FAQ

The admission requirements are:

• A Bachelor degree in a field related to the programme you would like to join.
• Preferably, applicants should have about two to three years of practical or research experience since graduation. All applications are, however, considered on their individual merits.
• The English language requirements for all of IHE Delft's educational programmes.

The application deadline for the Delft-based MSc programmes starting on the third Thursday of October is 1 August of the same year. The application deadline for the other programmes may vary, please see the respective programme or specialization pages. Please keep in mind that in case you wish to apply for financial assistance, the application deadline for a fellowship is usually much earlier.

On arrival of the application you will receive a confirmation of receipt by email. The application process can take up to four weeks. You will be informed about the outcome by email.

We prefer one recommendation letter from your current employer (if available) and another one from the university you graduated from. Recommendation letters must be printed on official letterhead paper and need to be signed and dated.

In maximum 500 words (1 page) clearly explain why you are applying for admission to the choosen programme. We are not looking for an overview of your academic background and/or work experience! Make sure that your motivation is unique and impresses the reader.

The deadline for confirmation of financial support for the Delft-based MSc programmes starting on the third Thursday of October, is 15 August of the same year.

If you have not secured funding for the academic year that you are admitted to you cannot join IHE Delft for that year. If you are interested in applying for the next academic year, you will have to apply again for admission to the Master Programme with your user account (https://www.un-ihe.org/user/login). Our Student Information System does not allow transferring admissions from one year to the next. 

It is not allowed to apply for admission to more than one master programme per academic year, unless there are 3 months or more between the start dates of the programmes. 

More information on programme fees can be found here.

You can pay your invoice by transferring the mentioned amount directly to our bank account.

Name of the bank:ING Bank N.V.
Address of Bank:Phoenixstraat 28, 2611 AL, Delft, The Netherlands
Account name:Stichting IHE Delft
Bank account number:65.57.014 
SWIFT-code beneficiary bank:INGBNL2A
IBAN:NL33INGB0006557014

Make sure you indicate the invoice number and keep in mind that remittance should be free of bank charges to the receiver.

The paid before date or time frame is mentioned on the invoice. Usually it is within 14 days.

No. In order to participate in the MSc Programme, it is necessary that we have received the full amount in our bank account at least 2.5 months before the MSc Programme will start.

No. Once your admission to one of our programmes has been finalized we will send you documentation for the visa and resident permit application. The documentation has to be completed and returned to IHE Delft. You need to have a residence permit if you are a citizen of a non-EU/EEA country or Switzerland and you would like to stay in the Netherlands for a period of more than three months.

A residence permit will generally be issued for the duration of your study programme, provided that you obtain 50% of your study credits every year. As mentioned above, if you want to keep your permit, you need to get at least 50% of your study credits each year. However, you may have a reason to be unable to get that 50%. Whether that is an illness, homesickness or any other reason, please do not hesitate to contact your student counsellor. Together with your counsellor you can find out whether your reasons are valid enough to be excluded from the 50% credits rule. Please do not be afraid to ask for help because if you do not and you will end the year with less than 50%, you will be sent home.

The IHE Delft MSc degrees are accredited under the Dutch law and are as such legally registered at the Central Register for Higher Education Programmes (CROHO) in The Netherlands. The Ministry of Education is co-signatory on all the diplomas presented by the Institute, thus endorsing the academic standard of the degrees as comparable to those of the Dutch universities.

The MSc degree is recognised as a graduate level credit by all Dutch universities and many universities abroad. The MSc degree gives automatic access to the PhD programmes of those universities. Normally no extra entrance examinations or course requirements are needed.

Candidates who fulfilled the requirements for obtaining the MSc degree are given a diploma as well as a diploma supplement describing the programme and an overview of the results obtained.

Authenticated or certified copies are copies with an official stamp to verify that the copies are true copies of original documents. This official stamp may be from one of the following: a solicitor/notary, the educational institution from where you gained the diplomas or the local council/local authority/local government office.

If you have any problems or need assistance with completing the application, we kindly request you to read our FAQ for applicants first. 

If you have run into a problem that is not described in our FAQ, contact us by sending an email to: 

Make sure to explain the problem in details and add print screen(s) of the error message.

Yes, they are accredited with the Netherlands-Flemish Accreditation Organisation (NVAO) according to a standard assessment protocol. 

The criteria to which the Institute's MSc Programmes comply are described in the Policy Note MSc Programmes offered in Delft.

Yes, the main vehicle to ensure quality is the external accreditation by the NVAO. The internal protocol used for evaluating programmes and components thereof is described in the 'Policy Note Evaluation'.

More information on fellowships can be found at Nuffic's grantfinder. The various possibilities mentioned on our website are just a few options for financial assistance. IHE Delft is open to any kind of fellowship as long as it covers the total costs of the programme. Please keep in mind that each fellowship has its own application requirements, rules and regulations. Finding funding is solely the responsibility of the applicant.

The Orange Knowledge Programme aims to advance the development of the capacity, knowledge and quality of both individuals and institutions in higher and vocational education. One component of the programme is the availability of individual scholarships for professionals. More info: www.un-ihe.org/orange-knowledge-programme

The application procedure for IHE Delft's PhD programme is described here. 

Candidates for the PhD programme should have a IHE Delft MSc degree with high qualification. An MSc degree from another university or institute - equal to IHE Delft's standards - may also be acceptable. If a candidate is not yet in the possession of an MSc degree, but has an interesting research proposal and proven track record, he or she may be admitted to IHE Delft's MSc programme first, as part of and in preparation for the PhD research. PhD candidates will only be accepted after their research proposal has been approved by IHE Delft’s Academic Board. IHE Delft's PhD degrees are awarded jointly with a relevant university, ensuring that it is embedded in the prevailing higher education legislation.

Click here for the English language requirements for all IHE Delft programmes.

After we have received the documents mentioned above, we will first send your diplomas and transcripts to Nuffic for validation. If your diplomas are found to be adequate, we will send your documents to one of IHE Delft's professors, who will review your academic qualifications and research proposal and decide whether to approve or decline your application. If your application is rejected you will be provided with a brief justification for the decision. In the case of approval, you will receive an unconditional admission letter. However, if you still need to submit the results on an English test, the admission letter will be conditional. On average this process will take 6 to 8 weeks.

It is common that prospective students will have already identified a potential promoter based a comparison of their interests and the professor's area of expertise. It is not a requirement, however, that you find a professor yourself. An admissions officer will contact the most suitable professor, based on your research proposal. The name and email address of the professor will be mentioned in your admission letter.

Please click here for more information on possible fellowships or scholarships.

Please click here for more information about costs.

We do not have an application deadline, you can always apply. After you have obtained your admission and funding, and after the approval of your professor, you can start the programme.

Your academic admission is valid for 3 years. This time is available to you to secure the necessary financing or complete any other needed preparations. The programme may not be started until full financial support is acquired.

IHE Delft is not an official Dutch university. Therefore IHE Delft can not issue a PhD degree. Your professor is registered at a Dutch university and you will be registered at the same university. The logo of that university and of IHE Delft will both appear on your diploma.

You can find information about all short courses here. After selecting a course, you can find more specific information regarding the course content, the dates, the prices, the deadlines and a possibility to apply for the online course.

A short course has around six to eight hours of study per day.

Almost all our short courses have the option of taking an exam: It is possible to receive 5 ECTS Credit Points by successfully passing this exam at the end of the course (cost of the exam is € 250).

If you cannot find your answer among the FAQs, you are welcome to send an email to:

You can find information about all short courses here. After selecting a course, under 'More Info' you can find the email address of a specific course's coordinator.

You can find information about all short courses here. After selecting a course, you see the cost of the course.

Once you have been academically accepted this admission remains valid for three years.

You can find information about all short courses here. After selecting the course of your interest, under 'More Info' you can find the possibility to apply: "Click here to apply for this course". After receipt of your application, we will assess your file and inform you regarding the outcome within ten working days.

IHE Delft's application deadline for online courses is 4 weeks before the start of the course.

After filling out the application form, you have to attach your curriculum vitae.

You should at least have a Bachelor of Science degree, some years of working experience and a good command of the English language.

You will receive the outcome of your application by email as for several fellowships it is no longer necessary to hand over an admission letter. In case you do need a letter for your sponsor, we will provide you with this letter upon request.

Before the start of the course we should have received your payment in our bank account.

Discounts on the tuition fee of online courses apply to the following persons:

    30%: IHE Delft alumni
    10%: UN family staff members
    10%: groups of 5 or more (provided that the online course starts at the same time and a group application has been sent)

Unfortunately we do not accept cheques sent to IHE Delft nor credit cards.

No. In order to participate in the course, it is necessary that we have the whole amount in our bank account before the course starts.

Unfortunately, IHE Delft does not provide any scholarships.

For possible scholarships, check our short course scholarship page or use Nuffic's grantfinder.

Please find more information regarding the OKP scholarship on NUFFIC's website.

For all information regarding the OKP country list, please visit NUFFIC's website.

You have to apply to a short course first. If you meet the academic admission requirements you will be informed by the admission and fellowship officer about the next step that you have to take if you wish to be nominated for an OKP scholarship. 

Yes, student rooms might be available for € 50 per night. For more information about the type of room facility and availability you may contact: 

On our website you can find information about our online courses. After selecting a course, you can find more specific information regarding the course content, the dates, the prices, the deadlines and a possibility to apply for the online course.

A typical course covers a four-month period, and requires around eight hours of study per week (total study load 140 hours).

This differs per course. After clicking on a specific course, it is mentioned under ‘Dates, Fee, ECTS’ how many ECTS Credit Points you can obtain.

If you cannot find the answer to your question among the FAQs, you are more than welcome to send an email to: 

The course coordinator can answer all your questions about course specific questions, for instance regarding the content. After selecting a course on our website, the contact details of the course coordinators are mentioned.

On our website you can find information about our online courses. After selecting a course, you can find the cost of the online course.

Once you have been academically accepted this admission remains valid for three years.

After selecting the course of interest on our website, under you can find the possibility to apply. After receipt of your application, we will assess it and inform you regarding the outcome within two weeks.

Before submitting the application form, you have to attach your curriculum vitae and a copy of your passport.

You should at least have a Bachelor in the relevant field and a good command of the English language.

Please make sure that we have received your payment in our bank account at least 3 weeks before the start date of the course.

Discounts on the tuition fee of online courses apply in the following situations:

    30%: IHE Delft alumni
    10%: UN family staff members
    10%: groups of 5 or more (provided that the online course starts at the same time and a group application has been sent)

Paying with credit card is possible, currently only VISA and Master Cards are accepted. Please note that a fee of 5 percent of the tuition fee will be charged for paying by credit card.

No. In order to participate in the course, it is necessary that we have received the entire tuition fee in our bank account before the course starts. As it is possible to pay just before the course starts, it seems unnecessary to transfer the fee in instalments. Therefore, we recommend you to keep your money until you can transfer the whole amount. This way you also have to pay possible transfer costs only once.

IHE Delft Institute for Water Education does not grant fellowships for online courses. We advise you to search for other options for financial support such as your employer, your government, the EU, International funding agencies, etc. 

This depends on the type of sponsorship. If you apply for a scholarship, you need to check the deadlines of the specific sponsor.

Yes, you can apply for admission and do the entrance exam even if you have not yet submitted your English test results. The deadline for submitting English test results is the same one as for submitting entrance exam results and depends on the type of sponsorship you are applying for.

It may take up to 3 weeks after receipt of your application before you receive a reply. If your application meets the admission requirements, we will send you a conditional admission letter. After receipt of your conditional admission letter it may still take about 10 days before you will receive a separate e-mail with more information on the material to be studied and a link to do the entrance examination test.

No. IHE Delft has student accommodation available and will provide further details in case you are selected.

A reference letter is not required. However, you need to submit the contact details of two persons whom we could contact as referee. This information should be uploaded with your application for admission.

You should use the template for your motivation statement and not use more than 500 words (around 1 page). Motivations which are not according to this format will not be accepted.

No. Once you have confirmed funding, we will send you documentation for the visa and resident permit application. The documentation has to be completed and returned to IHE Delft. A residence permit will generally be issued for the duration of your study programme.

Authenticated or certified copies are copies with an official stamp to verify that the copies are true copies of original documents. This official stamp may be from one of the following: a solicitor/notary, the educational institution from where you gained the diplomas or the local council/local authority/local government office.

In your application you can indicate under the question “how do you intend to finance your study”, which scholarship you intend to apply for. If you can cover the cost of the study yourself, you can also indicate this with your application. 

All applicants from OKP eligible countries will receive an e-mail soon after application for this scholarship has opened with further instructions how to register. More information on the eligibility criteria can be found here (check the tab ''tuition and fellowships'').

After you have done both entrance exams, please make a screenshot of the results and log in to your online application for admission, upload your results there and submit your application again. If the results are sufficient, you will receive a provisional admission letter, provided you meet the English language requirements as well.

The English language requirements can be found here