HOW TO BECOME A PTDF SCHOLAR UNDER THE FUND’S OVERSEAS SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME (OSS)

October is the beginning of the last quarter of the year. For the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), the month of October ushers in the process of selecting Nigerians for the award of PTDF Overseas Scholarships under its OSS Scheme, the flagship programme of the Fund. The Scholarship Scheme affords young Nigerians, the opportunity of being trained in highly rated Universities abroad to specialise in related fields of Engineering, Geological Sciences , Environment and Energy Studies both at Master’s and Doctoral levels.The expectation is that beneficiaries will fit in directly to the oil and gas industry and ultimately contribute towards PTDF’s goal of attaining 70% Nigerian Content target of government in the oil and gas industry by 2010.Since it took off effectively in 2002, not less than 867 Nigerians have been trained under the Scheme. This is made up of 746 M.Sc scholars and 121 Ph.D scholars. For the 2008/2009 academic year, the Fund sponsored a total of 290 students made up 250 M.sc and 40 Ph.D. The PTDF overseas scholarship scheme covers payments for tuition fees, accommodation and living expenses as well as provision of air tickets to successful scholars in top ten Universities in Europe and other parts of the world. With an estimated expense of £24,500 per scholar per academic year, the Fund committed about £13,159,724.38 (nearly £13.2 million pounds) on the training of M.sc and Ph.D scholars between 2002 and 2006.Since the commencement of the overseas scholarship scheme, various interest groups have been raising concerns about the transparency, integrity and impartiality of the process. There are also insinuations that certain parts of the country are favoured in the allocation of the awards. It is not unlikely that those who raise these concerns do so from lack of understanding of the way the scheme works, and failure to appreciate the rigorous steps taken by PTDF to ensure equity in the allocation of the awards, without compromising the high standards and strict adherence to the guidelines for the award.With the commencement of the process for the 2009/2010 awards this October, it is necessary to bring to the knowledge of interested candidates and other interest groups some important facts governing the award of PTDF scholarships to deserving students which hopefully will lead to a better appreciation of how the scholarship scheme works.Generally, PTDF is guided by four factors in the award of scholarships to deserving Nigerians.(1) Federal character: Under which all states/Geopolitical zones are given equal number of scholarships.(2) Merit: Under which the highest scorers in the aptitude test/interview from each state and the Federal Capital Territory/Geopolitical zones are selected for the awards.(3) Oil producing states: In which additional scholarship slots are given to each of the oil producing states.(4) Gender Sensitivity: In which the best female candidate(s) with the highest scores in the aptitude test from each of the six geopolitical zones are awarded scholarships.For the 2007/2008 academic year, five scholarships were awarded to candidates from each of the 36 States of the Federation purely on merit. Each of the nine oil producing states were in addition to the five, granted two additional slots bringing to 7 the total scholarship awards to each of the nine oil producing states. Nigerians aspiring for scholarship awards under the scheme should therefore look out for the publications in some national Newspapers as from 22nd October, 2008 calling for applications from interested candidates. The next thing would be to obtain an application form from their state scholarship boards or apply online through the PTDF website (www.ptdfscholarships.org).To be eligible for the M.sc scholarship award, the candidate must not be more than 35 years, and should possess a minimum of second class upper Degree in oil and Gas related fields. The related fields include the physical sciences, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Computing, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Geology, Geophysics, Microbiology and Biochemistry and could be expanded to include the Management Sciences and Law, depending on need by the industry. It is also expected that the applicants are computer literate, possess a certificate of proficiency in English Language, from any of the following Examination bodies GCE, SSCE, TOEFL, GRE, IELTS, or GMAT and must have served the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and as such should be able to produce an NYSC discharge certificate or certificate of exemption. In addition, the Management of the Fund has decided to reintroduce sponsorship of a limited number of Management courses from 2009/10 academic session. These include Petroleum law and policy, Energy economics, Energy finance, Petroleum Accounting and Oil and Gas Management. This is in response to calls from Nigerians on the need to expand the approved sponsored courses. To be eligible to apply for the scholarship in the Ph.D category, aspiring candidates must possess a good first and second University Degrees or HND and PGD/Masters Degree certificates. They are also expected to submit a research proposal of between four to five pages in the areas of Environmental Studies and Health Safety and Environment; Marginal fields Development; flow assurance and pipeline Engineering ; Geology, Civil and Marine Technology; Renewable Energy Reservoir Engineering and Petroleum Technology; Refining Technology and Applied Geophysics. The research proposal must indicate the expected results and relevance to the oil and gas industry. Other requirements for the Ph.D category of the PTDF overseas scholarship scheme include the presentation of a valid admission letter by the applicant who must not be more than 40 years of age. However lecturers seeking the award must not be above 45 years of age. All applicants must include their Master’s Degree project.All applicants who completed the application form are to return the application forms to the state scholarship boards where they purchased them. The completed application forms are subsequently retrieved from the state scholarship boards by PTDF for collation at the headquarters using the approved criteria. Applicants for M.sc scholarship who meet the requirements are invited for an aptitude test conducted simultaneously in six centres in the six geo-political zones. The aptitude test, is supervised by University professors who set and mark the questions, while applicants for PhD scholarship who meet the requirements are invited for the interview usually conducted in Abuja on fixed dates by selected reputable University professors and industry experts with requisite knowledge and background in the areas of relevance.The best performing candidates in the aptitude test are shortlisted out of which the top 5 or 6 depending on the awards for the year are selected from each state for the award of the PTDF Overseas scholarship, while a given number of the highest scorers are selected on zonal basis in respect of Ph.D This rigorous process is deliberately put in place to safeguard the quality and integrity of the scholarship scheme. This has manifested in the consistent high performance of PTDF scholars in their Universities of study abroad, particularly in the United Kingdom where PTDF scholars are reputed to be among the first ten and in some cases among the first five top students, with some of them passing out with distinction as well as winning various awards.The PTDF is proud of this laudable achievement. The management of the Fund will not relent in its efforts in this regard. Nigerians are therefore, hereby assured that every effort will be made by management of the Fund to ensure the maintenance of the credibility and integrity of the selection process, guided by transparency and due process at all times.Kalu Otisi Esq.Head (Press and External Relations)