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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 scholarship aimed for supporting short-time visits are awarded for visits abroad that last up to 30 days. These may involve participation in the conferences, intensive courses, visiting libraries or labs, fieldwork, meeting the relevant experts, preparation of teaching material or any other study, research or teaching related activity. The scholarship can be applied for by MA and PhD students, resident physicians and young faculty members (aged up to 35 years of age or 5 years from the defence of their PhD).

Duration

Study visit lasting up to one month (30 days)

Financial terms

The scholarship is awarded to cover the travel, accommodation and subsistence costs related to the mobility. Daily allowances cannot be applied for by teaching and research staff. The scholarship cannot be used to cover the participation fee. The support shall be paid to the grantee before the start of the travel abroad. The support is exempt from income tax.

The amounts determined by the Scholarship Council cannot be increased. The awarded grant may only be used for the funding of visit indicated in the application. The amounts granted are calculated on the basis of fixed rates only, no costs can be covered on the basis of actual expenses. The grantee may change the division of costs underlying the calculation without changing the other details of the visit (duration, destination, nature of the event, etc.). Accommodation allowances and daily allowances are paid for a maximum of one day before and one day after the occurring of the event the recipient wishes to participate in, on the basis of the invitation or registration form submitted along with the application.

More information can be found at http://haridus.archimedes.ee/en/amount-scholarship

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 or PhD

Additional terms and conditions

The scholarship may be applied for by:

  • the master's and PhD students of the Estonian higher education institutions;
  • the advanced students of the Estonian higher education institutions at integrated curricula;
  • the students who have the Kristjan Jaak scholarship for degree studies and who study in a university abroad;
  • doctor-residents working in Estonia;
  • young scientists and lecturers of the Estonian higher education institutions who are not older than 35 years of age or who have not defended their doctoral degree more than 5 years ago. Parental leave can be extended proportionally;
  • young scientists of the Estonian R&D institution, who are teaching (incl. supervising) at higher education level and who are not older than 35 years of age or who have not defended their doctoral degree more than 5 years ago. Parental leave can be extended proportionally.

During the academic leave, the use of the scholarship is allowed only if the rules of the study programme of the home university allow for participation in tuition during academic leave.

Support can be asked for covering the costs of one person only. Group applications will not be accepted. In the case when more than two applications are submitted for the participation in the same event from the same level of study, subject area and university, only the first two applications will be sent to further evaluation.

During the academic year, a maximum of two scholarships shall be awarded to one person. An applicant may submit one application for one call for application.

Application process

How to apply

The application for support together with all required supporting documents must be submitted via the electronic application system www.archimedes.ee/taotlused

The application form together with the annexes must be in the Estonian language, in exceptional cases in English. The recommendation letters from foreign supervisors and letters of confirmation from foreign universities may be in English.

Only the letter of recommendation must be signed digitally or signed on paper, scanned and uploaded via the application system.

There is no need to send signed original documentation by mail, however, the Foundation has the right to check the correspondence of the submitted documents to the originals.

The applicant must timely submit the following documents:

  • a standard application (containing a motivation letter);
  • a recommendation letter from the supervisor (for students) or from the direct manager (for lecturers/scientists);
  • confirmation letter on studying/working at the Estonian higher education institution issued by the higher education institution or a confirmation of employment at an Estonian R&D institution with a confirmation of teaching (or supervising) at higher education level;
  • invitation or registration confirmation of the event; a confirmation letter from the library or an extract from the homepage of the institution on opening hours; a signed invitation of the research institution;
  • in the event of performing at a conference, the organizers' confirmation on the acceptance of the presentation must be provided.

All documents must be uploaded to the application system. Documents signed on paper shall be presented in scanned form.

If the aim of the study visit is to participate in a conference with a presentation, the application documents must include a confirmation that the abstract of the presentation has been accepted (e.g., a confirmation sent by the organizers by e-mail).

 If you wish to visit a laboratory, meet with the supervisor or perform research, you must submit a document signed by your host or mail exchange that proves existence of agreements between the applicant and the host.

Upon submission of an application, the documents submitted must show clearly what kind of event the applicant wishes to attend and where and when it will take place. If necessary, you can submit a number of documents (e.g., registration form and a separate confirmation of the acceptance of the presentation). Please make sure that all the necessary information is attached to the application.

If the application has been approved, then before signing the contract the applicant will provide confirmation of acceptance of conference presentation if it has been aim of the application and required document has not been presented along with the application.

Deadline

Application deadlines for the academic year 2021/2022

  • 1 March 2021 (visits from 01.04.2021 to 31.09.2021)
  • 1 June 2021 (visits from 01.07.2021 to 30.09.2022)
  • 1 October 2021 (visits from 1.11.2021 to 30.09.2022)
  • 1 December 2021 (visits from 01.01.2022 to 30.09.2022)
  • 1 March 2022 (visits from 01.04.2022 to 31.09.2022)

Selection Process

Allocation of support is determined by the Scholarship Council on the basis of expert evaluations.

The applications which meet the criteria are assessed by the experts with scientific degree. Each application is evaluated by at least two experts. The maximum points awarded by one expert for various aspects are 30 points. The sum of the summarized points awarded by the experts form a sequence of applicants, which is the basis for the decision made by the Board. If the summarized points given by two experts differ by 10 points or more, a third expert will also be asked to assess the application. In this case, two assessments which summarized points differ less are taken into account when forming the sequence of applicants. If the summarized points given by the third expert falls exactly in the middle of the two previous experts' points, then the sequence will be formed based on a double average of the summarized points.

Experts evaluate the applications based on the following aspects:

  • Is there a clear objective for the short study visit?
  • Is the event/destination appropriate considering the objective?
  • Does the applicant have an active role in the event / study period?
  • Is the applicant motivated and prepared for the short study visit?
  • To what extent is the short study visit related to the applicant's current activities?
  • Is the letter of recommendation relevant and convincing?

Allocating the scholarship is decided by the Board on the basis of the total amount of the summarized points given by the experts. It is the Board's discretion to decide which applications should be supported. In case there are several applications which received equal points, but the budget does not allow to support them all, the Board may prefer the applications from the fields and higher education institutions that are less represented. The decisions to allocate scholarships is fixed in the minutes of the board meeting.

The evaluation procedure takes up to 45 days from the date announced as a deadline.

The applicant has the right not to accept the result of the scholarship competition, if the procedure specified in the guidelines has not been conducted fully or correctly. The expert opinions given to the applications or the competence to give such opinions cannot be disputed.

Contact

The contact person for the Kristjan Jaak Scholarships for Foreign Travel at the Education and Youth Authority is Kadri Kaldre (e-mail: kadri.kaldre@harno.ee, tel. +372 6 999 397).