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National Scholarship Programme of the Slovak Republic

Scholarships for international students, PhD students, university teachers, researchers and artists

The Government of the Slovak Republic approved the establishment of the National Scholarship Programme of the Slovak Republic for the support of mobility of students, PhD students, university teachers, researchers and artists in 2005. The National Scholarship Programme of the Slovak Republic (NSP) is funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic.

The National Scholarship Programme of the Slovak Republic supports mobility of international students, PhD students, university teachers, researchers and artists for scholarship stays at higher education institutions and research organisations in Slovakia.

1. Eligible applicants

Eligible applicants for a scholarship in the framework of the NSP:

A) students who:

• are university students at universities outside Slovakia;
• are students of the second level of higher education (master's students), or are students who at the time of application deadline have already completed at least 2.5 years of their university studies in the same study programme;
• will be on a study stay in Slovakia during their higher education outside Slovakia and who will be accepted by a public, private or state university in Slovakia for an academic mobility1 to study in Slovakia.

All 3 conditions must be met. This category does not apply to doctoral (PhD) studies (or their equivalent).

• Duration of a scholarship stay (students): 1 – 2 semesters (i.e. 4 – 5 or 9 – 10 months) or 1 – 3 trimesters, in case the academic year is divided into trimesters (i.e. 3 – 4 or 6 – 7 or 9 – 10 months).

B) PhD students whose higher education or scientific training takes place outside Slovakia and who are accepted by a public, private or state university or a research institution in Slovakia eligible to carry out a doctoral study programme2 (e.g. the Slovak Academy of Sciences) for an academic mobility1 to study/conduct research in Slovakia.

• Duration of a scholarship stay (PhD students): 1 – 10 months.

C) international university teachers, researchers and artists who are invited to a teaching/research/artistic stay in Slovakia by an institution with a valid certificate of eligibility to carry out research and development, which is not a business company3 and it has its headquarters in Slovakia.

• Duration of a scholarship stay (university teachers, researchers or artists): 1 – 10 months.

[1] Section 58a of the Act No. 131/2002 on higher education institutions, as amended.

[2] External education institution according to the Act No. 131/2002 on higher education institutions, as amended.

[3] Legal entity according to the section 7 letters a) – c) of the Act No. 172/2005 on organisation of state research and development funding, as amended, which has a valid certificate of eligibility to carry out research and development according to the section 26a article 11 or article 12 of the same Act – i.e. public, private or state universities, research institutions eligible to carry out a doctoral (PhD) study programme (i.e. external education institutions), Slovak Academy of Sciences and its institutes, departmental research institutes or non-governmental organisations carrying out research and development.

Citizens of any country in the world (except the citizens of Slovakia) can apply for a scholarship stay in Slovakia in the framework of the NSP.

The National Scholarship Programme does not support:

• international students and PhD students accepted for full higher education (bachelor, master, doctoral studies) in Slovakia, or those already studying in Slovakia (full higher education) who would like to fund their studies in Slovakia by the NSP;
• international applicants who within the period of 36 months prior to the application deadline have spent in the territory of the Slovak Republic 12 or more months (in total);
• international applicants awarded a scholarship in Slovakia in the framework of other scholarship programmes (e.g. International Visegrad Fund, Erasmus+, CEEPUS, bilateral agreements, etc.).

In case of repeated scholarship award, the following rule applies: If the applicant has already been awarded a scholarship in the framework of the NSP for 5 or more scholarship months (in total) on the indicated closing date of the applications, he/she can be awarded the next scholarship only after 3 years from the completion of his/her last scholarship stay in the framework of the NSP.

2. Scholarship stay and use of the scholarship

The scholarship is intended to cover international scholarship holders’ living costs, i.e. the costs related to staying in Slovakia (food, accommodation, etc.), during their study, research/artistic or teaching stay at universities and in research organisations3 in Slovakia. The scholarship holder can ask for assistance concerning accommodation and formalities related to entering and staying in the territory of the Slovak Republic either his/her host institution, or he/she can handle all the necessities him-/herself.

[3] Legal entity according to the section 7 letters a) – c) of the Act No. 172/2005 on organisation of state research and development funding, as amended, which has a valid certificate of eligibility to carry out research and development according to the section 26a article 11 or article 12 of the same Act – i.e. public, private or state universities, research institutions eligible to carry out a doctoral (PhD) study programme (i.e. external education institutions), Slovak Academy of Sciences and its institutes, departmental research institutes or non-governmental organisations carrying out research and development.

3. Amount of the monthly scholarship

a) university student	350 €
b) PhD student	580 €
c)  university teacher/researcher/artist:
without PhD degree (or its equivalent) and less than 4 years of work experience as a university teacher/researcher/artist	580 €
with PhD degree (or its equivalent) and less than 10 years of work experience as a university teacher/researcher/artist	850 €
with PhD degree (or its equivalent) and more than 10 years of work experience as a university teacher/researcher/artist	1,000 €

Note:

• To determine the monthly scholarship amount (in case of university teachers, researchers and artists) with regard to their work experience, only work experience until the day of the application deadline is taken into consideration.
• PhD studies are considered as work experience (max. 6 years of PhD studies can be considered as work experience).

Scholarship holders whose scholarship stay in Slovakia lasts longer than 3 months and who are citizens of countries outside the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland are obliged to submit to the foreign police office a confirmation that they do not suffer from any disease threatening public health within 30 days from being awarded the temporary residence. Scholarship holders will be reimbursed the costs related to medical examination and issuing of this confirmation, up to 250 € per scholarship holder, after delivering original of the bill issued by the respective medical institution to SAIA, n. o., in Bratislava. A list of competent medical institutions will be provided to scholarship holders by the respective foreign police offices in Slovakia. Scholarship holders are obliged to deliver the bill to SAIA, n. o., in Bratislava within 60 days from the beginning of their scholarship stay; otherwise, they will lose their right for the reimbursement of the costs.

In addition, students and PhD students (eligible applicants under the category A) and B) can be awarded a travel allowance, if they apply for it along with their scholarship application. Travel allowance is awarded as a lump sum and it will be paid to the scholarship holder at the end of his/her stay together with the last scholarship payment. Travel allowance amount depends on the distance (in a direct line) between applicant's place of residence and the place of his/her stay in Slovakia4:

• distance up to 750 km – 0 €,
• distance more than 750 km, max. 1 500 km – 100 €,
• distance more than 1,500 km, max. 5,000 km – 300 €,
• distance more than 5,000 km – 700 €.

[4] To calculate the distance, please, use the "Distance Calculator", provided by the European Commission for Erasmus+: http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/tools/distance_en.htm. SAIA, n. o., may use also other ways of calculating the distance in order to set the amount of the travel allowance.

4. Application deadlines

• 30 April till16:00 CET – scholarship stays during the next academic year
• 31 October till16:00 CET – scholarship stays during the summer semester of the current academic year

 Note: International applicants who need visa in order to enter the territory of the Slovak Republic are recommended to take into consideration time necessary for visa application procedure when determining the date of the beginning of their potential scholarship stay (up-to-date information about visa application procedure is provided by the Embassies of the Slovak Republic abroad).

5. Application procedure

Scholarship applications are submitted online at www.scholarships.sk. Online application system is opened at least 6 weeks prior to the application deadline.Applications can be filled in only in case that the online application system has already been opened.

Note: Applicants are recommended not to submit their applications at the last moment. Number of operations executed within the last minutes prior to the application deadline may have an influence on the reaction time of the application system. Please, keep that in mind, in order not to miss the application deadline.

Applicants must fill in their online applications and upload all the required attachments in required format to their online application.

Students (eligible applicants under the category A) are allowed to submit (fill in) applications and the required attachments in Slovak or English language only(documents written in other languages must be officially translated into Slovak or English language – translation can be certified by the same institution that issued the respective document).

Other applicants (eligible applicants under the categories B) and C) are allowed to submit (fill in) applications in the following languages:

• Slovak language – in this case, all attached documents must be in Slovak or English language only;
• English language – in this case, all attached documents must be in Slovak or English language only;
• Russian language – in this case, all attached documents must be in Slovak, English or Russian language only.

If the documents are issued in other than aforementioned languages, these documents must be officially translated into one of the aforementioned languages (translation can be certified by the same institution that issued the respective document).

Once the application is filled in and all the required documents are attached to the application, the applicant must submit the application by clicking the "SEND" button. It is also necessary to deliver original of the admission/invitation letter to SAIA, n. o., in Bratislava (SAIA, n. o., Sasinkova 10, 812 20 Bratislava 1). This document must be delivered5 at latest on the 3rd working day after the application deadline until 12 p.m. (when determining the working days, legal status in Slovakia is taken into consideration).

[5] Please, note that the original of the document must be delivered to SAIA within the set deadline; it is not enough just to send the document within the respective time period.

Note: Applicant must receive at least a scan or a copy of his/her admission/invitation letter issued by his/her host institution in Slovakia, since he/she must attach it to his/her online application. Without attached scan to the online application, the applicant cannot submit his/her online application, i.e. his/her application will not be further reviewed.

Required documents that must be attached to online application for a study stay in case of international students(eligible applicants under the category A):

• curriculum vitae;
• motivation letter;
• detailed study programme (it is necessary to state the date of the beginning of the stay, duration of the stay, list of subjects that the applicant would like to study during his/her stay and number of credits that the applicant will gain for the respective subjects);
• two recommendation letters issued by applicant’s university teachers (the document must be issued on headed paper of the respective university, it must be signed by the person who issued the document, and it must contain position and contact details of the person who issued the document); recommendation letters cannot be older than 3 months on the day of the application deadline;
• confirmation issued by the applicant’s home university confirming that the applicant is a regular student of the respective university – the confirmation must contain information on the expected date of the completion of applicant’s studies; confirmation cannot be older than 3 months on the day of the application deadline;
• scan of applicant’s bachelor’s diploma, diploma supplement and state examination certificate (if applicable);

• admission letter issued by applicant’s host university in Slovakia. In this document, the university commits itself to accept the scholarship holder for a study stay (exact period of stay must be stated in the document).  Admission letter must be issued on headed paper of the respective university, it must be signed by the person who issued the document, and it must contain position and contact details of the person who issued the document. Admission letter must be issued for the same period as the period stated by the applicant in his/her online application and it cannot be older than 3 months on the day of the application deadline.

Required documents that must be attached to online application for a study and/or research/artistic stay in case of international PhD students (eligible applicants under the category B):

• curriculum vitae;
• motivation letter;
• detailed study and/or research/artistic programme (it is necessary to state the date of the beginning of the stay, duration of the stay and a detailed time plan of the stay);
• recommendation letter issued by applicant’s dissertation supervisor (the document must be issued on headed paper of the respective university/research organisation, it must be signed by the person who issued the document, and it must contain position and contact details of the person who issued the document); recommendation letter cannot be older than 3 months on the day of the application deadline;
• confirmation issued by the applicant’s home university/research organisation confirming that the applicant is a regular PhD student of the respective university/research organisation – the confirmation must contain information on the expected date of the completion of applicant’s PhD studies; confirmation cannot be older than 3 months on the day of the application deadline;
• scan of applicant’s master’s diploma, diploma supplement and state examination certificate (if applicable);
• list of publications/artistic activities in required form;
• admission/invitation letter issued by applicant’s host university/research organisation in Slovakia. In this document, the university/research organisation commits itself to accept the scholarship holder for a study and/or research/artistic stay (exact period of stay must be stated in the document).  Admission/invitation letter must be issued on headed paper of the respective university/research organisation, it must be signed by the person who issued the document, and it must contain position and contact details of the person who issued the document. In case of PhD students, the admission/invitation letter should not be just a formal admission for a scholarship stay, but it should reflect a certain level of host institution’s interest in applicant’s study and/or research/artistic stay in the framework of the NSP. Admission/invitation letter must be issued for the same period as the period stated by the applicant in his/her online application and it cannot be older than 3 months on the day of the application deadline.

Required documents that must be attached to online application for a teaching and/or research/artistic stay in case of international university teachers/researchers/artists (eligible applicants under the category C):

• curriculum vitae;
• detailed teaching and/or research/artistic programme (it is necessary to state the date of the beginning of the stay, duration of the stay and a detailed time plan of the stay);
• scan of applicant’s diploma of the highest academic degree achieved;
• list of publications/artistic activities in required form;

• invitation letter issued by applicant’s host university/research organisation3 in Slovakia. In this document, the university/research organisation commits itself to accept the scholarship holder for a teaching and/or research/artistic stay (exact period of stay must be stated in the document).  Invitation letter must be issued on headed paper of the respective university/research organisation, it must be signed by the person who issued the document, and it must contain position and contact details of the person who issued the document. In case of university teachers/researchers/artists, the invitation letter should not be just a formal admission for a scholarship stay, but it should reflect a certain level of host institution’s interest in applicant’s teaching and/or research/artistic stay in the framework of the NSP. Invitation letter must be issued for the same period as the period stated by the applicant in his/her online application and it cannot be older than 3 months on the day of the application deadline.

[3] Legal entity according to the section 7 letters a) – c) of the Act No. 172/2005 on organisation of state research and development funding, as amended, which has a valid certificate of eligibility to carry out research and development according to the section 26a article 11 or article 12 of the same Act – i.e. public, private or state universities, research institutions eligible to carry out a doctoral (PhD) study programme (i.e. external education institutions), Slovak Academy of Sciences and its institutes, departmental research institutes or non-governmental organisations carrying out research and development.

6. Selection procedure

Selection of scholarship holders is carried out by the Selection Committee appointed by the Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic. The Selection Committee award the scholarships based upon the documents attached to applicants’ online applications. The Committee focuses mostly on:

• reasons, why the applicant has decided to study, teach, conduct research or artistic activities in the respective host institution;
• programme of applicant’s study, research/artistic or teaching stay and how the applicant will use the results of his/her scholarship stay for further studies or teaching/research/artistic activities;
• applicant’s professional and personal qualities;
• study or research achievements;
• attitude of applicant’s host institution toward the applicant in the admission/invitation letter;
• overall quality of submitted application.

Scholarships and/or travel allowances are not legally enforceable; to be or not to be awarded a scholarship is influenced by meeting all the formal requirements of the programme according to the respective call for applications, applicant’s quality, content of applicant’s proposed stay and its necessity, and budget possibilities of the NSP according to the respective call for applications.

SAIA, n. o., will inform every applicant about being/not being awarded the scholarship within 8 weeks from the application deadline.

SAIA, n. o., will issue a Letter of Award (official confirmation on being awarded a scholarship in the framework of the NSP) for every scholarship holder. This document will be sent to every scholarship holder together with other information and requirements for the scholarship payment. Eligible applicants under the category A) and B) (students and PhD students) are obliged, in case of being awarded the scholarship, deliver original of confirmation on studies to SAIA, n. o., in Bratislava. This document will confirm that the scholarship holder is still a regular student or PhD student of the respective university/research organisation during his/her study/research stay in Slovakia (in case that the confirmation is issued in other than Slovak, English or Russian language, official translation of the document into one of aforementioned languages is required).

More information:

Lukáš MARCIN, programme administrator

e-mail: nsp-foreign@saia.sk
tel: +421-2-5930-4733 (direct line)

SAIA, n. o.
Sasinkova 10
812 20 Bratislava 1
Slovak Republic

tel: +421-2-5930-4700, +421-2-5930-4711
fax: +421-2-5930-4701
www.scholarships.sk, www.saia.sk