October 1 2010:

Ms Jolanda Boots
Westvest 7
2611 AX Delft
The Netherlands

We intend to contact short‐listed candidates by October 15 2010.

Further information can be obtained from Prof. Dr. Miroslav Marence (m.marence@unesco‐ihe.org).

Source: www.unesco-ihe.org/About/News/PhD-Position-available-Pressure-Tunnel-Project

The UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education offers post-graduate courses and PhD research programmes in Delft, The Netherlands, and carries out research and capacity building projects all over the world. The mission of UNESCO-IHE is contribute to the education and training of professionals and to build the capacity of sector organisations, knowledge centres and other institutions active in the fields of water, the environment and infrastructure in developing countries and countries in transition.

UNESCO-IHE has a permanent staff of 160, of which 90 are scientific staff, while about 250 guest-lecturers from academia and industry contribute to the educational programme. Each year 750 participants (incl. about 200 new MSc students per year) from all over the world attend the various regular and short courses at UNESCO-IHE.

The Department of Hydroinformatics and Knowledge Management (HIKM) has a Core that is engaged in the study and application of Knowledge and Capacity Development (KCD). Current research concerns the modes of knowledge sharing in water resources, the capacity in government and the civil service system, and the access to the global knowledge pool through formal and informal learning processes and networks.

The vacancy is part of a new initiative to study how the effectiveness of KCD can be increased, and to help mainstream research outcomes in policy on international development. This effort is financed by the Netherlands government. For the Department we are looking for a Junior Researcher, Knowledge and Capacity Development in the Water Sector (m/f).

Responsibilities
As part of the KCD team, the (full time) researcher will conduct an academically rigorous study over about 4 years on the relationship between the capacity of the water sector and the sector’s performance in service delivery and water resource management, in about 6 countries, in a transversal analysis. The methodology will be based on the experiences and tools developed by the team and by other research groups. The approach in the study will include the selection of representative case studies, of which the development and performance will be the KCD activities and programs, the collection of quantitative data and information as well as narratives, and the comparative analysis of the KCD development dynamics in relation to KCD initiatives and programs. The study will establish a method to analyze the modes in which KCD affects the capacity and performance of the main organizations of the sub-sector, and how it helps to achieve benchmarks that are to be determined by the study.

The outputs of the study include (i) a set of peer-reviewed publications that are to be of adequate quality to allow the researcher to obtain his/her Doctor degree under Dutch law, and (ii) elaborate guidelines, and building blocks for KCD action plans and policy inputs that are relevant for international development. The researcher will, beside his/her research, prepare policy documents and reports to disseminate the results and recommendations, and will participate in relevant workshops and forums. In addition, he/she will prepare and give classes at post-graduate level for international course participants, and over time take leadership in the development of new educational programs. He/she will be staff member of the Core on KCD and work under the supervision of the Professor/Chair of KCD.

Requirements and Competencies
The candidate will:

• Have an education at MSc level or equivalent in water or water resources sciences or engineering, or in relevant social or economic sciences. Combination of degrees would create a special advantage. He/she should qualify for acceptance into a PhD programme under Dutch academic regulations.
• Have professional experience of at least three years in a related field in a utility, in a consultancy, government agency, or similar organization, and/or in a research environment. Experience with developing countries will be considered especially valuable.
• Be proficient in English, also for writing scientific papers, and, preferable, policy reports.
• Be able to work in a team and contribute to the teamwork.
• Bring a constructive attitude, and enthusiasm for the goal of knowledge management and international development.

Preference exists for candidates from developing countries.

Conditions of employment
This position is for four years, however, after about half a year a satisfactory detailed work proposal needs to be submitted, after which the appointment will be confirmed. The position is based in Delft, The Netherlands. The PhD research fellowship includes a monthly allowance of about €1190, air travel, health insurance, ancillary expenses and tuition. Candidates must be prepared to carry out long- and short-term missions abroad.

Information and application
Additional information can be obtained from Mr. Jan Luijendijk, Head of Department (T: +31(0)15- 21 51 810 / E: j.luijendijk@unesco-ihe.org).

Applications with curriculum vitae can be sent until August 31, 2010 to UNESCO-IHE, attn. Mr. Jan Luijendijk, Head of Department stating the vacancy description.

Source: www.unesco-ihe.org/About/News/PhD-Position-available-Knowledge-and-Capacity-Development-in-the-Water-Sector