[font=Lucida Sans Unicode][/font]A total 27,474 candidates applied for the various platforms of Petroleum Technology Development Fund ( PTDF ) scholarship scheme for the 2019/2020 academic year.

This was disclosed in a statement by the Press and External Relations Unit, Mr. Kalu Otise of the PTDF in Abuja on Friday.
The applications include the ones for the Overseas Postgraduate Scholarship Scheme under PTDF Strategic Partnership with universities in UK, Germany and France, and applications for the Undergraduate, Masters and PhD Scholarship awards in Nigerian Federal Universities under PTDF Local Scholarship Scheme.
The statement reads in part: “The application window for the Overseas Scholarship Scheme closed on December 31st, 2018 while that of the Local Scholarship (LSS) expired on the 16th of November 2018. The application period for both Schemes lasted six weeks respectively.
“A breakdown of the applications indicate that fifteen thousand, eight hundred and twenty-two (15,822) applied for the Overseas Scholarship Scheme in the MSc category, while three thousand, five hundred and one (3,501) applications were received for the PhD scholarship award.
“Of the eight thousand, one hundred and fifty-one (8,151) that applied for the PTDF Local Scholarship Scheme, three thousand, seven hundred and forty (3,740) were for the Undergraduate award, three thousand, three hundred and ninety-three (3,393) for MSc and one thousand, seventeen (1,017) for PhD.

“The next stage of the processing is the screening of candidates for interview shortlist.
“This will be based on the following criteria; class of degree, O-level grades, and strength of personal statement.
“Only those who meet the minimum requirements for each category of the programme and those who possess the best credentials based on the strength and quality of their qualifications and relevance of their proposed study to the Fund’s mandate and the oil and gas industry will be invited for interviews at a date to be announced by the Fund.
“Applicants are therefore advised to look out for notifications from PTDF for further information in respect of their applications . “