The Roma Education Fund’s scholarship program has announced its scholarship cycle for the 2015-2016 academic year; the deadline to apply is 11 May 2015. Through an open academic competition, the scholarship program offers a stipend to Romani students who are either citizens of or have permanent residency in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia or Turkey and who are attending Bachelor’s, Master’s or doctoral studies at state-accredited colleges and universities.
In the Czech Republic it is currently possible to apply for the Roma Memorial University Scholarship Program (RMUSP), and on 1 June it will also be possible to apply for the Roma International Scholar Program (RISP), which is intended for study abroad. During the 2013/2014 academic year, the REF Scholarship Program supported 1 441 students out of a total of 2 410 applicants.
The fund made a total of approximately EUR 1.9 million available for the financial support of selected Romani college students during that academic year. A total of 335 of those students successfully completed their college studies last year.
The RMUSP scholarship is intended to cover the costs associated with college attendance, such as the purchase of textbooks, examination fees, and coverage of some living costs. The scholarship amount is calculated on the basis of EUR 80 per academic month.
Applications can be submitted electronically only through the Online Application System (OAS) on the REF website. For more information about the programs and how to apply for scholarships, those interested should visit this website, where links in the Czech language are also available.
