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 PhD in selected fields and MS/MPhil in Engineering Technology. According to an official of HEC, the scholarships will be awarded for the 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 3.0 out of 4.0 in semester system or 1st Division (in the annual system) in MS/MPhil/ME/Equivalent degree. The candidates may have a maximum 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 minimum 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 are required to 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 interview or scholarship. 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 on the basis of 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 a period of five years immediately after completion of PhD study. Requests for change of university for the purpose of service bond will not be entertained at any stage. The scholarships will be awarded on the basis of government approved provincial quota. The applicants provisionally or finally selected in any of the HEC scholarship schemes in the past are required to obtain No Objection Certificate (NOC) from relevant scholarship sections before submission of their applications. The 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 is planning to conduct the HEC Aptitude Test (HAT) in the second week of June-2021. The candidates can acquire more information through visiting HEC Overseas Website: www.hec.gov.pk/site/ossphase3, the official added.