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Scholarships for Undergraduates, Graduates, and PhD students

Application deadline: 1 September 2011

The Heinrich Böll Foundation grants scholarships to approximately 1,000 undergraduates, graduates, and PhD students of all subjects and nationalities per year, who are pursuing their degree at universities, universities of applied sciences (‘Fachhochschulen’), or universities of the arts (‘Kunsthochschulen”). We expect our scholarship recipients to have excellent academic records, to be socially and politically engaged, and to have an active interest in the basic values of the foundation: ecology and sustainability, democracy and human rights, self determination and justice.

More information:

http://www.boell.de/scholarships/scholarships.html


 

Swiss Government scholarships for university, fine arts and music schools for foreign students for the academic year 2010-2011

Kosovë

  1. Types of scholarship:

    University scholarships: University scholarships are open to students from both industrialised and developing countries, but are intended exclusively for study at one of Switzerland's 10 universities or 2 federal institutes of technology .

    Arts scholarships: No scholarships.

    UAS scholarships: To a more limited extent, scholarships are also available for studies at the 7 universities of applied sciences (UAS) with the exception of teacher training colleges. Candidates must hold a degree (at least a Bachelors) and enrol for studies in Switzerland at postgraduate level. These scholarships are only open to students from: Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Kosova, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldavia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine.

  2. Eligibility
    • Candidates must hold a university degree (Bachelors/Masters) on commencement of the scholarship.
    • Candidates must be able to demonstrate their academic abilities and what they aim to achieve.
    • Candidates must contact the institution and/or the professor supervising their period of research. Universities may request supplementary information and/or set certain additional conditions to determine whether or not you qualify for admission.
    • Candidates must be under the age of 35 (born on or after 1.1.1975).
    • Candidates must be suitably proficient in the language of instruction (French, German, Italian or English) in order to draw full benefit from their studies in Switzerland.
    • Candidates who have already embarked on the first year of a Masters programme at a Swiss university or UAS are no longer eligible for a Swiss government scholarship (with the exception of arts scholarships). Such applications will not be considered by Swiss diplomatic representations.
    • Swiss government scholarships may not be combined with other scholarships or awards.
  3. Length and amount

    Scholarships are provided for a nine-month academic year. Scholarships for postgraduate or Masters programmes lasting up to 2 years (3 or 4 semesters) may be extended depending on results from the first year.

    Scholarships consist of monthly payments of:

    CHF 1920.- for postgraduate students
    CHF 1920.- for fine arts and music students
    CHF 1600.- for students attending language courses in Fribourg or Lugano

    The Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students does not cover the cost of academic and /or term fees. Generally-speaking, the universities and the Zurich Federal Institute of Technology exempt holders of Swiss government scholarships from term fees, but not necessarily from Masters programme enrolment fees. In the event that these fees are not waived, it is up to the scholarship holder to arrange payment.

  4. Application procedure
    1. If you fulfil the eligibility requirements contact the Swiss diplomatic representation in your country of origin.
    2. The diplomatic representation will provide you with all the necessary information regarding the procedure including application forms and a list of required documentation.
  5. Awards

    Technically, the scholarships are offered to the government of the student's country of origin and not to the student. Applications are subject to preliminary selection by the relevant national authorities and the Swiss diplomatic representation. The Swiss diplomatic representation then passes on the selected applications to the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students (FCS) which subsequently takes the final decision. The FCS is composed of academic staff drawn from Swiss universities. Scholarship awards are made on the basis of academic and scientific excellence.

Swiss Embassy contact: http://www.eda.admin.ch/pristina

 

Education in Switzerland

Switzerland prides itself on its high standard of publicly-funded education. As a country with few natural resources, its prosperity depends to a large extent on its brain power. Most people continue studying after the years of compulsory education, and many take further courses throughout their lives. At the same time, the education system has to deal with new challenges in the face of changes in society and the world.

 

Universities

There are 5 universities in the German-speaking part of Switzerland (Basel, Bern, Zurich, Lucerne, St Gallen), and 3 in the French-speaking part (Geneva, Lausanne, Neuchâtel). Fribourg University is bilingual in German and French. Since 1996 there has been a university in Italian-speaking Ticino, with its main base in Lugano.

The Federal Institutes of Technology are in Zurich (ETHZ) and Lausanne (EPFL).

At the universities and institutes of technology, women made up 48% of the students overall in 2003-4, although the figure varied considerably between institutions.

The central government regulates the Institutes of Technology, while the traditional universities are regulated at the level of the relevant canton.

Universities of Applied Sciences

The system of Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) was established in 1993 to specialise in higher level vocational training. They continue to grow in popularity as the range of subjects covered is expanded.

They provide a university-level education which includes practical job-experience. The 15 teacher training insitutes are also UASs.

The UAS option is significantly more popular with men than with women, although as teacher training, health and social work have been added to the list of UAS subjects, the number of women has risen sharply. Overall in 2003-4 39% of UAS students were women. But in technology, construction and life sciences, women accounted for only 10% of UAS students.

Most of the UASs are regulated at federal level.