DUT Postgraduate Scholarship Scheme:

2025 Funding Guideline

1. PURPOSE OF THE FUNDING SCHEME

This funding guideline is purposed to provide relevant stakeholders with detailed information on
our internal postgraduate scholarship scheme’s offering through the Research, Postgraduate
Support (RPS) Directorate.

This intervention is offered primarily to provide scholarships to postgraduate students, registered

at DUT. Additionally, aligned to our Living Values Framework (LVF) and specifically in our pursuit
towards ENVISION2030, this funding scheme aims to support the academic project. It is further
envisaged to create a culture of individual and collective excellence, rooted in an enabling
environment where postgraduate students can focus on their studies, and research projects as
they pursue their formal qualifications towards academic success.

2. SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNTS & ALLOCATION BREAKDOWN

Table 1: Postgraduate scholarship offering

LEVEL OF SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNTS DURATION

STUDY
Masters Maximum: R 70 000.00 Two Years

Doctoral Maximum: R100 000.00 Three Years

➢ Tuition fees (study-level dependent, are waived by DUT for the official year/s of study),
however, any additional study time remains the responsibility of the student
➢ Scholarship stipends are disbursed directly to the student in the form of monthly
instalments where and as applicable with respect to existing disbursement practice
➢ Applicants are encouraged to apply for conference funding grant, especially, doctoral
candidates to present their research findings at a national or international conference.
Masters students whose papers have been accepted may also be eligible and are also
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encouraged to apply. Funding is based on merit and budget availability.
3. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA, SCOPE & PRIORITIZATION
3.1 Must be studying at master’s or doctoral levels
3.2 Potential applicants at Masters & Doctorate level must be full-time, registered students
3.3 Must have obtained a 60% aggregate or more in the most recently obtained qualification
3.4 Applicants will be eligible for a scholarship (all other criteria considered) if they are still
within two years of their official academic Masters study period or three years of their
official academic Doctoral study period
3.5 Applicants are not entitled to the full scholarship allocation due to its dependence on the
date, processing and issuing of the outcome of a specific submission
3.6 Only first-time, qualifications under a specific level of study are eligible under this funding
scheme
3.7 Applications from South African citizens will be prioritized
3.8 Potential applicants can respond to funding calls: New Application/Extension/Renewal
3.9 For an extension, students may be granted a maximum of six months of non-renewable
extension or until graduation, whichever comes first. However, any timeframe beyond six
months, requires RPS management approval in addition to a supervisor’s motivation. For
Doctoral students, the PhD training program on which a student may be supported whilst
waiting results and/or graduation may in some cases be allowed. However, in these cases,
management approval is required, also at at the level of Director: RPS
3.10 Scholarship renewals are contingent on the compliance to specified conditions and hence
does not occur automatically

4. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS & SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

4.1 All potential applicants must read and adhere to the call guidelines, rules and requirements
4.2 Applications must be prepared and submitted before the call deadlines specified
4.3 Application forms must be completed in full
4.4 The online application form’s sections marked with a red asterisk (*) are mandatory
4.5 Completed application forms must be accompanied by all the required supporting
documents
4.6 Supporting documents must be organized as specified and given submission descriptions as
indicated in the funding call
4.7 Applicants are responsible for preparing, completing and submitting their applications
together with all the required, supporting documents
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4.8 Late submissions, received after the call’s official closing date, will not be processed

4.9 Applications that adhere to the call requirements and falls within the preliminary closing
call window dates will receive priority.

5. APPLICATION PROCEDURE REQUIREMENTS & RELATED DIRECTIVES

5.1 Application instructions are provided in each respective funding call circular
5.2 Application assistance can be obtained by joining MS Teams on your computer or mobile
app: Click here to join the meeting or by emailing the RPS representative at
[email protected]
5.3 Applications are submitted online, on the DUT online form obtainable at the link
https://www.dut.ac.za/online-pgs-scholarship-application
5.4 Please select the application type, as applicable
5.5 The following supporting documents must accompany your application and must be
uploaded onto the online form in the section specified. These comprise:

❖ Proof of registration, indicating clearly, FULL TIME registration

❖ Certified copy endorsed within the last three months: Applicant’s OFFICIAL
identification document that s/he uses in South Africa (South African Identity
document, Passport, Refugee status document), as example
❖ Certified copies endorsed within the last three months: Qualifications
❖ Copies: Transcripts in support of required aggregate obtained, which aggregate
must be clearly indicated in the supporting document provided
❖ A comprehensive report from the applicant’s supervisor/co-supervisor providing
information on the candidate’s study progress and commendation
❖ A support letter from the department/faculty/entity where the applicant is
registered and/or affiliated
❖ Where applicable, a letter of employment indicating the type of employment and
the number of hours worked per week (if you’re employed in any capacity)
❖ A clearly, recently endorsed AFFIDAVIT with its contents providing information on
the following:

- Specifying the details of the main supervisor (Title, Name and Surname, Contact
Email)
- Applicant’s registration status at the current institution in the
application/reporting period, i.e.,
3 full-time, part-time, other – SPECIFY
 - Student’s employment status in the application/reporting period, i.e., employed
or not employed
- If the student is employed, whether permanently employed, employed on
contract, or employed part-time, as example
- If employed on a contract or part-time basis, please specify the period of
employment, i.e., start and end dates and the number of hours worked per
week
- The type of FUNDING SOURCE in the application/reporting period, which is
enabling the student to study (e.g. family income, a donation from a well-wisher,
NRF, etc.) and the name of the Funding Source, name of the Funding
Organization, and value of the funding
- The applicant’s SARS tax number (where applicable)
- INCLUDED DECLARATION on the affidavit: “If any of the information provided
does not match the minimum requirements as outlined in the Scholarship rules,
conditions of grant and/or award letter, I (please insert your full initials, full names,
surname as well as Identity Number here) will be liable to pay back to the Scholarship
to the Funder, all the money awarded to me”.

6. ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE
6.1 Applications are screened by grant administrators to determine eligibility as first-level
assessment
6.2 Applications deemed eligible at assessment level one, are presented to the research grants
team for quality assurance with oversight from the coordinating officials in the research
grants section as second-level assessment
6.3 Applications quality assured at the research grants team level are recommended for panel
decision by the Assessment Committee, representing also Faculty members for the third-
level assessment, serving as the ultimate, funding decisions platform
6.4 Panel decisions are recommended and presented to the signing authority, the Director:
RPS from where outcome letters are prepared and issued.

7. FUNDING DECISIONS & SCHOLARSHIP CONDITIONS

7.1 All funding decisions are deemed final and the funding period (following successful
application assessment) will be specified in the scholarship award letter
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7.2 All scholarship recipients must complete, accept, sign and return the relevant grant
conditions within a month of receiving the award letter.
7.3 DUT reserves the right to cancel an award where the grant conditions have not been
obtained as stipulated and/or required
7.4 The DUT scholarship scheme cannot run concurrently with certain other internal or
external scholarships held by a student. The onus is on the student to make full disclosure
as internal due diligence around double-dipping is strongly enforced. As such, in detection
of and confirmation of double-dipping cases, or any other form of dishonesty, DUT reserves
the right to discontinue scholarships
7.5 It is mandatory for progress reports to be submitted using the DUT online platform:
https://www.dut.ac.za/online-pgs-scholarship-application call emails are sent to
scholarship recipient’s dut4life email account
7.6 Continuation of funding is subject to submission of a progress report every three months
7.7 For renewal of scholarships, students must meet scholarship conditions including full ethics
approval at Institutional Research Ethics Committee (IREC) level. Failure to comply will
result in the halting of monthly scholarship stipends (with no possibility of back-pay), unless
an out of the ordinary circumstance has occurred, been motivated, presented and approved
at the level of Director: RPS
7.8 As a recipient of the scholarship, you are expected to publish at least one accredited article
before you graduate, to cover the cost of the scholarship. Please ensure you discuss this
with your supervisor/s as part of your research plan
7.9 The publications must be reported during the appropriate research outputs call period,
on the link below:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1efwHxzjlv0BkpXxNOUI4CUxHP74Bnzq9qlFJUa6UkBE/edit.
DHET publishing requirements and guidelines are on this link: http://www.dut.ac.za/statutory-and-
outputs-reporting/
7.10 Kindly note that scholarship recipients must NOT be employed permanently. If employed,
the recipient must be working only on a part-time basis and not for more than twelve (12)
hours per week. In this case, the part-time work contract document must be submitted
together with all the other supporting documents, to the Research Grants Division. Should
a scholarship recipient obtain employment which does not align with the scholarship
conditions, the onus if on the student to inform the Research Grants team immediately for
cancellation of the scholarship. Failure, with respect to the latter will result in students
being held liable to return scholarship funds.
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 7.11 Please kindly note that if the degree is not completed within the stipulated period, the
student is liable for reimbursement of the whole scholarship amount.

8. AWARD PROCESS & FUNDING ALLOCATION PROCEDURE

8.1 Scholarship outcomes are communicated as soon as operationally possible
8.2 The Research Grants Division is responsible for the pre-award functions of the scholarship
scheme
8.3 Post-award functions, particularly, scholarship disbursements are the responsibility of the
Research Finance Division
8.4 When attempting to access funds, adherence to the financial policies and procedures of
DUT is essential
8.5 Scholarship funds are released in monthly instalments
8.6 Postgraduate students are strongly encouraged to apply for external funding

9. APPLICATION OUTCOMES AND TIME-LINES

9.1 Applicants will be notified on the outcome of their applications as soon as procedurally
possible, generally, within a quarterly, funding cycle’s round
9.2 Application outcomes are communicated after all levels of assessment have concluded
9.3 Scholarship award letters are issued upon receipt from the signing authority
9.4 Scholarship recipients are responsible for doing due diligence as it relates to taking up
awards, accepting scholarship condition and complying with scholarship funding rules,
among others
9.5 All applicants will receive feedback on their applications

10. APPEALS PROCESS & WINDOW PERIOD

The institution recognises the right of applicants to be able to appeal an unsuccessful application
outcome as a result of either a review process and/or procedural error that may occur due to the
nature of the scholarship’s granting process. As such, applicants may appeal against a funding
decision by preparing and submitting a formal letter of appeal addressing it to the chairperson of
the Assessment Committee and the RPS Director. Appeals will be considered if it is submitted
within one month of receiving funding outcomes to enable a swift, effective and efficient assessment
and timely response, among others. Appeals are submitted via email to [email protected]
for the attention of one of our RPS representatives.