PTDF Shortlists Over 5,000 Applicants For Overseas Scholarship

The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) has shortlisted over 5,000 applicants across the country as potential scholarship recipients for its annual academic session overseas scholarship scheme.

This was announced by the Head, Oversees Scholarship Scheme in the PTDF, Mrs. Bolanle Kehinde-Agboola during an interview exercise for the shortlisted candidates for MSc and Ph.D. postgraduate programmes.

She stated that the interview was the next stage in the application process which began on Feb. 13, 2023, after announcements for the scholarship went out through publications in some national newspapers, inviting qualified Nigerians to apply.

“What is happening here today is the interview for the award of scholarship to Nigerians for the 2023/2024 academic session.

“We have shortlisted over 5,000 applicants to partake in the exercise which is going on in the six geo-political zones,” she said.

Kehinde-Agboola stated some of the criteria which interested candidates had to possess before applying for the scholarship.

“The first criterion is that you must be a Nigerian. For the master’s programme, the applicant must be a student of any of the oil and gas fields like engineering, geology, computer sciences, environmental sciences, and management.

“You must have a minimum of second-class upper in any of these fields for you to be qualified,’’ she said.

She added that the PTDF would then open the application windows at the end of the year for interested and qualified candidates to apply.

“The candidates are sent abroad to study the relevant skills. This scholarship scheme is running in the United Kingdom, while we also have what is called strategic partnerships in France, Germany, Malaysia, and China.

“This scholarship interview scheme will run for one week nationwide and the number of successful applicants depends on its budget for this year.

“The agency has two types of collaborations in this programme, the United Kingdom collaboration and the strategic partnership collaboration,” she said.