The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission has announced a supplementary round of Professional Fellowships in 2010. They are particularly keen to receive nominations from the local government sector. The closing date for applications is 15 October with Fellowships to start between January and March 2011.

Commonwealth Professional Fellowships fund programmes of professional development designed to develop skills and knowledge that the Fellow will then apply in their home country and employing institution.  It also offers an opportunity for UK organisations and professionals from the developing Commonwealth working in the same sector to come together to share good practice.  Examples of previous successful Fellowships can be found here: http://www.cscuk.org.uk/apply/pfcasestudies.asp

Funding is provided for programmes of typically three months duration, (although programmes of between one and six months are eligible). Priority is given to programmes training professionals in the fields of agriculture/fisheries/forestry, education, engineering/science/technology, environment, governance and public health.   The Commission is particularly keen to receive nominations in: maternal and child health, health management, audit and accounting, logistics as well as from the Local Government sector.  A host organisation can apply to host up to four Fellows.

Applications are invited from any organisation in the United Kingdom which is able to set up a relevant programme and identify suitable recipients from within the developing Commonwealth (see the prospectus for a list of eligible countries).  Fellowships cover the full cost of travel to and from the UK, provide a stipend for Fellows whilst in the UK, provide some funding for UK travel and other approved short course and conference expenses and make a contribution of £500 towards host organisation costs - please see the Prospectus for further details (please note the new closing date for applications and dates for the Fellowships, detailed above).

In order to apply to host a Fellow/Fellows you will need to put together a programme for the Fellow(s) including a timetable for their activities and details of the general nature of the activity as well as providing a statement on the likely development impact of the Fellowship(s).  The Fellow themselves will also need to complete a part of the electronic application form and will need to provide a development statement. 

If you are interested in applying for the Professional Fellowships Scheme in 2010 (Round 2), please contact Deborah Bennett:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it