FAQ UNEP/UNESCO/BMU Kurse

For the upcoming courses in the course year 2019/2020 the application periods are as follows:
77th UNEP/UNESCO/BMU International Short Course on Ecosystem Management - Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Services (SC77)
Application period: 18 February - 01 April 2019

78th UNEP/UNESCO/BMU International Short Course on Environmental
Management for Developing Countries - Soil and Land Resources for Sustainable Development (SC78)
Application period: 04 March - 15 April 2019

79th UNEP/UNESCO/BMU International Short Course on Environmental
Management for Developing Countries - Resource Efficiency: Circular Economy and Waste Management (SC79)
Application period: 18 March - 29 April 2019

43rd UNEP/UNESCO/BMU International Postgraduate Course on Environmental
Management for Developing Countries [EM43]
Application period: 01 April - 13 May 2019

Details and all necessary information on contents, selection criteria, and the application process can be found in our application section and are also answered in our FAQs.
Please note: Unlike in the past, application periods are now be different for each course. Please carefully check the respective dates.

Nein, die Themen der Kurzkurse ändern sich jedes Jahr. Sie hängen in hohem Maße von der Nachfrage aus Verwaltung und Institutionen der Entwicklungs- und Schwellenländern ab. Mehr Informationen zu den Inhalten der kommenden Kurse, Bewerbungszeiträumen, Auswahlkriterien und den Kursdaten finden Sie im entsprechenden Bereich auf unserer Webseite.

Die meisten Themen werden zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt erneut angeboten. Wie lange Sie warten müssen, hängt von der Nachfrage nach diesem speziellen Kurs ab. Am meisten werden Kurse zu den Themenbereichen Wasserwirtschaft, Abfallwirtschaft und Erhaltung biologischer Artenvielfalt nachgefragt.

Alle unsere Kurse sind offen für Teilnehmer aus Entwicklungs- und Schwellenländern mit guten Englischkenntnissen. Die Bewerber sollten einen beruflichen Hintergrund im Umweltbereich haben. Wir wollen Fachleute aus Ministerien, Behörden oder lokalen Verwaltung und NGOs unterstützen, ihre Wissensbasis und Fähigkeiten zu verbessern, um aktiv die umweltverträgliche und nachhaltige Entwicklung ihrer Länder voranzutreiben. Typische Bewerber sind daher Entscheidungsträger in Umweltbehörden oder NGOs, die im Umweltbereich und im Themenberech Bewirtschaftung natürlicher Ressourcen tätig sind. Die Bewerber sollten einen ersten Hochschulabschluss und mindestens zwei Jahre praktische Erfahrung im Bereich Umweltschutz haben, um produktiv zum Kursinhalt beitragen zu können. Das bevorzugte Alter liegt zwischen 25 und 45 Jahren. Das berufliches Engagement im Bereich nachhaltiges Umweltmanagement sollte belegt werden können. Die verschiedenen Kurseangebote sind auf unterschiedliche Zielgruppen zugeschnitten. Überprüfen Sie bitte vor Ihrer Bewerbung die spezifischen Anforderungen für den Kurs an dem Sie interessiert sind in der Kursbeschreibung.

In diesem Fall sollten Sie eindeutig erklären, warum Sie dennoch an diesem speziellen Kurs teilnehmen möchten und begründen, inwiefern Sie davon profitieren. Bedenken Sie jedoch, daß Sie gegen Hunderte Bewerber antreten, deren Profil möglicherweise exakt passt. Legen Sie bei Bedarf bitte eine Erklärung Ihres Arbeitgebers bei.
Ein gesonderter Hinweis für Forscher und Mitarbeiter an Universitäten: Das internationale Steuerungsgremium geht davon aus, daß diese Gruppe viele Möglichkeiten hat, um die gewünschten spezifischen Kenntnisse über die internationalen Kontakte ihrer Universitäten zu erwerben. Dennoch können in Ausnahmefällen auch für diese Gruppe Stipendien gewährt werden.

We need to know if your institution is sufficiently backing your application and is also welcoming the knowledge, skills and - likely - the motivational boost you will gain into the institutional environment. 

To complete the application, you will therefore need to

• Download the nomination form from step 7 in your course application. The form will already be completed with the details you have entered in step 1 of the application.
• Have the person in charge (the same person mentioned in step 1 of the application) sign the nomination form.
• Upload a photo or scan of the signed form in step 7 of your application.

Content of the nomination form

The person signing the form certifies that the institution supports the candidate's participation in the programme of study, with the view to enhancing his/her ability to contribute to sustainable development of his/her country in future.

If a fellowship is granted, the nominating institution will:

• Facilitate the fellow’s departure for the study programme (i.e. not prevent selected fellows from joining the course, allow the fellow to sufficiently focus on the course content etc.);
• Assist the fellow to meet personal and family responsibilities during the period of the fellowship, if necessary by the continuation of the whole or part of his/her present salary;
• Ensure the employment of the fellow upon completion of the fellowship.

In the form, the nominating institution is also requested to certify that the candidate possesses suficient knowledge of the English language to successfully follow a postgraduate course held in English which includes attending lectures, writing reports, making oral presentations at seminars etc. 

Bitte gehen Sie auf unser Online-Bewerbungsportal während der Bewerbungsphase. Nachdem Sie sich mit einer gültigen E-Mail-Adresse registriert haben, können Sie sich anmelden und den Bewerbungsprozess zu starten. Sie werden durch die folgenden acht Schritte geführt:

• Name, addresses, personal information
• Educational record
• Professional experience and training
• International experience & proficiency in the english language
• Medical statement
• Country report: in this part, please describe your countries situation with respect to the course topic, as well as how you and your institutions are involved. Please note: Use your own words for answering the questions in the application. Cases of copy and paste will usually be noticed and, depending on the extent, will lead to a downgrading or disqualification of the application.
• Upload of your application documents. The following files are mandatory:
  • Portrait picture, for example passport photograph (PDF or image file).
  • Scan of the form “official nomination” signed by your employer (will be generated based on your input in section 1).
  • A certified copy of your last university degree, including mark sheet/ transcript of records (as one PDF file).
  • Further university certificates (as one PDF file).
  • Latest English test results, unless you are a native speaker, English is an official language in your country, or your academic education was in English. (as one PDF file).
  • Organisational chart indicating your present position in your institution. (PDF or image file).
  • You can also combine further information (e.g. CV, letters of recommendation, other certificates) into another upload (as one PDF file).
• Submission

If you have all information including the country report and all necessary documents at hand, simply filling the online form takes around 30-60 min. The information you have entered will be saved after each section, so you do not need to complete your application in a single session.

The activation emails are sent immediately. It depends on your email provider how fast they arrive in your inbox. If this takes longer than normal, and you also cannot find the activation email your SPAM folder, please contact us. We can then activate your account manually. 

In step 7 of the application process, you will be asked to upload a number of files as either image file (for the portrait picture) or PDF (all other files). If you have other file types, please convert them. Various free software is available for such conversions.

In step 7 of the application process you will need to upload all documents that are marked with an asterisk (*, i.e. 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.5, 7.6). 

First, check if your files are in the required format, so either an image file (for the portrait picture) or PDF (all other files).

Please note that uploading each document consists of two steps:

(a) browsing for the file

(b) clicking on the upload button once you see the name of the file in the application form.

If you have done this, and you still cannot continue, make sure that also all other steps are completed. You should see a tick mark next to each step on the top of the application form. You should be good to go now. In case the problem persists, please send a screenshot of what you see in the web browser to CIPSEM, this will help with diagnosis.

Yes, although we receive more than 600 applications every year for only 84 places available, there is a fair chance to be admitted. To avoid frustration we ask applicants to review their own qualification and professional background very critical to assure that they really belong to the target groups, the courses are designed for. (Please check the specific description of the course you are interested in!) Other important criteria are a good command of the English language, communication facilities (fax or e-mail), number of applicants coming from one region, overall impression of the application (complete documents, official nomination, etc.).
Unfortunately there are always about 20% of applications that cannot be considered because they are not readable, incomplete, without the necessary attachments or official seals.

Course fellows are usually selected by an International Course Steering Committee consisting of  representatives of Technische Universität Dresden, The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organisation.

In a first step "formal criteria" are applied, such as readable and complete application documents  (incl. attachments), good command of the English language, and communication skills.
The International Steering Committee will review the applications fulfilling these criteria. In this second step the personal qualification, the professional background are analysed, also regarding the present and potential future responsibilities.
Finally, based on a short list of high-quality applications, a good regional distribution of fellows is ensured. Only one or two participants from the same country are admitted for any specific course. The various regions of the world will be represented equally. A balanced representation of men and women in each course is also aimed for. Ultimately, the experts selected to participate in any of our courses should benefit mutually from each other's experiences in terms of professional knowledge and skills, but also beyond.

It is possible to apply again, we had a few cases of alumni being selected for a second course. Please describe your motivation clearly (which you should do in any case). However, well qualified applicants who have not yet participated in a UNEP/UNESCO/BMU course programme have higher chances of being selected.

If you have completed the submission of your application (step 8 in the application portal), you can be sure your application will be fully considered. You will not receive an additional confirmation email. 

You can, however, at all times follow the status of your application in our application portal. After logging in, you can see the information you have submitted to CIPSEM. You will also see at which time you can expect a notification in case of being selected for participation. 

© CIPSEM

The fellowship includes:

• A non-reroutable economy air return ticket from a major international airport in the country of residence to Dresden;
• Free accommodation in a single study bedroom;
• Health and accident insurance;
  Please note: The health insurance included in the stipend does NOT cover any costs associated with diseases or injuries present prior to departure. Cost related to pregnancies and childbirth are also not covered.
• Registration and tuition fees for the course;
• A ticket for free use of public transport in Dresden city;
• Allowance of approx. EUR 550.-/month plus money to send home books (varying from course to course), sufficient to cover all basic living expenses during the course (depending on the individual life style).

As a rule, we cannot accept requests for application after the deadline because

• late submissions are very laborious for us
• there is not much time to review all applications
• this would not be fair to other applicants or people interested in applying.

If, in an exceptional case, you have almost completed your application online apart from the nomination form because your superior was out of town and could not sign, please email us the missing document within a few days. We will probably still add this to your application.