4.   Training activities financed by central fellowship funds

Central fellowship funds shall primarily support training activities of a political, strategic or technical, innovative nature that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, embassies, and programmes/projects in programme countries may want to promote.

Central fellowship funds may furthermore be used for training activities of a political, strategic nature for participants from countries of specific interest to Denmark.  Applicants from these countries may also participate in the activities initiated for participants from programme countries.

The training activities can take place in the region or in Denmark.

DFC is the implementing agency of all training financed by central fellowship funds. DFC shall also be involved in the planning of new training activities.

Central fellowship funds finance such specific agreements as the Sino-Danish Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, the ASEM-DUO Fellowship Program, and business fellowships to Danish firms.

 The below regulations will govern training activities financed by central fellowship funds:

· As a rule, support should primarily be earmarked broad capacity building in the form of short courses and seminars instead of individually based further education such as Master- and PhD-studies.

· As regards short-term training (under 6 months), age limits may be fixed locally taking into consideration local retirement age.

· As regards long-term training (Master- and PhD-studies), the age limit should be more restrictive. As a rule, candidates should not be more than 40 years of age when commencing their studies, and special consideration should be given to candidates’ affiliation with the programme/project and the likelihood that this affiliation continues.

· Equal representation of men and women is preferable, and qualified women should be especially invited to apply for fellowships.

Please note that in respect of the above traditional studies/courses as well as the new type of strategic/political activities, fellowship forms, (pink) applications for residence permit, and health certificates shall be filled in and forwarded directly to DFC. All applications must reach DFC 3 months before start of study/course.

There will be no communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerning the actual grant of fellowship to candidates. DFC will confirm the approval of fellowships.

5.  Training activities financed by programme/project funds

Training activities shall primarily take place in the programme country or in the region. 

The regulations mentioned under 4 might serve as an inspiration for programme/project funded training activities.

Tailor-made training acitivites in Denmark 

When programme/project-funded training activities are carried out in Denmark, DFC shall be involved in the planning of the course/studies at an early stage to ensure homogeneity and quality of training. DFC is an important source of information regarding study fees, content and quality assurance of studies, budget figures, living conditions in Denmark etc.

Since programmes/projects are the allocating authorities, fellowships shall be granted by the programmes/projects. Programmes/projects shall initiate the filling-in of fellowship forms, (pink) applications for residence permit and health certificates (all documents to be downloaded from www.dfcentre.com) and forward them directly to DFC. The documents shall include a letter from the programme/project confirming availability of funds for the training and procedure of payment.

Post-graduate training at Danish universities or university colleges
Often, Danish universities or university colleges offering post-graduate studies taught in English have their own application forms to be filled in. In this case, applications authorized by the programme/project/embassy shall be forwarded to the place of study for approval of applicants’ technical qualifications. The place of study or the Danida programme/project informs DFC about approved applicants, and programmes/projects forward directly to DFC filled-in forms (fellowship forms and (pink) applications for residence permit) as well as health certificates and letter from the programme/project confirming availability of funds for the training and procedure of payment.

All applications must reach DFC 3 months before start of study/course.

When training activities are taking place in Denmark, and as such are administered by DFC, fellows are covered by the DFC insurance. Programmes/projects shall, however, see to it that fellows are insured during regional studies/courses.

As regards training activities taking place in another industrialised country than Denmark, programmes/projects are welcome to contact DFC for advice. DFC has entered into agreements of cooperation with relevant institutions in e.g. the United Kingdom and France.

6.   Business fellowships and trainee fellowships

In respect of business fellowships (former advance pledges) and trainee fellowships, Embassies are requested to forward filled-in fellowship forms, including (pink) applications for residence permit and health certificates, directly to DFC. There will be no communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerning the actual grant of fellowships to candidates. DFC will confirm the approval of fellowships.

7.   Research fellowships

All Danida-funded research activities shall be administered by DFC and follow the DFC guidelines. Applications for residence permit and health certificates shall be forwarded directly to DFC. For projects funded by the Council for Development Research (RUF) where the Danish partner institution is placed outside the Copenhagen area, DFC should approve accommodation arranged by the project responsible.