CCRIF Scholarship Programme

CCRIF SPC Postgraduate Scholarship Programme Guidelines
2022

For 2022, CCRIF will provide up to seven scholarships for students pursuing a Masters or an MBA programme in a number of pre-identified areas related to disaster risk management (see eligibility criteria) as follows:

  • 6 scholarships for study at the following accredited universities in the Caribbean: The University of the West Indies; University of Technology, Jamaica; Northern Caribbean University (Jamaica); University of Guyana; University of Suriname; and University of Trinidad and Tobago
  • 1 scholarship for study at a university in the United Kingdom, United States or Canada

Eligibility

Scholarship recipients must be citizens of CARICOM member or associate member countries and/or CCRIF member countries in the Caribbean (The CCRIF Scholarship Programme is not available to CCRIF member countries in Central America.)

The eligible Master's level programmes in the Caribbean are presented in the table below. This table will be revised from time to time as new programmes emerge either across these universities listed here or other universities.
 

University

Eligible Programmes

University of the West Indies
  • Faculty of Science and Technology, Mona – M.Sc. Natural Resource Management (Option – Integrated Urban and Rural Environmental Management)
  • Faculty of Science and Technology, Cave Hill – M.Sc. Natural Resource and Environmental Management (Option – Climate Change)
  • Faculty of Science and Technology, Cave Hill – M.Sc. Natural Resource and Environmental Management (Option – Land Management and Environmental Resilience)
  • Faculty of Science and Technology, St. Augustine - MSc in Biodiversity Conservation & Sustainable Development in the Caribbean
  • Faculty of Engineering, St. Augustine – M.Sc. Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • Faculty of Engineering, St. Augustine – M.Sc. Urban and Regional Planning
  • Faculty of Social Sciences at Cave Hill – M.Sc. Building and Construction Management
  • Faculty of Science and Technology, Mona, M.Sc. - Enterprise Risk Management (Jointly with Mona School of Business and Management)

University of Guyana

  • Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences
    • M.Sc. Environmental Management
    • M.Sc. Urban and Regional Planning
    • M.Sc. Urban Planning and Management

University of Technology, Jamaica
  • Faculty of the Built Environment, School of Building and Land Management – M.Sc. Built Environment

Northern Caribbean University (Jamaica)
  • M.Sc. Environmental Science

University of Trinidad and Tobago

  • M.Sc. Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management
University of the Commonwealth Caribbean
  • Master of Business Administration (Disaster Management)

Eligible programmes at universities in the UK, USA and Canada include one-year Masters-level courses in the following areas:

  • Disaster Risk Financing
  • Disaster Risk Management
  • Risk Management and/or Modelling
  • Climate Change/Climate Studies
  • Civil with Environmental/Climate Engineering
  • Actuarial Science
  • Meteorology
  • MBA with a major in risk management and/or insurance or a related field (Please specify below)


Online programmes also are eligible for these scholarships. Eligible online programmes include two-year part-time programmes.

Applicants must be holders a bachelor’s degree with a GPA of at least 3.0 in an area related to disaster risk management, environmental management, geography/geology, engineering, actuarial science, or a related discipline. Preference may be given to candidates who have some work or volunteer experience in a related field.

The scholarships are valued up to US$11,000 each for Caribbean universities and up to US$40,000 for universities outside of the region and are specifically for those applicants who have gained admission to a Masters level programme or an MBA programme fitting the eligibility criteria presented above.

Preference will be given to persons with supporting nominations from publicly-funded (government) national or regional agencies whose mandates are specific to risk management, disaster risk modelling, disaster risk management, meteorology, climate change, civil with environmental engineering or environmental management.

In the event that the CCRIF scholarship does not cover the total cost of attendance for a specified programme of study, the candidate will be required to demonstrate the availability of support funding to cover the entirety of the programme being considered.

Conditions

Registration
  • Recipients must be registered full-time (except in the case of online programmes).

CCRIF Scholarship Agreement
  • Recipients will be required to sign a CCRIF Scholarship Agreement agreeing to the terms and conditions of the scholarship prior to the commencement of their programme

Bonding
Requirement
  • For programmes at universities in the US, UK or Canada:
    • Recipients will be bonded to work in the Caribbean for a period of three years immediately after completion of the programme.
    • Scholarships will not be awarded until a bonding agreement has been established and signed between the nominated scholarship recipient and the government of the respective country or other authorized institution and until all visa requirements (where applicable) have been met.
  • For programmes at universities in the Caribbean:
    • Recipients will be required to work in the Caribbean for a period of 18 months immediately after completion of the programme.
  • Upon completion of the programme, recipients will be required to notify CCRIF of their employment in the Caribbean at select times/intervals within the bonding period as stipulated in the signed CCRIF Scholarship Agreement.
  • Recipients who fail to complete the bonding period will be required to repay the award, unless CCRIF and, where applicable, the Government of the recipient’s country have provided a waiver.

Thesis Topic
  • Recipients must select a thesis topic in an area in which CCRIF has an established interest or which is aligned to the CCRIF mandate and strategic objectives, with a focus on the Caribbean

Academic Performance
  • Recipients are expected to achieve academic excellence and are required to ensure that grades are at least a Merit or B grade.
  • A report on academic performance will be required at select times within the academic programme.

Withdrawal
  • Recipients who withdraw from the programme without good reason and the approval of the Academic Director, or who fail to complete the programme, will be required to repay the award.

Applications must be submitted using the online application form no later than June 6, 2022.

Important

* Denotes a mandatory field - your submission will not be accepted until all such fields are complete.

  • Please affix your name to the documents to be uploaded. For example: JohnBrown_Application Form.ext
  • Names of the uploaded documents must match their contents.


Applications must be submitted using the online application form no later than June 6, 2022.

For additional information or for clarification, please email: technicalassistance@ccrif.org 

Click Here To Apply

Scholarship Guidelines

All applicants must submit via the CCRIF scholarship online platform:

  • A complete application form (click here)
  • An essay based on the prompt provided in the application form
  • A curriculum vitae
  • Copy of undergraduate degree and transcript; where the degree is not yet awarded by the application deadline date and will be awarded by the beginning of the postgraduate programme the most up to date transcript will be accepted
  • Letter of admission to an eligible programme the Caribbean/ United Kingdom/ United States/ Canada
  • Details from the university of the cost of the programme
  • Proof of citizenship (copy of passport or national identity document with valid dates)
  • Passport-size photograph


Applicants must also provide the following reference reports:

  • Two reports from academic referees at the university level attesting to the applicant’s academic ability and potential – to be uploaded by
  • A professional reference report from one of the following:
    • a current employer – this should explain how the nominee and the home institution will benefit from this new knowledge and expertise;
    • If not currently employed: a former employer – this should attest to the applicant’s skills and work professional demeanour and contributions to the institution
    • In the absence of professional experience: a project supervisor or supervisor for volunteer activities – this should attest to the applicant’s skills and contributions


Referees must submit these reports to the following email address: scholarshipapplications@ccrif.org.

  • The subject line of the email must include the name of the scholarship applicant.
  • The reference report must be in an attachment and the filename must include the name of the scholarship applicant.
  • Emails will be accepted only from organizational email addresses – i.e. emails from google, hotmail, yahoo etc. addresses will not be accepted.
  • The reference reports must be submitted no later than June 10, 2022 (note that this is after the scholarship application deadline).


Applicants must ensure that referees submit the reports by the deadline.

The above guidelines and additional information can be viewed in the Guideline Document (PDF)