Scholarships for international students, researchers and academic staff

The scholarship includes a course fee in the amount of up to 700 EUR (one course per applicant) and the cost of accommodation in the amount of up to 25 EUR per night for a maximum period of 4 weeks. The board concludes a contract and makes the transfer directly to the university organizing the course. The Estonian university organizing the summer school offers accommodation or makes the scholarship payment to the student. Course fee is also paid to the university.

The following documents shall be submitted when applying for the scholarship for short courses:

• application form and motivation letter;
• confirmation of registration from home university containing information on the applicant's level of study, normal period of studies and progress towards the degree;
• confirmation letter from course organizing university (can be sent by e-mail) specifying the one exact course for scholarship application;
• copy of passport or ID-card.

The decision to award a scholarship to the applicant does not guarantee his/her admittance to the institution of interest. The applicant should submit the necessary documents directly to the host institution and register to summer school course. The decision on admission should be taken before the scholarship decision. 

2025 application period is open from March 17 until April 16 (23:59 Estonian time). Please send your application form and required documents to [email protected] (for application only). All questions should be directly addressed to senior programme officer Tiiu Tuisk.

Scholarship application results will be announced in June.

Note!

• All submitted documents shall be in English or Estonian. Documents in other languages shall be submitted with the translation to one of these languages.
• Applications that are incomplete, drafted offhand, include false information, omit relevant information or have been submitted after the deadline will not be considered for assessment.
• An application that is not accompanied a confirmation letter of admission to summer school will not be processed.

Education and Youth Board shall pay the scholarship to the host university within 21 days from the conclusion of the respective contract. During the period of paying the scholarship, the grantee must stay in Estonia (except for attending online summer school courses).

The report about the use of the scholarship is submitted to the Education and Youth Board by the host institution. A free-form report about the activities and costs is submitted within one month after the end of the summer or winter school.

Grants for researchers are divided into short-term (1-9 days) and long-term (10 days – 10 calendar months) grants. The subsistence rates are 45 EUR per day and 660 EUR per month respectively. Any period of 30 days is regarded as month. The grant period is the period from the first day of work up to the last day of work according to the dates mentioned in the letter of confirmation of the recipient institution. During the period of payment the grantee should stay in Estonia.

The scholarship holder's period of stay in Estonia must commence and conclude within the academic year following the application deadline.

For the application of grant the formal application along with the following additional documents are submitted:

• academic CV (EUROPASS format preferred);
• letter of confirmation from hosting institution regarding hosting and the period of employment in Estonia.

The decision to award a grant to the applicant does not guarantee his/her admittance to the institution of interest. The applicant should submit the necessary documents directly to the host institution and the decision on admission shall be taken before the scholarship decision. 

The application with the supporting documents should be submitted via email to [email protected] (for application only). All questions should be directly addressed to senior programme officer Tiiu Tuisk.

Applications are evaluated and the decision about the grants is made by the Education and Youth Board of Estonia.

Note!

• Applications that have not been accompanied by a confirmation of hosting Estonian higher education institution by the application deadline will not be processed.
• All submitted documents shall be in English or Estonian. Documents in other languages shall be submitted with the translation to one of these languages.
• Applications that are incomplete, drafted offhand, include false information, omit relevant information or have been submitted after the deadline will not be considered for assessment.

Education and Youth Board shall pay the grant to the host university within 21 days from the conclusion of the respective contract.  The hosting higher education institution arranges the support payment to grantee. During the period of paying the support, the grantee must stay in Estonia.

Changing the support period after confirmation of the results of the scholarship application round is possible only with the written consent of the Education and Youth Board.

The report about the use of the grant is submitted to the Education and Youth Board by the host institution.

The scholarship can be used for both exchange and degree studies. An exchange student is paid a scholarship during the period of studying in Estonia, but not more than ten (10) calendar months a year. The scholarship is paid for exchange studies lasting more than one month. The scholarship is paid from the first day of studies until the last day of studies according to the dates approved by the host higher education institution.

Scholarships are paid to undergraduate students for 12 months of the academic year. In order to continue paying the scholarship, 75% of the volume to be completed according to the curriculum (cumulatively) must be completed in order to continue paying the scholarship. Scholarship is assigned for one academic year.

The decision to award a scholarship to an applicant does not guarantee his or her admission to the desired higher education institution. The applicant must submit the required documents to the higher education institution in accordance with the requirements for admission to the higher education institution. The final scholarship decision will be made after confirmation of admission.

Scholarship amount:

• the rate of the scholarship for first-cycle  (BA level) higher education and master's studies is 350 euros per month;
• the rate of the doctoral scholarship is 660 euros per month;
• other costs are not covered.

The application is submitted by a student of a foreign higher education institution on the application form in English. 

The application form containing a motivation letter must be submitted with the following annexes:

• a copy of your passport or ID card;
• a copy of the confirmation letter concerning the students’ admission to an Estonian higher education institution.

If the additional documents are not in Estonian or English, they must be provided with translations into either English or Estonian.

All documents must be attached to the email. Documents signed on paper are submitted scanned. The Education and Youth Board has the right to check the conformity of the submitted documents with the originals.

Applications that don't have attached a confirmation letter of admission to an Estonian higher education institution, by the application deadline, will not be processed.

Applications are evaluated and the decision about granting the scholarship is made by the scholarship Commission.

Note!

• All submitted documents must be in English or Estonian. Documents in other languages shall be submitted with the translation to one of these languages.
• Applications that are incomplete, drafted offhand, include false information, omit relevant information or have been submitted after the deadline will not be considered for assessment.

Education and Youth Board will transfer the scholarship to the host university within 21 days from the conclusion of the respective contract.

Modification of scholarship periods after confirmation of the results of the scholarship is possible only with the written consent of the Board and provided that the total amount of the scholarship does not increase.

A report on the scholarships used shall be submitted to the Board by the host institution.