international scholarship holders (incoming)

Information for incoming scholarship holders

 

The scholarship shall cover your living costs (or their part; especially accommodation, board, local travel etc.) during your stay in Slovakia. The scholarship full rate is paid only under the condition of your physical presence at the host institution in Slovakia specified in the Letter of Award. At the same time, the scholarship is awarded solely for the approved purpose of stay on the basis of the submitted application.

In case that due to extraordinary circumstances[1] you are not able to carry out your mobility onsite in Slovakia (or its part onsite), please inform us as soon as possible. At the same time, we recommend  you to get acquainted with the Guidelines for Awarding and Disbursement of Scholarships and Travel Grants effective from 22 October 2021, which in specific cases allow the implementation of virtual or combined mobility.

[1] Extraordinary circumstances are considered to be, in particular, situations which are the immediate consequence of force majeure and are therefore not caused by an arbitrary decision of the scholarship holder and, as a general rule, not caused by an arbitrary decision of the home or host institution. 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, civil unrest, applied mobilization obligations are generally considered to be force majeure circumstances that cannot be foreseen by the scholarship holder.

1. Scholarship payment

Documents required to start the scholarship payments:

  1. before the commencement of your scholarship stay:
    • notary certified original hard copy of your diploma of the highest academic degree achieved, in case of documents issued in languages other than Slovak or English they shall be officially translated into either of these two languages – translation can also be certified by the same institution that issued the respective document,
    • a signed Letter of Acceptance,
    • in case of students and PhD students, a confirmation on studies valid for the academic year in which the scholarship stay will take place (confirmation issued by your home university/research organisation that you are a regular student/PhD student of the respective institution; confirmation should be issued not sooner than one month before September, or before February in case of scholarship stay which will take place in the summer semester). The confirmation shall be issued on official letter-head paper of scholarship holder´s home institution. The confirmation must contain: besides above-mentioned information also scholarship holder’s name and surname, name, surname, position and contact details of the person authorized to issue the confirmation and must be signed by the person authorized to issue the confirmation (the signature must be original, not a copy or scan). In case the document has been issued in a language other than Slovak or English it shall be officially translated into either of these two languages,
  2. immediately after the beginning of your stay:
    • bank account details where your scholarship will be paid to (accepted are bank accounts registered in any of the SEPA countries – Single Euro Payments Area, ecb.europa.eu/paym/retpaym/paymint) – i.e. name, address and SWIFT/BIC code of a bank operating in SEPA system, and also a bank account number opened in the respective bank in the form of IBAN, bank account details are to be submitted in form of the enclosed “Notification of bank account details for scholarship payment” (you can also download the form from https://www.scholarships.sk/en/main/downloads/),
    • Confirmation on the beginning of the scholarship stay. The confirmation shall be issued by scholarship holder’s host institution and it must be issued on its official letter-head paper. The confirmation must contain: scholarship holder’s name and surname; the exact date of the beginning of his/her scholarship stay; name, surname, position and contact details of the person authorized to issue the confirmation. The confirmation must be signed by the person authorized to issue the confirmation. The confirmation on the beginning of your scholarship stay shall be sent by e-mail to the address of the programme administrator nsp-foreign@saia.sk (university teachers, researchers or artists), or nsp-foreign2@saia.sk (students and PhD students). The electronic confirmation (scan) must be sent by the representative of the host institution from the official e-mail address of the respective institution.
      • in the case of students, the confirmation must contain a binding list of subjects that the scholarship holder will attend; the number of credits corresponding to the subjects in the binding list must correspond to the number of credits declared in the professional programme of the scholarship stay that was submitted together with the scholarship application. If the scholarship holder will not be allowed to complete the required number of credits, this fact must be declared and explained within the same Confirmation on the beginning of the scholarship stay.

Scholarship disbursement:

Scholarships are paid in monthly payments, typically at the latest on the 7th day of the respective month to the scholarship holder’s bank account. Exceptions in regard to payment dates are specified below. SAIA is disbursing scholarships only to bank accounts registered in SEPA countries (Single Euro Payments Area, www.ecb.europa.eu/paym/retpaym/paymint). Please, note that the bank account should be also denominated in euro currency, because, if it is denominated in other currency, exchange differences and fees related to scholarship transfer or currency exchange may occur, and the scholarship holder shall bear them.

You will receive the 1st scholarship payment after you deliver to SAIA in Bratislava documents required to start the scholarship payments, as specified above.

In case that the scholarship stay lasts longer than 6 months from the day of the beginning of the scholarship stay, the scholarship holder is obliged to deliver to SAIA in Bratislava a Scholarship stay interim report (report should be submitted after the completion of the 6th month of the stay). For this purpose, the scholarship holder shall use the template of “Structure of the scholarship stay final report” (to download at www.scholarships.sk). University students must also submit an official Transcript of records or a Confirmation on completing their exams for the 1st semester of their study stay.

The payment for the 7th month of the scholarship stay will be paid on the respective payment date as stated further bellow, only after the delivery of the above-mentioned documents related the completion of 6-month scholarship stay and after their acceptance by the programme administrator. Payments for the following months will continue according to the programme terms, i.e. always at latest on the 7th day of the respective month.

If it turns out on the basis of the documents delivered at this stage that the scholarship stay is implemented insufficiently compared to the planned professional programme of stay, SAIA, n. o., may terminate the scholarship stay prematurely.

The last scholarship payment, i.e. payment for the last month of the scholarship stay, will be paid on the respective payment date as stated further bellow, only after the delivery of the following documents required for completion of the scholarship stay to SAIA in Bratislava and after their acceptance by the programme administrator:

  1. Scholarship stay final report. For this purpose, the scholarship holder shall use the “Structure of the scholarship stay final report” (to download at scholarships.sk).
  2. Confirmation on the completion of the scholarship stay issued by scholarship holder’s host institution. The confirmation shall be issued on the official letter-head paper of the host institution. The confirmation shall contain: scholarship holder’s name and surname; the exact date of the completion of his/her scholarship stay; name, surname, position and contact details of the authorised person who issued the confirmation. The confirmation must be signed by the person who issued the confirmation. The confirmation on the completion of your scholarship stay shall be sent by e-mail to the address of the programme administrator nsp-foreign@saia.sk (university teachers, researchers or artists), or nsp-foreign2@saia.sk (students and PhD students). The electronic confirmation (scan) must be sent by the representative of the host institution from the official e-mail address of the respective institution.
  3. in case of scholarship holders in the category of university students – official Transcript of records or a Confirmation on completing their exams for the whole study stay (to be attached as an Annex to the Scholarship stay final report).

In case that the programme administrator finds the Scholarship stay interim report or the Scholarship stay final report unsatisfactory (in regard to its content and/or formal criteria), or in case of missing annexes, the programme administrator will ask the scholarship holder in writing to complete the missing/unsatisfactory parts in the report and deliver it to SAIA in Bratislava within 15 working days from the day of such request.

Students and PhD students will receive a travel allowance together with their last scholarship payment, in case they have applied for it and in case they were awarded the travel allowance.

If the scholarship holder delivers his/her Scholarship stay final report later than 30 days from the completion of his/her scholarship stay, the scholarship holder loses the right for the last scholarship payment (i.e. payment for the last month of his/her scholarship stay) as well as for the travel allowance, in case it has been awarded, and in such case the programme administrator is not obliged to pay the rest of the financial contribution.

If your scholarship stay lasts one month, you will receive your scholarship at the end of your scholarship stay, i.e. after delivery of documents required to start the scholarship payments, as specified above, and after delivery of the documentation required for completion of the scholarship stay, as specified above, to SAIA in Bratislava and after their acceptance by SAIA.

The scholarship is tied to a specific purpose leading to the fulfilment of the goals and activities of the approved professional programme of stay, on the basis of which the scholarship was awarded. Serious non-compliance with the approved professional programme of stay, or with a properly modified professional programme of stay based on the agreement with the administrator, may result in the reduction of the allocated scholarship amount according to the following scheme:

  • 100-70% fulfilment of the professional programme of stay - payment of 100% of the scholarship,
  • 69-40% fulfilment of the professional programme of stay - the last scholarship will not be paid,
  • 39% or less of the fulfilment of the professional programme of stay - the right to the scholarship ceases and the scholarship holder is obliged to return the scholarship in full disbursed amount.

Scholarship holders in the student category will be assessed based on fulfilment of the planned number of credits. In case of scholarship holders in the category of PhD students, university teachers, researchers and/or artists, the receiving party will be sent a questionnaire mapping the success of the stay and the quality of the scholarship holder, on the basis of which the fulfilment of the professional programme of the scholarship stay will be assessed.

In case of monthly stays, the scholarship will be paid in full amount if more than 50% of the professional programme of stay is completed.

If the scholarship holder is required to return the already disbursed scholarship, the scholarship holder shall follow the instructions of the programme administrator.

Deadlines for submission of documents and related payment dates:

The scholarship holder acknowledges that there are 2 cut-off dates for fulfilment of conditions set for the 1st scholarship payment connected with the beginning of the stay, the 7th scholarship payment for stays longer than 6 months and the last scholarship payment and travel allowance (if approved) in connection with the completion of stay. The required documents for the payment of the scholarship and travel allowance (if approved) must be delivered to SAIA in Bratislava by the 15th day of the month or the last day of the month. If the submitted documents meet all the conditions set by the programme and the programme administrator does not request additional documents, the corresponding amount of scholarship will be sent to the scholarship holder at the latest on the 10th working day after the cut-off date set for the submission of documents. In case a payment is due to be made in January, we inform you that such payment will be paid-out at the latest on the payment date valid for February.

2. Preparation for mobility and practical information about life in Slovakia

Arrival: We would like to ask you to check the current conditions for entering the territory of the Slovak Republic before your arrival and, if needed, consult the respective Embassy of the Slovak Republic (especially in case of non-EU/non-EEA nationals) to find out about applicable procedures. Especially in case of scholarship holders coming from countries outside the EU/EEA, it is necessary to take steps allowing you to enter and stay in Slovakia as soon as possible after the official approval, or in due time.

We would like to ask you to let us know the exact date of your arrival to Slovakia not later than 1 week prior to the beginning of your scholarship stay. Please inform us as soon as possible in case of any changes related to the beginning/completion of your scholarship stay. You cannot change the period of the scholarship stay freely without the consent of SAIA, n. o., as well as without the consent of the host institution.

In preparation for your stay, you can get acquainted with interesting information about Slovakia, everyday life, and possibly learn a few Slovak words and phrases - you will find all of this on our information pages for foreign students and researchers:

If you have any other questions related to your arrival to or stay in Slovakia, please, do not hesitate to contact the EURAXESS Centre in Slovakia (www.euraxess.sk or euraxess@saia.sk). Employees of EURAXESS Slovakia in branches of SAIA, n. o., will gladly and free of charge help you answer your questions.

Visa, residence permit and stay notification:

  1. Nationals of the Member States of the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland can enter Slovakia freely. If their scholarship stay lasts longer than 3 months, they shall register at the respective foreign police office – registration of right of residence of Union Citizen. The registration is officially considered as permanent residence in the Slovak Republic. After the completion of the scholarship stay, the scholarship holder shall cancel his/her residence in the Slovak Republic in writing at the respective foreign police office in Slovakia.

Nationals of the Member States of the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland, who will be not accommodated in an accommodation facility (dormitory, hotel, etc.), must fulfil the obligation to report the beginning of their stay at the respective foreign police office of the Slovak Republic within 10 working days from their arrival to Slovakia (§ 64 Art. 2 Act No. 404/2011 Coll.). When reporting the beginning of their arrival, scholarship holders may, at the same time, fulfil the obligation to apply for registration of residence of nationals of the Member States of the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland, who will reside in Slovakia longer than 3 months (§ 66 Art. 1 of the same Act).

  1. Nationals of countries outside the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland may need to apply for visa in connection with their arrival and stay in Slovakia. Please note that for scholarship holders of the National Scholarship Programme of the Slovak Republic it is not necessary to apply for temporary residence permit, instead national visa for the whole duration of the scholarship stay may be issued to simplify the procedures (national visa can be applied for in case of at least 3-month stay, while they can be granted for up to maximum 12 months). In connection to this, we recommend you to read carefully the enclosed document “Procedures for SAIA, n. o. scholarship holders in relation to visas required for the arrival and stay in territory of the Slovak Republic during the scholarship stay”. Please note, when applying for a visa you are obliged to indicate the actual host institution that issued your letter of invitation/acceptance and at which you will actually conduct your scholarship stay, not SAIA, n. o. In case your National visa application is denied, we recommend you to contact the administrator of the scholarship programme with this information.

However, in certain life circumstances (especially when accompanied by a family member), it may be more advantageous for you to obtain a temporary residence permit.

Further details on the necessary procedure can be found at https://www.researchinslovakia.saia.sk/en/main/welcome/visa-and-entry-conditions. In the event, that you will need a temporary residence permit in order to implement purpose of your stay, you will need to obtain a medical certificate confirming that you do not suffer from a disease threatening public health. Such confirmation is required within 30 days from the collection of the residence permit card. In such a case the costs related to the medical examination and issuing of this confirmation can be reimbursed up to the maximum of 250 € per scholarship holder, as part of the scholarship, after delivery of a photocopy of temporary residence permit and the original bill issued by the respective medical facility, as well as justification of the need of temporary residence permit. You are obliged to deliver those documents to SAIA in Bratislava within the deadline for submitting the Scholarship stay final report, if applicable.

For more information on administrative duties related to your stay in Slovakia, please, contact the respective Representation Office of the Slovak Republic (e.g. embassy) and check the websites of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic (www.mzv.sk/en/web/en/visa-and-services) or the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic (www.minv.sk/?residence-of-an-foreigner). Detailed information related to the arrival and stay in Slovakia focusing specifically on researchers, PhDs students, university teachers and their families can be found at EURAXESS Slovakia website (www.euraxess.sk). You can also find information regarding the stay of foreigners in the Slovak Republic on the website of the IOM Migration Information Center (www.mic.iom.sk/en/).

Accommodation:

You can ask your host institution to assist you with arranging your accommodation or you can arrange it yourself. The rent shall be covered by your scholarship.

Health insurance:

  1. Nationals of the Member States of the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland shall obtain the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) from a health insurance institution to which they are affiliated, before their arrival to Slovakia.
  2. Nationals of countries outside the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland, who are scholarship holders of the National Scholarship Program with a stay in the territory of the Slovak Republic longer than 1 month, meet the condition of inclusion in the system of compulsory public health insurance of the Slovak Republic. Public health insurance in the Slovak Republic is free of charge. We recommend you to take the commercial insurance for the required period necessary in connection with the granting of visa needed for arrival to Slovakia and upon arrival to enter the system of compulsory public health insurance of the Slovak Republic. If you do not need a visa to enter the territory of the Slovak Republic, and thus do not need commercial insurance in this regard, we recommend joining the system of compulsory public health insurance of the Slovak Republic immediately after arriving to Slovakia (more information: www.scholarships.sk/en/news/nsp-schol-hold-public-health-ins).

Financial planning:

We strongly recommend you to take sufficient amount of your own funds in order to avoid possible financial issues before the first instalment of the scholarship is credited to you in accordance with the payment dates and obligations at the start of the stay (see above). Therefore, make sure you are well acquainted with the given terms and conditions, that you understand them well enough to avoid unpleasant circumstances during your stay. The scholarship holder bears full responsibility for his/her financial management. It is necessary to take into account that the scholarship will not be paid, not even exceptionally, outside the payment dates, as defined in this document.

3. Changes in commencement and duration of scholarship stay

The scholarship holder is obliged to inform the programme administrator about the changes related to the date of the beginning of his/her stay in Slovakia and about the changes related to the duration of his/her stay in Slovakia (i.e. his/her scholarship stay will be shorter; it is not possible to extend the scholarship stay).

  • Changes related to the date of the beginning of scholarship holder’s stay in Slovakia or the changes related to the duration of scholarship holder’s stay in Slovakia which do not exceed 15 days (included), do not need to be requested for, however we strongly recommend you to inform the programme administrator nsp-foreign@saia.sk (university teachers, researchers or artists), or nsp-foreign2@saia.sk (students and PhD students) about such change as soon as possible.
  • If the changes related to the date of the beginning of scholarship holder’s stay in Slovakia or the changes related to the duration of scholarship holder’s stay in Slovakia are over 15 days, but do not exceed 1 calendar month, the scholarship holder shall deliver an official request to SAIA in Bratislava – we strongly recommend to inform the programme administrator nsp-foreign@saia.sk (university teachers, researchers or artists) or nsp-foreign2@saia.sk (students and PhD students) about intended changes in advance and to consult the official request and its details.
  • Changes related to the date of the beginning of scholarship holder´s stay in Slovakia or the duration of the scholarship holder´s stay in Slovakia over 1 calendar month must be requested in advance by an official request, while the supporting documents must be attached to the request as follows:
  • updated acceptance/invitation letter from the host institution with the new date of the stay (original),
  • current confirmation on studies valid for the new period of stay (in case of university/PhD students).
  • Postponement of the scholarship stay by more than 1 month is not claimable and is possible only in justified cases. The scholarship holder must explain the reasons in sufficient detail, and the programme administrator will assess the relevance and necessity of postponing the scholarship stay based on the stated facts.
  • The scholarship stay can only be interrupted in exceptional cases (e. g. serious health issues or other force majeure situations) and it is subject to approval by the programme administrator on the basis of an official request delivered to SAIA in Bratislava without delay, as the given situation arose, or as soon as the scholarship holder has learned about it.

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 (e.g. confirmation of accommodation, travel tickets, airline tickets), as well as proof of fulfilment of the purpose of the stay (e.g. attendance sheets/attendance check, photo documentation, articles/research papers, email communication with the publisher). 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. The programme administrator may request a personal meeting with the scholarship holder or visit the host institution as part of the verification process.

4. Other provisions

Commitments and declarations of the scholarship holder:

The scholarship holder undertakes to ensure that his/her declarations (especially in the Letter of Acceptance, but not exclusively) are true throughout the entire period of the scholarship stay. The declarations are deemed to be provided repeatedly by the scholarship holder each time the scholarship is paid to scholarship holder's bank account.

In the case of sooner completion of the scholarship stay, other than due to non-fulfilment of the respective obligations of the scholarship holder (e.g. in cases of long-term sick-leave or serious illness, serious family or personal issues), the programme administrator may, after considering all circumstances, decide that the scholarship holder will not be obliged to return the amount of the scholarship paid up to that moment, received and used in good faith.

Obligation of confidentiality:

The scholarship holder is obliged to maintain confidentiality about any information related to technical, administrative, organizational and other facts and procedures that constitute the know-how of the programme administrator. The scholarship holder acknowledges and accepts that the violation of the confidentiality obligation establishes the programme administrator's right to compensation for the relevant damage.

Personal data protection:

The “Terms and Conditions of Personal Data Processing done by SAIA, n. o.”, published at https://www.saia.sk/en/main/about-us-main/legal-information-and-data-protection/, apply for data protection and processing. The scholarship holder agrees with personal data processing in accordance with these Terms and Conditions (or with their future amendments published on the respective webpage in line with “General Terms and Conditions for Using Websites and Portals Administered by SAIA, n. o.” published on the same website). The conditions for the processing of personal data are set by SAIA, n. o., in accordance with applicable law.

To enable a faster communication, the scholarship holder agrees, by accepting the scholarship, to the use of e-mail communication by the programme administrator without any restriction, unless the scholarship holder informs the programme administrator differently in writing by registered regular mail. By accepting the scholarship, the scholarship holder also confirms that he/she is aware of the fact that the transmission of data via the Internet (especially via e-mail) may bear security risks and that a full protection against access by third parties to transmitted data cannot be guaranteed. The programme administrator cannot be responsible for damages caused by such security risks.

Notice: SAIA, n. o., will collect and archive data in the form of feedback and satisfaction of the host institution with the scholarship holder, or data on the achieved results of the stay within the National Scholarship Programme of the Slovak Republic in accordance with the terms of personal data processing, and these can be used as part of the evaluation of the application in the event of re-applying for a scholarship under this programme.

Please note, that the Slovak version of above information provided is binding in all legal matters, the English version provides translation for information purposes.

More information:

Programme administrator (category university teacher/researcher): nsp-foreign@saia.sk, tel.: +421-2-5930 4733 (direct line)

Programme administrator (category university student/PhD student): nsp-foreign2@saia.sk, tel.: +421-2-5930 4736 (direct line)

Programme financial manager (issues related to the scholarship payments, reporting the beginning/completion of the scholarship stay, etc.): nsp-financne@saia.sk, tel.: +421-2-5930 4751 (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