Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

• Can I apply for several scholarships?
  

Yes, you can, but only one scholarship may be granted during one semester. When you apply for several scholarships, you cannot add preferences. The selection is made based on which scholarship committee makes the decision first.

• Can I apply for the scholarship again if the given scholarship has been granted previously?
  

Yes. Unless otherwise provided in the statute, you can apply for a scholarship and a scholarship may be granted repeatedly to a scholar if the scholar has performed his/her obligations regarding the foundation.

• How to send additional documents which are required in some scholarships?
  

If possible, you can add these to the electronic scholarship application (if there are multiple files, compress these into a zip file) and send them as an attachment to an e-mail to tysiht@ut.ee or on paper to the postal address of the foundation or via intramail.

• May the application be on paper?
  

We prefer an electronic application, as it is easier to handle with the high number of applications.

• How precise must the budget in the application be?
  

The budget is a prognosis and it needs to reflect the student’s general plan on how to use the scholarship. A report prepared one year after being granted the scholarship gives a more precise overview.

• Which date must I comply with if the statute has a different date than announced?
  

Please comply with the date announced.

• Is a letter of recommendation necessary when applying for a scholarship?
  

An electronic scholarship application includes the recommendation of a lecturer. In the case of a letter of recommendation, you need to write the name and the e-mail address of the recommender in the respective box. Upon confirming the application, the system will send an e-mail to this address with a request to write a recommendation to apply for a specific scholarship. It is a good idea to agree with the recommender in advance on writing a recommendation. A letter of recommendation may be added to the application as a separate file.

• Does the letter of recommendation have a specific form or requirements?
  

There are no direct instructions or requirements for the letter of recommendation, but the supervisor should give a brief description of the applicant in the recommendation and explain why the applicant is a suitable candidate for the scholarship and what his/her reasons are for substantiating this (study results, research results, social activities, financial situation, etc.).

• How can I be certain that my application was successfully submitted?
  

If all necessary information has been entered and the application has been confirmed, the system will notify that the application has been successfully submitted. The foundation has a real-time overview of how many applications have been submitted to a specific competition. If the applicant of the scholarship has doubts that his/her application has been lost for some reason (the page of the browser was closed during the loading process, the Internet connection was lost, etc.), then this can be checked by phone or via e-mail.

• How are the scholarships granted?
  

- There are two periods to apply for a scholarship: the spring semester and the autumn semester. The competition for the spring semester ends on 1 June at the latest as a rule and the competition for the autumn semester on 1 November at the latest.

- The scholarship competitions are announced via the information channels of the University of Tartu, on the website of the foundation, via the information channels of the Student Council of the University of Tartu and the information channels of the various fields. If necessary, we distribute the scholarship information via the information channels of other public universities and national daily newspapers.

- You can apply for the scholarships within one month as of the announcement of the competition.

- After the end of the competition, we collect the materials submitted by the applicant which comply with the requirements and forward these to the scholarship committees to determine the scholars. The committees select scholars based on the criteria specified in the statute of the scholarship.

- A contract for use of the scholarship is entered into with the scholars and at least one year after signature of the contract, the scholar will submit a report on the use of the scholarship sum.

- The scholarships are handed over at a ceremonial reception at the end of the spring semester (in the middle of June) and in the course of the anniversary of the national university in the autumn semester.

• Do I have to pay taxes on the scholarship?
  

The University of Tartu Foundation belongs to the list of non-profit associations and foundations benefiting from income tax incentives approved by the Government of the Republic. Scholarships are therefore exempt from taxes.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to write to tysiht@ut.ee or call 737 5852.