ISLAMABAD: May 30 will be the last date for the Pakistani and Azad Jammu and Kashmir nationals to apply for Higher Education Commission (HEC) Overseas Scholarships for Ph.D. in selected fields and MS/MPhil in Engineering Technology. According to an official of HEC, the scholarships will be awarded for Spring-Fall (2022) session in HEC-identified top-ranked foreign universities of advanced countries. As per the eligibility criteria prescribed by HEC, the candidates must have a minimum qualification of MS/MPhil/ME or equivalent (18 years) before the closing date. The candidates must have a minimum of 16 years of education and should be registered with the National Technology Council (NTC), Pakistan, for applying in the MS/MPhil scholarships. The candidates must have a minimum CGPA of 3.0 out of 4.0 in the semester system or 1st Division (in the annual system) in MS/MPhil/ME/Equivalent degree. The candidates may have a maximum of one second division throughout the academic career prior to the final degree. The required maximum age is 40 years for full-time regular faculty members of public sector universities/colleges and employees of the public sector Research and Development organizations registered with Pakistan Council for Science and Technology, while 35 years age is for all others, the official explained. The candidates must have a minimum of 70 percent marks in a valid HEC Aptitude Test (HAT). HEC will consider the best AT score of the last two years for shortlisting purposes. The candidates must not be availing any other scholarship. The official said that the candidates must opt for foreign countries/universities of their choice in the online application form. HEC reserves the right to re-allocate any country/university to the candidate. Only shortlisted candidates will be called for interviews and the admission process. The candidates are required to make sure that their field of subject is being offered in their choice of country/university. Otherwise, candidates will not be considered for interviews or scholarships. The candidates were also required to fulfill the requirement of the host university to secure admission, which may include International GRE, TOFEL, etc, and are advised to appear in these tests before the interview or admission. The applicants are required to provide the information through an online application process at http://eportal.hec.gov.pk. The merit list will be prepared based on online information or data provided by the applicant, the official said. The awardees will be required to execute a bond with HEC or Respective Pakistan University to serve for five years immediately after completing the Ph.D. study. Request for change of university for the purpose of service bond will not be entertained at any stage. The scholarships will be awarded based on a government-approved provincial quota. The applicants provisionally or finally selected in any of the HEC scholarship schemes in the past must obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the relevant scholarship section before submitting their applications. A copy of this NOC must be emailed at OSSPhase3@hec.gov.pk before the closing date of application submission, which is May 30. The Education Testing Council (ETC), Pakistan, plans to conduct HEC Aptitude Test (HAT) in the second week of June-2021. The candidates can acquire more information through visiting the HEC Overseas Website: www.hec.gov.pk/site/ossphase3, the official added.