Scholarship Programme of the Slovak Republic's Government for Foreign Students

The applications can be submitted online at 

www.scholarships.sk

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 the application deadline have already completed at least 2.5 years of their university studies in the same/similar 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 higher education institution in Slovakia for an academic mobility[1] 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 full semesters (i.e. 4 – 5 or 9 – 10 months) or 1 – 3 full 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 higher education institution or a research institution in Slovakia eligible to carry out a doctoral study programme[2] (e.g. the Slovak Academy of Sciences) for an academic mobility[1] to study/conduct research/artistic stay 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 company[3] and it has its seat in Slovakia.

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

Submitting the application

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 influence the reaction time of the application system. Please, keep that in mind, in order not to miss the application deadline. In such case, the Programme Administrator does not take any responsibility if the applicant does not submit his/her application.

Applicants are allowed to submit (fill in) applications and the required attachments in Slovak or English language only (in case of documents written in other languages[7] the application must contain the original documents together with their official translation into Slovak or English language, resp. the applicant may submit a translation certified by the institution that issued the respective document instead; if, due to extraordinary circumstances caused by force majeure, it is not possible to provide an official translation, the scholarship Programme Administrator may also accept unofficial translations made by the applicant herself/himself, but if such an applicant will be awarded a scholarship, before the official letter of award is issued and sent to him/her, he/she will be obliged to submit an official translation corresponding to the unofficial translation – the deadline for submitting the official document is to be set by the scholarship Programme Administrator).

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 indicate the name of the host Slovak higher education institution where the applicant has been accepted, the duration of the stay and the date of the beginning of the stay, the list of subjects that the applicant will be studying during his/her stay and number of credits that the applicant will gain for the respective subjects; in the case of a study stay, the program of he stay should have a similar number of credits as required at the host institution for the given period (typically 30 ECTS per semester), if this is not the case, the applicant should justify this fact);

• two recommendation letters issued by applicant’s university teachers (the document must contain signature, should contain position and contact details of this person who issued the document; if it is not possible to  issue a recommendation on the letterhead paper of the respective institution, the document has to contain a clear identification of the institution, which the person who issued the recommendation letter is affiliated with [generally the name of the institution, address, website link]); recommendation letters cannot be older than 3 months on the day of the application deadline;

• confirmation officially issued by the applicant’s home higher education institution confirming that the applicant is a regular student of the respective higher education institution at the time of applying; the confirmation cannot be older than 3 months on the day of the application deadline; the confirmation should contain information on the year of study, the standard lenth of the study in the respective field/at the respective institution of the applicant, and the expected date of the completion of applicant’s studies;

• In the event that due to extraordinary circumstances caused by force majeure, the applicant cannot obtain a confirmation of studies from his/her higher education institution, the applicant may submit a declaration of honor that he/she is a student of the respective higher education institution instead. In the declaration the applicant indicates the reasons why he/she failed to obtain the document, indicates the year and the level of study (i.e. bachelor or master studies / other equivalent) and also the date of expected completion of this study. If such an applicant is to be awarded a scholarship, he/she is obliged to submit an official confirmation from the higher education institution corresponding to the declared information about studies before the official letter of award is issued to the applicant. The deadline for submitting the confirmation will set by the scholarship Programme Administrator.

• bachelor’s diploma, diploma supplement together with the state examination certificate (if applicable);

• admission/invitation letter issued by applicant’s host higher education institution in Slovakia indicating the period of stay. In this document, the higher education institution commits itself to accept the applicant for a study stay.  Admission/invitation letter is an official document usually on the letterhead paper of the respective higher education institution, signed by the person who has issued the document,the document should contain position and contact details of that person; if it is not possible to issue the document on an institution's letterhead paper, it has to contain a clear identification of the institution, which the person who issued the document is affiliated with (i.e. generally the name of the institution, address, website link). Admission letter should 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. It is recommented, that the invitation letter contains a list of subjects which the applicant is going to/can attend during the scholarship stay in the academic year/semester.

• in case the applicant has been granted a NSP scholarship in the category of students in the past, he/she is also obliged to submit a transcript of records with obtained credits, resp. the confirmation of passing the exams during the given scholarship stay.

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

• curriculum vitae;

• motivation letter;

• detailed study/research/artistic programme (it is necessary to indicate the name of the host institution where the applicant has been accepted, the date of the beginning of the stay, duration of the stay and an appropriately detailed time plan of the stay);

• recommendation letter issued by applicant’s dissertation supervisor (the document must contain signature of applicant’s dissertation supervisor, it should contain position and contact details of the person who issued the document; if it is not possible to issue the recommendation letter on an institution's letterhead paper, the document has to contain a clear identification of the institution, which the person who issued the recommendation letter is affiliated with [generally the name of the institution, address, website link]); recommendation letter cannot be older than 3 months on the day of the application deadline;

• confirmation officially issued by the applicant’s home higher education institution/research organisation confirming that the applicant is on the application deadline a regular PhD student of the respective higher education institution /research organisation; the document cannot be older than 3 months on the day of the application deadline; the confirmation should contain information on the year of study, the standard lenth of the PhD study in the respective field/at the respective institution of the applicant and the expected date of the completion of applicant’s PhD studies;

• In the event that due to extraordinary circumstances caused by force majeure, the applicant cannot obtain a confirmation of PhD studies, the applicant may submit a declaration of honor that he/she is a PhD student instead. In the declaration the applicant indicates the reasons why he/she failed to obtain the document, and also indicates the current year of his/her PhD study and the date of expected completion of this study. If such an applicant is to be awarded a scholarship, he/she is obliged to submit an official confirmation of PhD studies corresponding to the declared information about PhD studies before the official letter of award is issued to the applicant. The deadline for submitting the confirmation will be set by the scholarship Programme Administrator.

• master’s diploma, diploma supplement together with the state examination certificate (if applicable);

• list of publications/artistic activities in required form; resp. a statement that he/she does not have any publications;

• admission/invitation letter issued by applicant’s host higher education institution /research organisation in Slovakia indicating the period of stay. In this document, the higher education institution/research organisation commits itself to accept the applicant for a study and/or research/artistic stay.  Admission/invitation letter is an official document generally on the letter-headed paper of the respective higher education institution/research organisation, signed by the person who issued the document, the document should contain position and contact details of that person; if it is not possible to issue the document on an institution's letterhead paper, it has to contain a clear identification of the institution, which the person who issued the document is affiliated with (i.e. generally the name of the institution, address, website link). Admission/invitation letter should 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. In case of PhD students, the admission/invitation letter should not be just a formal admission to 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.

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 indicate the name of the host institution where the applicant has been accepted, the date of the beginning of the stay, duration of the stay and an appropriately detailed time plan of the stay);

• applicant’s diploma of the highest academic degree achieved;

• list of publications/artistic activities in the required form

• invitation letter issued by applicant’s host higher education institution/research organisation in Slovakia indicating the period of stay. In this document, the higher education institution/research organisation commits itself to accept the applicant for a teaching and/or research/artistic stay. Invitation letter is an official document usually on the letterhead paper of the respective higher education institution/research organisation, signed by the person who issued the document, the document should contain position and contact details of that person; if it is not possible to issue the document on an institution's letterhead paper, it has to contain a clear identification of the institution, which the person who issued the document is affiliated with (i.e. generally the name of the institution, address, website link). Invitation letter should 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. 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.

More information can be checked on the provided link @

https://www.scholarships.sk/en/main/programme-terms-and-conditions/foreign-applicants