National Scholarship Program of the Slovak Republic

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 financed by the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic from the state budget 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.

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. 

[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) – d) 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.

Note: If the study/research/artistic stay must last at least 1 month, it is necessary to ensure the length of the stay is for 1 full calendar month (e.g. March 5 - April 4). The same applies for calculating the duration of the stay when assessing the fulfillment of the condition for the minimum length of stay in other cases, if this length is determined in months (e.g. February 5 - June 4 for a 4-month stay).

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.

Re-applying for the scholarship:

In case of re-applying for a scholarship, the application can only be approved if between the deadline by which the applicant re-submitted the application and the deadline by which the NSP scholarship was last awarded and received, at least 2 years (including) have passed.  

Exception to this condition can be only in cases worth of special consideration, especially if the previous stay supported by the scholarship was affected by an extraordinary circumstance caused by force majeure (e.g. pandemic, military conflict, etc.).

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 majeure[4]), 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.).

[4] E.g. the previous stay was affected by the pandemic, terrorist attack, etc..; career breaks due to the applicant's maternity / parental leave may also be considered.

Amount of the scholarship and organisation of the stay

Category:

Monthly

1. university student of the second level of higher education: 620 EUR
2. PhD student: 1025,50 EUR
3. university teacher/researcher/artist:

• without PhD degree (or its equivalent) and at the same time less than 4 years of work experience as a university teacher/researcher/artist: 1025,50 EUR
• with PhD degree (or its equivalent) and at the same time less than 10 years of work experience as a university teacher/researcher/artist: 1 370 EUR
• with PhD degree (or its equivalent) and at the same time more than 10 years of work experience as a university teacher/researcher/artist: 1 470 EUR

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.

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. 

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, who need for their stay in Slovakia a temporary residence permit, 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.

Travel grant

In addition, students and PhD students [eligible applicants under the category A) and B)] can be awarded a travel allowance (travel grant, which is a separate component of the scholarship), 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 (the permanent address; resp. address of home institution) and the place of his/her stay in Slovakia (the address of the host institution)[5]:

• distance up to 200 km – 0 €,
• distance more than 200 km, max. 300 km – 50 €,
• distance more than 300 km, max. 500 km – 100 €,
• distance more than 500 km, max. 1 000 km – 250 €,
• distance more than 1 000 km, max.2 000 km – 350 €,
• distance more than 2 000 km, max.3 000 km – 500 €,
• distance more than 3 000 km, max. 5 000 km – 750 €,
• distance more than 5 000 km, max. 7 000 km – 1 100 €,
• distance more than 7 000 km – 1 500 €.

[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.

Application deadlines

• 30 April at 16.00 CET [6] – scholarship stays during the next academic year
• 31 October at 16.00 CET[6] – scholarship stays during the summer semester of the current academic year

[6] Central European Time

Note: International applicants who need visa in order to enter the territory of the Slovak Republic are recommended to take into consideration the time necessary for the collection of necessary documents for visa application procedure/temporary residence permit (considering also time for delivery of the documents from SAIA), time for the visa appointment and the issue time of visa, 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).

One applicant is allowed to submit only one application per one application call.

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).

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

In case of documents, that are attached to the application and that are 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 original documents that he/she has attached to the online application in electronic format at the time of award of the scholarship and before issuing the Letter of Award at the latest (if not agreed with the host institution otherwise), and if requested, to submit these originals (or certified copies of these originals) to the Programme Administrator.

According to the terms and conditions, a signature is a handwritten signature (not a typewritten one), or an officially verifiable electronic signature. Confirmation is an officially issued document that contains the signature of the person who issued the document or electronically verifiable data as well (e.g. QR code or link referring to a document on the official webpage of an educational institution or national authority).

Exceptionally, i.e. in the event of extraordinary circumstances caused by force majeure (not the fault of the applicant and the person / institution that has issued the requested document), may also be accepted the official documents without the signature of the person who has issued them (resp. the official confirmation of the institution), if the content of the document is in line with these terms and indicates that it is a statement of a relevant legal or physical person (e.g. e-mail from the respective person with the required content or an informative extract from the higher education institution's electronic system without a signature from the responsible person, etc.). If such an applicant has been awarded a scholarship, he/she is obliged to submit documents signed by the responsible person, which 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. A Binding scholarship offer will be sent to the approved applicant only after this obligation has been fulfilled.  

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.

In order to take any 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 on-line 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 of the admission/invitation letter has to be submitted only when the applicant has been awarded a scholarship. Before the Letter of Award has been issued to an approved applicant, he/she or the Slovak host institution, is obliged to submit to the Programme Administrator the original of the acceptance/invitation letter, which will correspond to the acceptance/invitation letter submitted as part of the online application, no later than by the deadline set by the Programme Administrator. Otherwise, the non-delivery of this document will be evaluated as a loss of interest in the scholarship stay on the part of the approved applicant, or loss of interest in the scholarship holder on the part of the host institution. Based on this fact, SAIA, n. o., has right to cancel the scholarship stay.

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.

Selection procedure

Scholarships and/or travel allowances (travel grant) are not legally enforceable; meeting of 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 the NSP budget availability related to the respective call for applications, have an impact on granting the scholarship from the NSP sources.

The applicant is responsible for the final completeness of the application and for the correctness of the information provided in the application and its annexes; due to sufficient time for the preparation of the application in the period between the opening of the electronic application system and the deadline for submitting the applications, as well as to the applicant's declaration when submitting the application, that all information provided in the application is complete, actual and true and that the application is complete and contains all the required annexes and documents, the scholarship Programme Administrator is not obliged to give the applicant an opportunity to amend the application (the application is therefore assessed as submitted by the applicant).

SAIA, n. o., as the scholarship Programme Administrator, is responsible for the administration of the selection process. The Programme Administrator acts within each selection in a way to ensure equal treatment of applicants during the respective selection process.

The administrator will assess whether the applications meet the formal requirements of the programme on the day of the application deadline. The administrator may reject applications for formal reasons:

• if they are in conflict with the terms of the programme (in particular regarding the eligibility of applicants or scholarship holders, or in absence of an appropriate category of support), or
• if the application or its annexes do not meet the formal requirements, or
• if the facts presented in the application and its annexes are in conflict with each other, or
• if the administrator in the reviewing process finds out that the applicant's statements confirming that the information is complete, true and correct are not true, or
• if they were submitted by former NSP scholarship holders who have proven a serious violation of the terms and conditions of the program, in particular a serious violation of the scholarship holder's obligations, provision of false information or concealment of important facts, or damage to the good reputation of the scholarship program for a period of 10 years from the end of the stay for which the scholarship support was granted and during which  there has been a serious violation of the conditions of the program; in case of proof of innocence by the given deadline, the scholarship holder will be assessed regardless of previous suspicions; the scholarship holder is immediately informed by SAIA, n. o., about the restriction to re-apply for a scholarship support based on proven findings of the Programme Administrator.

When making its decision the administrator may consider whether that fact may have an essential influence on the content assessment of the application. The administrator may consult his/her findings with the Selection Committee. The administrator shall also take into account the recommendations and requirements of the Selection Committee from previous selection rounds.

If necessary, when verifying the information provided by the applicant in the application and its attachments, the Programme Administrator may request additional documents confirming the stated facts while ensuring equal treatment of applicants. This does not affect the applicant's obligation to provide complete, up-to-date and true data and to submit a complete application by the application date.

Applications that have not been rejected by the administrator for formal reasons will be forwarded to the Selection Committee for further selection.

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 Committee focuses mostly on:

• reasons, why the applicant has decided to study, teach, conduct research or artistic activities in the respective host institution in Slovakia;
• programme of applicant’s study/research/artistic/teaching stay and how the applicant will use the results of his/her scholarship stay for further studies or research activities, or his/her career development;
• applicant’s professional and personal qualities; as well as assessment of the proposed programme of the scholarship stay in the recommendation letters;
• study or research achievements;
  • if relevant, in case of re-applying for a scholarship, the Selection Committee may also take into account the results/feedback from the applicant's previous stay;
• contribution for the host institution;
• overall quality of the submitted application and its consistency.

Within the framework of a specific selection, the Selection Committee determines the order of applications in the respective categories, while, if necessary, taking into account the field background of the applications and other relevant facts, it may separately assess subgroups of applications within the assessed categories and determine an individual order for these subgroups. After evaluating the applications in a specific category or subgroup, the Selection Committee determines which applications within the given selection meet the expectation of high quality, and from these applications proposes which applications should be awarded a scholarship, taking into account the available funds of the program, the quality of the applications, and it may also take into account the expected success rate of applicants in a specific category/subgroup with respect to the total number of applications. The Selection Committee can indicate other conditions for awarding the scholarship, e.g. grant a scholarship under the condition of shortening the length of the scholarship support (i.e. shortening the number of scholarship months), documenting or explaining the facts that the Selection Committee considered necessary in the application assessment process, etc.; the fulfilment of the conditions (or their acceptance by the applicant) in the case of a scholarship award is verified by the Programme Administrator. For the purposes of an efficient, effective and useful using of financial funds for a scholarship support from the program, the Selection Committee may decide to create a reserve list of applicants for a scholarship (resp. a list of substitutes), who in case of sufficient financial resources may be awarded a scholarship additionally, after the meeting of the Selection Committee; the reserve list of applicants expires on the day of the next scholarship application deadline.

The Selection Committee may, with special regard, consider applications submitted by applicants who were awarded a scholarship but who have not started their approved scholarship stay due to force majeure (e.g. the pandemic, war, etc.) or had to shorten their stay due to force majeure, or under the influence of a situation caused by force majeure, the planned purpose could not be fully implemented. In such cases, compared to other applicants, the Selection Committee may proceed in a specific way, if it is considered necessary in the respective call for applications. However, any such application will be assessed individually in accordance with the terms of the programme and must be relevant in terms of quality; it is not possible to approve such applications automatically solely because of the prior approval of the scholarship and the fact, that it has been negatively influenced by force majeure. 

Any applicant who has reasonable grounds to suspect that the administrator or the Selection Committee made a mistake in the process of administering and assessing applications submitted within the respective application deadline is entitled to file a motion to investigate the case no later than 1 month after publishing the results of the selection of applications submitted within that deadline. Claims have to be submitted by the applicant in writing and addressed to SAIA, n. o., as the organization administering the programme. The claim must contain the applicant's identification data, the respective application number, reasons for objections (including facts which according to the applicant led to the mistake). SAIA, n. o., after reviewing the claim will inform the applicant of the result of the review process, usually within 1 month from the submission of the claim.

Scholarship grant and conditions for its payment

The administrator respects the selection of the scholarship holders carried out by the Selection Committee and grants scholarships in accordance with that selection. SAIA, n. o., will inform every applicant about being/not being granted financial support from NSP sources usually within 8 weeks from the application deadline.

If there is no objective obstacle (e.g. conditional award of the scholarship on the fulfillment of additional conditions indicated by the Selection Committee), upon submission of the original acceptance/invitation letter, SAIA, n. o., will issue and send the Letter of Award confirming the approval of the scholarship within the NSP by post to the scholarship holder (in specific situations by an alternative method) together with a binding scholarship offer containing information and requirements for the payment of the scholarship. Before the first scholarship payment the scholarship holder is obliged to send a letter of acceptance to the Programme Administrator (the formular will be sent to the scholarship holder by the Programme Administrator), a notarized copy of the diploma with the highest academic degree achieved, and:

• in case of students and PhD. students an original of the confirmation on studies valid for the academic year in which the scholarship stay will take place (confirmation issued not sooner than one month before September, or before February in case of scholarship stay which will take place in the summer semester).

In case of documents issued in languages other than Slovak or English they shall be officially translated into one of these two languages.

It is not possible to pay out the scholarship without submitting the above-mentioned documents by the scholarship holders.

Only upon submission of the written acceptance of the scholarship to SAIA, n. o., by the applicant who was awarded the scholarship, a contractual relationship is concluded between SAIA, n. o., and the scholarship holder.

If the scholarship was awarded conditionally upon fulfilment of the conditions indicated by the Selection Committee, the Letter of Award together with other documents can be sent to the scholarship holder only once the specified conditions have been fulfilled (it is up the Programme Administrator to decide, whether the conditions have been fulfilled).

The scholarship is paid to the bank account given by the scholarship holder as the bank account for the payment of the scholarship (usually to the scholarship holder's bank account in one of the SEPA countries; in justified cases, the scholarship can also be paid to another bank account on request of the scholarship holder, while the risks and costs related to such an alternative procedure in such cases are born by the scholarship holder).

The scholarship is paid out in monthly payments. The administrator starts paying out the scholarhip once he received the information about the bank account to which the scholarship should be paid and the confirmation on the beginning of the scholarship holder's stay. Further details regarding payment deadlines and circumstances affecting these deadlines will be determined by the Programme Administrator and communicated to the scholarship holder together with the Letter of Award, which is sent to the scholarhip holder.

For the purpose of control and monitoring of the scholarship stay and for the purpose of economic, effective, efficient and purposeful use of public resources, the Programme Administrator may set some other conditions that the scholarship holder must fulfill during the stay, failure of which may lead to the suspension of the scholarship payment or the withholding of part of the scholarship until fulfillment of the given condition. The Programme Administrator informs the scholarship holder about such other conditions together with the Letter of Award, which is sent to the scholarship holder (it may be, for example, a request to submit an interim report on the stay, the withholding of part of the scholarship until the submission of certain documents required at the end of the stay, etc.).

Scholarships of the National Scholarship Programme of the Slovak Republic are financed from public sources. For the mentioned reason, the following conditions and obligations arise for scholarship holders:

• the scholarship holder of the National Scholarship Programme is oblidged to ensure that all documents submitted in connection with the approved scholarship stay are complete, correct and true,
• it is prohibited to finance the same expence for the same purpose from the same source, and therefore it is the duty of the scholarship holder to inform SAIA, n. o., as the Programme Administrator, if in connection with his stay he is going to receive other support from the state budget of the Slovak Republic during the duration of the scholarship support from the National Scholarship Program of the Slovak Republic,
• the scholarship recipient is obliged, if necessary, to provide full co-operation to the authorities of the Slovak Republic or persons authorized by these bodies, namely in the course of their activities (in particular control or monitoring activities or the performance of audits) in connection with the funds provided within the scholarship,
• the scholarship holder acknowledges and, by accepting the scholarship, agrees that his personal data, to the extent provided by the scholarship application, its annexes and other documents submitted to the Programme Administrator, may be provided to the authorities of the Slovak Republic for the purposes of their control or monitoring activities, or during the performance of an audit in relation to funds provided within the scholarship.

To the provision of scholarship, unless otherwies stated, the regulations of the "Guidelines for Awarding and Disbursement of Scholarships and Travel Grants" effective from 22 October 2021 or in case of their replacement by another regulation, apply. The current wording of such a regulation will be published by the Programme Administrator on the program's website. Complex situations that are related to the planning and implementation of international mobility, despite being possibly time and administrative demanding, are typically not considered as extraordinary circumstances caused by force majeure, even if they cannot be directly influenced by the scholarship holder. War conflict and civil unrest are generally considered to be force majeure circumstances that cannot be foreseen by the scholarship holder.

Scholarship support is granted for a scholarship stay in accordance with the Letter of Award. Change the country of the scholarship stay and the host institution are not allowed. Changes affecting the withdrawal of funds (e.g. changing the start date of the stay, shortening the stay, etc.) are possible only with the approval of the Programme Administrator. Extension of already approved scholarship support is not possible (if necessary, it is possible to apply for a new scholarship, taking into account the conditions of the program for support of repeated stays). Interruption of the scholarship stay is usually possible only in exceptional cases and is subject to approval by the Programme Administrator. The Programme Administrator shall determine in more detail the conditions related to the approval of changes in accordance with these Terms and Conditions and shall notify the scholarship holder together with the Letter of Award, which will be sent to the scholarhip holder.

In case that the scholarship stay lasts longer than 6 months the scholarship holder is obliged to deliver a Scholarship stay interim report to the Programme Administrator. The Programme Administrator may decide that the payment of further scholarships will be withheld until this obligation has been fulfilled. Details on the form of the interim report will be determined by the Programme Administrator and communicated to the scholarship holder together with the Letter of Award, which is sent to the scholarhip holder.

At the end of the scholarship stay, the scholarship holder submits a Final report and a confirmation on the completition of the scholarship stay to the Programme Administrator. The Programme Administrator may decide that the payment of a part of the scholarship (max. 1 scholarship rate covering the living expenses and travel allowance) will be withheld, until this obligation has been fulfilled. Details on the form of the final report and its attachments and on the form and content of the confirmation on the completition of the scholarship stay are determined by the Programme Administrator and communicated to the scholarship holder together with the Letter of Award, which is sent to the scholarhip holder.

The scholarship is given to a specific purpose leading to the fulfilment of the goals and activities approved in the study/research/teaching/artistic programme of stay, on the basis of which the scholarship was awarded. Serious non-compliance with the approved programme of stay, or with a properly modified programme of stay based on the agreement with the Programme Administrator, may result in the reduction of the allocated scholarship amount according to the criteria, communicated to the scholarship holder together with the Letter of Award, which is sent to the scholarship holder.

If necessary, while checking the provided information, the Programme Administrator may request additional documents confirming the implementation of the scholarship stay at the host institution in Slovakia, as well as proof of fulfilment of the purpose of the stay. The scholarship holder is therefore obliged to archive documents related to the scholarship stay, cooperate in the verification of facts and deliver the requested supplementary documents (if existing) to the Programme Administrator without delay.

In case of a serious breach of the scholarship holder's obligations, evidence of false information provided or concealment of important facts, as well as in case of damage of the good reputation of the scholarship programme, or if it is proven that the scholarship holder was receiving the scholarship in violation with the terms and conditions of the programme, or in violation with a binding scholarship offer, SAIA, n. o., is entitled to withdraw from the commitment and demand the return of funds paid within the framework of the National Scholarship Programme of the Slovak Republic until the effective moment of the withdrawal from the commitment (in a reasonable amount or up to the total amount of funds provided). The scholarship holder is oblidged to return all funds paid up to that time as requested and within the deadline set by the Programme Administrator.

Tips for applicants

More information

programme administrator for university teachers, researchers, artists:

e-mail: nsp-foreign@saia.sk

tel: +421-2-5930-4733 (direct line)

programme administrator for university students, PhD students:

e-mail: nsp-foreign2@saia.sk

tel: +421-2-5930 4736 (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