Rules of the Visegrad Scholarship Program

Under Articles 1 and 2 of the Statute of the International Visegrad Fund (hereinafter the “Fund”) the
Conference of Ministers is issuing these conditions to determine the Rules of the Visegrad
Scholarship Program (hereinafter the “VSP”).

Chapter I—Aims of the Visegrad Scholarship Program

Article 1
The VSP is a specific program of the Fund created to facilitate academic exchanges by providing
financial support to students or researchers who are citizens of the V4 countries: the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Poland and Slovakia (hereinafter the “Member States”) and for foreign citizens specified in
Chapter II Article 5 to study in the Member States. All Higher Education Institutions accredited by the
governments (ministries responsible for higher education) and Institutes of Academies of Sciences
(hereinafter only “university/institute“) are eligible to be host as well as home institutions. The aim
of the VSP is to support the mobility of students and researchers among the specified countries.

Chapter II—Eligibility

Article 2
Visegrad Scholarships are provided for study/research projects specified in the submitted application
form. The country of citizenship and permanent residence shall be different from the host country.
The applicant’s home and host university/institute must be different, i.e. the previous level of
university studies must be completed in a country other than where the applicant applies for studies.
The distance between the home university and host university/institute as well as between the
permanent residence and the host university/institute must be above 150 km. Citizenship of the
applicant and/or permanent residence of the applicant must differ from the country of host
university/institute. The applicant, who is already a holder of master degree, is not eligible to apply
for scholarship to cover master studies. An applicant for the scholarship support shall submit no
more than one application within one deadline. In the event that the applicant submits more than
one application, the Fund shall consider the first submitted.

Article 3
Applicants are eligible to apply for the VSP for maximum term of support of 4 semesters for master
students and 2 semesters for post-master students.

Article 4
The minimum length of the supported period of study/research shall be 1 academic semester (5
months).
The level of supported studies shall be:

 Master’s studies (the student must have completed at least bachelor degree when starting
the scholarship, and during the entire scholarship period shall be enrolled in full-time
master’s program),
 Post-Master’s (doctoral programs or independent research)

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Article 5
The Fund is responsible for the proper announcement of the VSP in conformity with the decision of
the Conference of Ministers.

The following three schemes are supported within the VSP:

A. Intra-Visegrad Scholarships: For scholars or researchers within the territory of the Member
States;
B. Out-Going Scholarships: For scholars or researchers from Member States for studies at
accredited universities in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Georgia, Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M.), Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine—the same
rules are applicable to Kosovar universities;
C. In-Coming Scholarships:
For scholars or researchers who are citizens of the following Western Balkan countries: Albania,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M.), Montenegro and Serbia wishing to study in the
Member States—the same rules are applicable to Kosovar scholars.
For scholars or researchers who are citizens of the following Eastern Partnership countries:
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Chapter III—Application Process

Article 6
The application is exclusively submitted via Fund´s online system before the given deadline.

Article 7
Compulsory annexes to the application form are as follows:
- scan of a valid identification document (identification card for EU citizens, passport for non-
EU citizens);

A. If applying for master studies a transcript of records for the last two duly terminated
semesters and a letter of acceptance from the host university/institute which is not older
than 3 months when submitting the application. If the applicant applied for courses that
require admission tests or personal interview (results of which will be known only after the
deadline for the VSP applications), the applicant shall submit a proof of her/his application
for studies at the host university/institute. The actual letter of acceptance shall be submitted
before the signing of the contract with the Fund, by the end of June of the respective year at
the latest. The letter of acceptance shall indicate that the student was accepted for the
respective number of semesters within the full-time master program.
B. If applying for post-master studies, a letter of acceptance issued by the host
university/institute indicating length and approving working plan of the study/research,
which is not older than 3 months when submitting the application.

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Chapter IV—Selection and Approval

Article 8
Deadline for the applications—is 15 March 12:00 (noon) each year. The earliest date for
commencement of the study/research project is September of the respective year.

Article 9
The Fund shall review each application with regard to its content and its compliance with the
requirements. Only eligible applications are to be evaluated by the Selection Committee.

Article 10
The Selection Committee shall consist of four members from academia (one from each Member
State) and four from the ministries responsible for higher education (one from Member State).

Article 11
The members of Selection Committee shall evaluate all eligible applications based on their merits.
The Fund shall summarize the records from all selection sessions and present to the Council of
Ambassadors a final list of recommended applicants, taking into consideration the principles of
distribution of financial resources approved in the given year Fund´s budget.

Article 12
At its session (by 31 May each year), the Council of Ambassadors shall approve the final lists of
successful applicants together with a reserve list of substitutes used in case of cancellations. Decision
made by the Council of Ambassadors is final. This decision shall present no grounds for legal
proceedings and require no detailed reasoning.

Article 13
In case the distance between the present university/employer and host university/institute of the
scholar is more than 1500 km, the Fund can, provide a travel grant to selected scholars. The travel
grant is a one-time contribution of the Fund to cover travel expenses of the scholar, related to the
approved study/research project. The travel grant will be provided at the beginning of the
scholarship period together with the 1st installment of the scholarship, after fulfilling the conditions
of its disbursement. The scholar cannot accept any other travel grant from any of the Member States
or European Union for the same study/research project.

Article 14
The Fund shall have the obligation to inform the applicants of the approval or rejection of their
applications for VSP by the Council of Ambassadors by 30 May of the respective year.

Article 15
The Fund shall cover expert fees to the Selection Committee members for evaluation of applications.

Chapter V—Contracting and Conditions of Scholarship Disbursement

Article 16

Prior to signing the contract, master students shall be obliged to provide full acceptance letter from
the host university indicating that she/he was accepted for the respective number of semesters
(corresponding with the amount of granted scholarship) within the full-time master program before
30 June. Non-compliance with this requirement shall terminate in cancellation of the scholarship.

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The scholar shall be held responsible for the accuracy of the information inserted to the Fund´s
online system based on which the contract between the Fund and the scholar shall be drawn up.

The scholar shall have the obligation to study or to conduct research in compliance with the time
limit and financial conditions agreed upon in the contract. The payments from the Fund will be
transferred in the beginning of each semester (a 5-month period in case of post-master researchers)
after the Fund receives a written confirmation stating the date of the start of the studies of the
scholar and signed contract; further installments (if relevant) will be transferred to the account of the
scholar after the Fund receives following documents:
Master students:
 Transcript of records with at least 30 credits (ECTS) obtained for previous semester
 Confirmation of continuation of studies from the host university/institute
Post-master students
 Progress report by the scholar
 Confirmation of continuation from the host university/institute indicating the dates of
planned completion

Article 17
The Fund shall support the host university/institute by a lump sum for each semester of the studies
supported by the VSP. The lump sum in case of master studies is to support the host
university/institute in order not to charge additional tuition fees to the scholar. The lump sum in case
of past-master studies is to provide material and personal assistance to the scholar in her/his
research.
The host university/institute is obliged to conclude the contract with the Fund in order to receive the
lump sum together with the 1st disbursement of the scholarship but no later than by the end of the
scholarship period of the respective scholar. The lump sum is disbursed upon reception of the
written contract between the Fund and the host university/institute and between the Fund and the
scholar and a written confirmation stating the date of the start of the study/research of the scholar.

Article 18
The scholar shall not accept any other governmental scholarship from any of the Member State or
the European Union simultaneously with the scholarship of the International Visegrad Fund.

Article 19
The scholar is obliged to submit to the Fund the following documents one month after termination of
the studies covered by the VSP at the latest.
Master studies:
- Copy of master diploma in case of full master studies
- Transcript of records with at least 30 credits (ECTS) obtained for the last semester covered by
the VSP
Post-master studies:
- Final report summarizing the results of the research by the scholar

In case the scholar fails to fulfill her/his duties toward the host university/institute, through her/his
own fault, or voluntarily terminates the studies or research, she/he shall be obliged to return to the
Fund all the funding already paid within the scholarship in accordance with the relevant provisions of
the contract concluded between the scholar and the Fund.

Article 20
These Rules shall enter into force on the day of their approval by the Conference of Ministers.