The State Education Development Agency in the Republic of Latvia is awarding scholarships to foreign students from 40 different countries, reports MastersDegree.net.
The State Education Development Agency (SEDA) released an announcement on 2 February 2018, calling foreign citizens to apply for scholarships and fellowships for students, teachers staff and researchers for the 2018/19 academic year.
The deadline to apply for a research scholarship or fellowship is 1st April 2018, while for a Summer school scholarship ends on 4 March 2018.
40 countries with which the government of Latvia maintains co-operation in education and science and some other countries Latvia has no particular agreement with, but they still award scholarships to Latvian students are involved with this funding, the announcement reads. The citizens coming from these countries are eligible to submit their application within the above deadlines.
Countries that keep educational cooperation with Latvia:
Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, France, Georgia, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Peru South Korea, Spain, Tajikistan, China, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
Countries that award Latvian students, teachers, and researchers with grants without having a formal agreement:
Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Japan, Lithuania, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, USA
To be eligible to apply for a Bachelor scholarship it is required to have at least the first academic year completed at your actual university or in a university located within Latvia. On the other hand, there is no need to have an introductory education at Master level for those who aim a Master scholarship.
Bachelor and Master’s applicants will be granted a one academic year scholarship. But, since you can re-apply again, you don’t need to be concerned. In addition to this, there are particular Master programs at which you can be granted a two-year scholarship, meaning for the whole study duration. These specific programs include Latvian philology, Latvian literature, Latvian culture and Latvian history.
Note that most programs offered in Latvian universities are in their native language, but don’t worry as long as there are also some programs offered in English that may match your choice.
You can submit your documents through an online platform. At first, you must create an account and then log in to upload your scanned documents. Here are the documents required
- Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- A letter of motivation
- Photocopies of diplomas or grade records if you haven’t yet finished a degree
- Two letters of recommendation from your actual university staff signed within 6 months
- A copy of a letter issued by an educational Latvian institution that proves the student fulfils all conditions for the chosen study programs and informing in what language he should attend courses
- A study plan for the duration of the scholarship [a specific form http://viaa.gov.lv/eng/scholarships_gov/latvian_scholarships/scholarships_for_studies/?tl_id=22800&tls_id=54779]
- The certificate of language proficiency
- Copy of an ID document or a passport
The selected students will receive an email on June 2018 confirming they have won and additional information related to the commencement of their studies in Latvia.
The amount of money allocated for these students will be €500 per month for Bachelor and Master’s students, and €670 per month for those in PhD studies. Note that these amounts may not be enough to cover all the expenses, so we suggest you to have a clear financial plan prior to coming to Latvia.