Estonie

Back

Type of grant

Study grant

Level

Master, Doctoral

Sectors and field of study

All subject areas.

Description

Programme description

The Kristjan Jaak Scholarship programme is a governmental programme initiated in cooperation with the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research. The main objective of the programme is to strenghten the internationalisation of Estonian higher education institutions and employability of their graduates.

The scholarships for Study Period Abroad are created for MA and PhD students wishing to spend part of their studies abroad at a recognized foreign university or research institution for up to one year.

The scholarship can be used for participating in tuition and traineeships. PhD students can also use the scholarship for individual work, laboratory work, field work and consultations. The scholarship can be used for a maximum of two times per educational level but not more than 12 months in total. During the study periods abroad active tuition in the host institution must take place.

The applications which meet the criteria are assessed by sectoral experts. Each application is assessed by at least two experts. The scholarships are allocated by the Programme Board based on the aggregate scores given by the experts.

Duration

The scholarship period can last from one to twelve months based on individual need.

Financial terms

The amount of the scholarship is calculated on the basis of unit prices for travel and living expenses. Unit prices that are used when calculating the scholarship amount are confirmed by the regulation of the Minister for Education and Research.

Subsistence grant covers accommodation and subsistence costs of the grantee. Subsistence grant is paid for up to 12 months. The unit price of the subsistence grant is set for one calendar day. The grantee must stay at the foreign university or research institution during the scholarship period (except for the winter and spring breaks).

Travel grant is paid for covering the expenses for travelling from the point of departure to the destination (to the location of the university abroad or research institution) and back. The travel grant reimbursed based on unit prices contains all the travel-related costs, including transportation to the airport and from the airport to the destination and also costs related to visa.

When granting the scholarship, the start and end point of the study periods abroad is considered to be the same city. It is not possible to receive the scholarship for a one-way trip. The scholarship can fund trips starting both from Estonia and abroad. The travel expenses can be reimbursed for a maximum of two times (2 round trips a year).

The amount of travel grant depends on the distance between the point of departure and the destination. When calculating the distance, the European Commission's web-based calculator is used http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/tools/distance_en.htm.

If the distance between the point of departure and the destination is up to 99,99 km (inclusive), the travel expenses shall be reimbursed in the amount up to 180 euros on the basis of expense receipts.

If the distance between the point of departure and the destination is 100 km or more, the travel expenses shall be reimbursed on the basis of fixed price, taking into account the rates in the following table:

Allowance for a round-trip         Distance from city to city

  • EUR 180               100- 499 km
  • EUR 275               500- 1999 km
  • EUR 360               2000- 2999 km
  • EUR 530               3000 – 3999 km
  • EUR 820               4000 – 7999 km
  • EUR 1100             8000 km or more

 The Foundation may adjust the amounts of the applied grants if the amount in the application differs from the amount calculated based on unit prices.

The amount of the scholarship approved by the program board cannot be increased.

The grantee may not simultaneously receive the Kristjan Jaak scholarship for study periods abroad and the Erasmus+ learning mobility or Dora Plus activity 1.2 scholarship. It is allowed to use the Erasmus+ student exchange agreements to study abroad. Other additional funding must be shown in the application.

Before signing the contract, the grantee has to submit a confirmation of acceptance from the foreign university or research institution (if such a document hasn't already been submitted together with the application).

The Foundation shall conclude the contract with the grantee generally one month before the start of the studies. The contract stipulates the amount and conditions of using the scholarship.

The scholarship will be paid out for 3 months at a time.

The first instalment, which includes the subsistence grant for the first 3 tuition months as well as a travel grant for one round trip, shall be paid out no later than 2 weeks before the start of the study periods abroad, but not before the scholarship contract has been signed.

The following instalments will be paid out after the grantee has submitted a certificate of attendance for the scholarship period issued by the host institution. These certificates shall be sent to the Foundation by e-mail. If the grantee has been allocated a travel grant for 2 round trips, the grant for the second round trip will be paid out after the interim report has been submitted.

Advance payments of the scholarship are not made to individuals who have outstanding contractual obligations to the Foundation.

In documents and presentations related to the study visit, the grantee shall acknowledge the support of the Ministry of Education and Research, the Kristjan Jaak programme and the Foundation.

Grant funded by

Archimedes Foundation, an independent body established by the Estonian government with the objective to coordinate and implement different international and national programmes and projects in the field of training, education and research.

Eligibility criteria

Nationality.ies – Profile

Estonian

Level of study required

Master’s or PhD students

Additional terms and conditions

The scholarship can be applied for by the persons who, at the time of using the scholarship, are:

  • master's or PhD students of Estonian higher education institutions;
  • students studying at integrated curricula of Estonian higher education institutions, who have passed at least 180 ECTS of the curriculum by the time of study periods abroad.

The scholarship cannot be applied for by the persons:

  • who study at Master's or Doctoral studies at an Estonian higher education institution and who wish to suspend their studies here to continue studies only at a university abroad;
  • who study at a university abroad and wish to apply for scholarship for student exchanges in some other university abroad.

Application process

How to apply

The application with all the required annexes must be submitted via the electronic application environment. The call for applications opens one month before the deadline.

  • The applicant must submit the following documents before the application deadline:
  • application along with the motivation letter (volume of 300-600 words);
  • work plan for the study periods abroad (volume of 500 to 1500 words);
  • a recommendation letter from the thesis supervisor or a significant lecturer;
  • confirmation about studying at the higher education institution issued by the higher education institution;
  • confirmation of the university or research institution abroad about the acceptance of the student for the period brought out in the application.

All documents must be uploaded to the application system. Documents signed on paper shall be presented in a scanned form. The Foundation has the right to check the correspondence of the uploaded documents to the originals.

Deadline

The application deadlines for the academic year 2021/2022 are 1 May 2021 and 15 October 2021.  Studies must take place from 1 July of the year of application to 30 September of the following year.

Selection Process

The applications which meet the criteria are assessed by sectoral experts. Each application is assessed by at least two experts.

Experts evaluate the applications based on the following aspects:

  • Is the goal of the study periods abroad clear and convincingly reasoned?
  • Is the applicant motivated and has worked on the application thoroughly?
  • Is the work plan well elaborated, reasonable and achievable?
  • How well does the chosen foreign institution suit for studying in this field?
  • Is the letter of recommendation relevant and convincing?
  • What is the added value for Estonia arising from this study periods abroad?

The board allocates the scholarships based on the aggregate scores given by the experts. It is within the board's discretion to decide which applications should be supported. If there are several applications with an equal score, but the budget does not allow to support all of them, the board may prefer the applications from fields and higher education institutions that are less represented. The decision to allocate scholarships is fixed in the minutes of the board meeting.

The assessment procedure takes up to two months from the date of the announced application deadline.

Contact

The contact person for the Kristjan Jaak scholarships for study periods abroad at the Foundation Archimedes is Eneli Külaots

E-mail : eneli.kulaots@archimedes.ee, Phone : +372 7300 716