Slovakia Government Ministry of Education International Scholarships 2024

Scholarship Description:

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.

Degree Level:

Slovakia Government Ministry of Education International Scholarships 2022 is available to undertake PhD level programs at Slovekia Universities.

Available Subjects:

Following subject are available to study under this scholarship program.

• All Subjects

Scholarship Benefits:

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 organisations 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. Amount of the monthly scholarship

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, however, up to a maximum of 6 years.

Scholarship holders whose scholarship stay in Slovakia lasts longer than 90 days 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 the deadline for submitting the final report; 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, (travel grant), 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 Slovakia5:

• distance up to 350 km – 0 €,
• distance more than 350 km, max. 2,000 km – 250 €,
• distance more than 2,000 km, max. 7,000 km – 500 €,
• distance more than 7,000 km – 1 000 €.

[5] 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.

Eligible Nationalities:

International Students are eligible.

Eligibility Criteria:

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 full semesters (i.e. 4 – 5 or 9 – 10 months) or full 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/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 company3 and it has its seat 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 degree higher education (bachelor, master, doctoral studies) in Slovakia, or those already studying in Slovakia (full degree higher education) who would like to fund their studies in Slovakia by the NSP;
• university teachers, researchers and artists without PhD degree (or its equivalent) and at the same time with more than 4 years of work experience as a university teacher/researcher/artist (PhD studies are considered as work experience) on the indicated application deadline; however, the scholarship programme administrator may, after consulting the selection committee in individual cases worth special consideration (especially considering situations caused by force majeure4), accept as eligible applicants also candidates without PhD degree (or its equivalent) and at the same time with more than 4 years of work experience but not more than 7 years of work experience, however such applicants may be awarded a scholarship only in  the amount corresponding to applicants without PhD degree (or its equivalent) and with less than 4 years of experience;
• international applicants who within the period of 36 months prior to the application deadline have spent in the territory of the Slovak Republic 15 or more months (in total);
• international applicants who are receiving a scholarship in Slovakia in the framework of other scholarship programmes funded from public resources (e.g. International Visegrad Fund, Erasmus+, CEEPUS, bilateral agreements, etc.).

Application Procedure:

 Application deadlines

• 31 October at 16:00 CET – scholarship stays during the summer semester of the current academic year
• 30 April at 16:00 CET – scholarship stays during the next academic year

Note: International applicants who need a visa in order to enter the territory of the Slovak Republic are recommended to take into consideration the 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). Further, scholarship holders who are citizens of countries outside the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland and whose scholarship stay in Slovakia last longer than 90 days are recommended to take into consideration the time necessary for temporary residence permit application procedure when determining the date of the beginning of their potential scholarship stay.

Application procedure

Scholarship applications are submitted online at www.scholarships.sk. The 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. A 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 a 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 languages6 the application must contain the original documents together with their official translation into Slovak or English language – translation can be certified by the same institution that issued the respective document; 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.

In case of documents, that are attached to the application and that is issued by a person other than the applicant (e.g. recommendation letters, confirmations of study, diploma/diploma supplement/state examination certificate, admission/invitation letter) it is necessary to upload the scan of these documents to the online application. The applicant is obliged to keep and archive all originals of documents that he/she has attached to the online application in electronic format, and if requested, to submit these originals (or certified copies of these originals) to the programme administrator. In the event that due to extraordinary circumstances caused by force majeure (without the fault of the applicant and the person/institution that has issued the requested document) it is not possible to obtain originals of the documents from persons responsible for issuing the document, it is also possible to upload into the online system scans of documents while originals are being kept by the author – in this case, unless otherwise specified, the applicant is obliged to obtain and keep the original before leaving his/her country, in order to present it to the scholarship programme administrator if necessary. 

Exceptionally, i.e. in the event of extraordinary circumstances caused by force majeure (without the fault of the applicant and the person/institution that has issued the requested document), certificates, resp. documents missing the signature of the person who has issued them (resp. missing the official confirmation of the institution),  may also be accepted, provided that the content of the document is in line with these terms and indicates, that it is a statement of a relevant legal or natural person (e.g. e-mail from the respective person with the required content or an informative extract from the university’s electronic system without a signature from the responsible person, etc.). If the applicant has been awarded a scholarship, he/she is obliged to submit documents, which are signed by the responsible person and correspond by their content to the documents submitted in the application to the scholarship programme administrator at the latest by the deadline set by the scholarship programme administrator.

If the applicant is reapplying for a scholarship because his/her previous stay supported by the scholarship was substantially influenced by extraordinary circumstances caused by force majeure (e.g. due to force majeure the stay had to be terminated earlier, or the stay was completed, but the planned programme could not be fully implemented e.g. due to the closure of the institutions as a preventive measure, or the stay could not be conducted at all and for that reason, the applicant cancelled the scholarship which had been awarded to him/her) and he/she wishes to continue or resume the approved stay, he/she is required to indicate all facts and extraordinary circumstances explicitly in his/her application.

[6] According to the current legislation, it is not necessary to translate documents issued in the Czech language

In order to take the extraordinary circumstances during the selection process into account, the applicant is required to describe and explain these circumstances in detail in the application (e.g. in a separate document attached, etc.) and the administrator will assess their possible impact during the formal evaluation of the applications for the purposes of the selection process.

The application must be submitted online by the application deadline – i.e. the applicant must fill in the online application, attach all required documents in the prescribed form and submit the application by clicking the “SEND” button (the application can only be submitted if all fields are filled in and all required attachments uploaded).

Note: Applicant should receive a scan of his/her admission/invitation letter issued by his/her host institution in Slovakia since he/she should attach it to his/her online application. Without the admission/invitation, the applicant cannot submit the online application, i.e. his/her application will not be further assessed. The original admission/invitation letter has to be submitted when the applicant has been awarded a scholarship.