Scholarships for international students

Foreign students wishing to study at a Czech university have numerous options how to obtain financial help. Here is a list of the main scholarship opportunities for international students in the Czech Republic that you should consider.

 UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIPS

International students have an equal chance to obtain any of the different types of scholarships offered by their faculty or university as their Czech colleagues. Depending on the rules of the faculty, those – as amended by § 91 of Act no. 111 (1998) on Higher Education – can be:

• scholarship for outstanding scholarly, scientific, research, development, artistic or other creative results contributing to the enhancement of knowledge;
• scholarship for research, development and innovation activities;
• scholarship in the case of a student’s difficult social conditions (social bursary, somewhere also a scholarship for funding the costs of living etc.);
• scholarship granted in other cases worthy of special consideration.

Check the websites of the university and faculty of your choice to find out detailed information about available scholarships and how to apply for them.

Full version of Act no. 111 (1998) can be downloaded from the website of Ministry of Education Youth and Sport at www.msmt.cz.

GOVERNMENT SCHOLARSHIPS

The Government of the Czech Republic annually offers scholarships within its Foreign Development Assistance Programme for students coming from developing countries who would like to study at public universities in the Czech Republic.

These Government Scholarships cover the standard length of study for those students who:

• want to study Bachelor, Master or Doctoral study programmes and attend one-year preparatory course of the Czech language and other field-specific training. Applicants are usually required to pass entrance examinations at the higher education institution concerned, because this is one of the conditions for receiving the scholarship award;
• want to study follow-up Master study programmes or Doctoral study programmes with instruction in English.

Scholarships for studies in the Czech language are granted considering the list of recommended fields of study, updated according to the needs of specific countries, and with regard to ongoing development cooperation projects. Applicants can also receive financial help for a one-year-long language and preparatory course. Scholarships for study programmes taught in English are offered only in selected study programmes.

SCHOLARSHIPS UNDER BILATERAL OR MULTILATERAL INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic annually offers scholarships to foreign nationals within the framework of intergovernmental exchange programmes arranged with several countries.

These scholarships can only be granted to candidates officially recommended by the appropriate authorities in the eligible countries, which collect the applications, set the deadlines for applications and hold the selection procedure. These can be Czech embassies abroad, ministries of education or other organizations active in the field of education.

Scholarships of this type are designed for university students, graduates and PhD candidates who wish to undertake study or research visits at one of Czech public universities. The period of scholarship usually ranges from 2 to 10 months depending upon the agreement made by the Czech government and the foreign government concerned.

VISEGRAD FUND SCHOLARSHIPS

The International Visegrad Fund is an international organization founded by the governments of the Visegrad Group countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia). The fund operates several grant programmes, and awards scholarships, fellowships and artist residencies.

Visegrad scholarships support Master’s and PhD studies or research stays at universities in the Visegrad Group countries, including the Czech Republic. Applicants must come from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, or Ukraine, and they can apply for study periods up to 4 semesters. Interested applicants should submit their applications by March 15 each year.

Learn more about the scholarship programme at the Visegrad Fund website.

Scholarships of the South Moravian Center for International Mobility

South Moravian Centre for International Mobility is a specialized nonprofit organization which provides support to talented students and researchers based in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. This scholarship programme supports international students coming from outside of the EU who are interested in Master or Doctoral studies at universities in Brno.

Applicants applying for this scholarship should be fluent in Czech language because they must pass the entrance exams at the chosen university and study a programme taught in Czech.

Find out more information here.

Fulbright Programme

The prestigious Fulbright Programme sponsored by U.S. and Czech governments provides U.S. and Czech citizens with the opportunity to study, teach, or conduct research in the partner country. U.S. candidates should apply through Fulbright Programme partner organizations in the United States where they can also find application and programme details.

Check out the Fulbright website to learn more about this programme.

CEEPUS Programme

CEEPUS is a Central European Exchange Programme for University Studies and it supports regional cooperation in the framework of university networks. Current member countries are Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Kosovo.

Scholarships for study abroad periods of 3-10 months are particularly offered to students from universities involved in the CEEPUS programme, but individual students outside the university network are also considered as eligible applicants.

Find out more information at www.ceepus.info.

OTHER SCHOLARSHIPS

• ACTION Czech Republic – Austria 

https://www.dzs.cz/en/program/aktion-austria-czech-republic/projects-and-grants

• Bavarian-Czech Academic Agency

http://www.btha.cz/de/stipendien/studieren-und-forschen-in-tschechien

• Josef Dobrovsky Fellowship Scholarship

http://www.avcr.cz/en/academic-public/support-of-research/josef-dobrovsky-fellowship/

• Zdeněk Pešat Stipendium

http://www.ucl.cas.cz/en