Based on Article 19 section 1 of the Act on the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange of 7 July 2017, The Director of the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange announces the call for proposals for participation in the Banach Scholarship Programme – second-cycle studies (hereinafter „the Programme”).

The programme aims at supporting the socio-economic development of developing countries by improving the level of education and professional qualifications of citizens of countries eligible to participate in the programme by offering a scholarship to undertake second-cycle studies in Poland. The programme is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange implemented as part of the Polish development cooperation programme.

Application submission deadline

The call for applications will be open until October 27, 2023, 3:00:00 pm local time (Warsaw), however, the Agency Director reserves the right to close the Call upon submission of 500 applications. Information about the early end of the Call will be published on the Agency's website in the Public Information Bulletin and in the Agency's ICT system (closed possibility of submitting an application).

How to submit an application

Only in electronic form in the Agency's ICT system, // FILL IN THE APPLICATION //

Language of the application

The application must be prepared in Polish or in English

Maximum number of applications that an Applicant may submit

1

The programme offers a scholarship for full-time second-cycle studies in Polish or English at universities supervised by the Minister of Education and Science in the field of engineering and technical sciences, agricultural sciences, and exact and natural sciences, as determined on the basis of the Regulation of the Minister of Education and Science of October 11, 2022, with respect to science and scientific disciplines as well as artistic disciplines.

For citizens of the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan the programme also offers the opportunity to pursue second-cycle studies in the field of humanities and social sciences, except for philological studies in the native language of the beneficiary's country of origin.

It is not possible to participate in the Programme within other fields of science.

The Programme enables full-time studies in Polish or English at public and private universities with respect to the fields covered by the Programme.

Scholarship holder who study in English have the opportunity to participate in the Summer Course of Polish language and culture. The course will be implemented after the scholarship holders complete their first year of studies. The course lasts three weeks during summer holidays. Declarations of scholarship holders regarding participation in the Polish language and culture course will be accepted in the summer semester of the 2023/2024 academic year.

Foreigners who, at the time of the call, meet all of the following criteria can apply for a scholarship in the Programme:

1. are citizens of one of the following countries: Albania, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Lebanon, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Palestine, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, Serbia, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam;
2. do not have Polish citizenship and have not submitted an application for Polish citizenship;
3. started their second-cycle studies in the winter semester, in the academic year 2023/24 (they are first-year, first-semester students of a university in Poland);
4. at the time of submitting an application to the Programme, they have a first-cycle diploma obtained in Poland or the Programme country in the above-mentioned fields dated no earlier than 2021. In the case of candidates from Europe, Central Asia, and the South Caucasus, first-cycle diplomas in the field of social sciences and humanities, obtained in Poland or in the Programme country in the above-mentioned fields are accepted if dated no earlier than 2021;
5. have not previously obtained a diploma of completion of second-cycle studies or uniform master's studies; if the candidate's country of origin does not have a common two-cycle study system, candidates who hold a master's degree or equivalent are admitted.

Start date and duration of the Scholarship

Implementation of education under the Programme must begin in the winter semester of the 2023/2024 academic year by undertaking second-cycle studies.

General assumptions

Applications are subject to formal and substantive assessment.

Formal assessment

The purpose of the formal assessment is to verify applications in terms of meeting the formal criteria indicated in the Announcement and in the Regulations of the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange - Programmes for natural persons taking up education.

Substantive assessment

The purpose of the substantive assessment is to verify applications in terms of meeting the quality criteria indicated in the Announcement.

List of required attachments

1. scan of a valid passport [1]^,[2]  with the Applicant's personal data, confirming the Applicant's citizenship,

2. a letter of recommendation from the Polish university where the student is admitted. A model recommendation letter is an appendix to the Announcement.

Description of the substantive assessment criterion

Maximum points

Arithmetic average of grades from first-cycle studies on the first-cycle diploma (indicated in the university’s recommendation letter).

100

Principles of substantive assessment

Points for the arithmetic average of grades from first-cycle studies on the first-cycle diploma will be awarded after calculating the average based on the following formula:

number of points = average grade obtained x 100 / maximum average grade on a given scale.

The number of points will be rounded to two decimal places.

If an average grade cannot be converted according to the above formula (e.g. reverse average, average expressed alphabetically, etc.), the Evaluation Team will establish a separate method of converting the average into points.

The condition for receiving a positive substantive assessment by the Applicant is to obtain a minimum of 60 points. Applicants who obtain less than 60 points will receive a negative substantive assessment and cannot be granted funds under the Programme. The Agency Director's scholarships are awarded as based on the result of the substantive assessment of applications within the limits of places for individual programme countries, including the limits of places for candidates who have completed (or are completing) studies in Poland as well as candidates completing studies in programme countries, as established by the Evaluation Team. The available scholarship places will be distributed among the Programme countries, taking into account in particular the goals of Polish foreign policy and Polish development cooperation.

Within the limits for individual countries, scholarships in the Programme are awarded to Applicants who obtained the highest result in the substantive assessment.

The programme offers:

1. monthly scholarship of the Agency Director, during the statutory period of education,
2. exemption from fees for education at public universities.

Financial conditions of education at private universities supervised by the Minister of Education and Science are determined by the universities. In such cases, the issue of payment for studies should be agreed individually between the Scholarship Holder and the private university hosting them. The matter of exemptions from education fees remains within the competence of the private university hosting the student.

The scholarship is paid during the statutory period of education for a maximum of 12 months in the academic year, starting from the first month of studies.

The scholarship amounts to PLN 1,500 per month during second-cycle studies.

During their studies, scholarship holders also receive:

1. the first monthly scholarship will be increased by a mobility allowance in the amount of PLN 1,000 or PLN 3,000 (the amount depends on the country of arrival - detailed information can be found in Appendix 4)^[3].
2. in the last year of studies, the last monthly scholarship increased by PLN 500.

In the event of a documented fortuitous event, the Agency Director may, at the written request of the Scholarship Holder, increase the scholarship paid once by PLN 500.

The Agency Director's scholarship is paid through the university where the Scholarship Holder is studying.

The total allocation for the call for proposals is approximately PLN 3,800,000, while the Agency reserves the right to change the allocation of funds.

1. The applicant is obliged to conclude a scholarship agreement under the Programme no later than 30 days from the date of its availability in the Agency's IT system.
2. The scholarship holder is obliged to submit an annual report after completing their education in a given academic year, no later than October 31 each year.

The first report must be submitted after completing the first year of studies under the Programme. For Scholarship Holders starting their studies in the summer semester, the first report will be a semester report.

The Call results will be announced by the end of December 2023

Special purpose reserve of the state budget intended for development cooperation