Pursuant to article 19 section 1 of the Act on the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange of July 7, 2017. The Director of the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange announces a call for applications for participation in the Professor Stefan Banach Programme (hereinafter referred to as the “Programme”) - scholarships for second-cycle studies from the winter semester 2024/25.

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 offer is addressed to citizens of the following countries: Albania, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Montenegro, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Philippines, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Colombia, Kosovo, Lebanon, North Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, Serbia, Tanzania, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia.

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.

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, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Lebanon, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Serbia, Tanzania, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia;

2) do not have Polish citizenship and have not submitted an application for Polish citizenship;

3) plan to start second-cycle studies or a preparatory course in the winter semester of the academic year 2024/25 (from October 2024);

4) at the time of submitting an application to the Programme, are students of the last semester of first-cycle studies in the Programme country or obtained a diploma of completion of first-cycle studies in the Programme country no earlier than in 2022.

5) have not previously obtained a diploma of completion of second-cycle studies or uniform master's studies[1];

6) have not yet received a scholarship from the NAWA Director (NAWA scholarship) under the Programme,

7) have documented knowledge of:

a) Polish at the level of:

- min. A2 if they plan to take a one-year preparatory course preceding second-cycle studies in Polish;

- min. B2 if they plan to start second-cycle studies in Polish;

or

b) English at the level of at least B2 if they plan to start second-cycle studies in English.

The Programme makes it possible you to receive a scholarship for full-time second-cycle studies conducted in Polish or English at universities supervised by the Minister of Science and Higher Education.

Moreover, in public universities, the Programme provides free education. Studies in Polish may be preceded by a one-year NAWA preparatory course conducted on scholarship terms.

At the stage of applying for funds under the Programme, the applicant selects one of the scholarship paths:

1) Polish-language path (for studies in Polish):

a) preparatory course and second-cycle studies or

b) second-cycle studies in Polish (without a preparatory course).

The NAWA preparatory course preceding studies in Poland lasts one academic year and its aim is to deepen the knowledge of the Polish language and knowledge of subjects related to the planned field of study. Applicants qualified to participate in the programme complete courses at the center indicated by NAWA. Assignment to centers offering a preparatory course depends in particular on the field of planned studies and the availability of places in the centers.

2) English-language path (for studies in English) - second-cycle studies in English and a Polish language and culture course.

Implementation of the course (Polish language and culture) for scholarship holders who will study in English. The course consists of a part to be completed before studies or in the first month of studies and a part to be completed during the 2025 summer holidays. The courses will be held in a hybrid formula (online and on-site).

The choice of the education path takes place at the stage of accepting applications for the Programme and is binding throughout the entire period of participation in the Programme.[2]

The choice of the field of study is made by the Applicant based on the offer of universities supervised by the Minister of Science and Higher Education. Information about studies in Poland can be found at https://study.gov.pl/. Information about fields of study (offer of Polish universities) is available at: https://studia.gov.pl/wybierz-studia.

NAWA does not mediate in the admission of Applicants to studies. Applicants should take part in admission procedure to the selected university on their own and independently of the application submitted in the Programme.

Application submission deadline

The call for applications will be conducted until June 27, 2024 at 3:00:00 local time (Warsaw) or until 400 applications are submitted in a given group of countries (the call will be closed after the aforementioned deadline, or earlier for a given group of countries if 400 applications are submitted in it).

How to submit an application

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

Language in which the application must be prepared

The application must be developed in Polish or English

Maximum number of applications that an Applicant may submit

1

Start date and duration of the Scholarship

Implementation of education under the Programme must begin in the winter semester of the academic year 2024/2025 by taking a preparatory course preceding studies or second-cycle studies.

The call is conducted in the Agency's ICT system by four country groups. To fill out an application for the program in the system, select the appropriate group to which the applicant's country belongs (based on the Applicant's citizenship):

Group No. 1: Albania, Argentina, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Kosovo, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Peru, Serbia, Ukraine, Venezuela;

Group No. 2: Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Uzbekistan, Vietnam;

Group No. 3: Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Palestine, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia, Yemen, Zambia;

Group No. 4: Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Nigeria.

List of required attachments to the application:

1) a scan of the passport page with the Applicant's personal data[3],

2) a scan of the diploma of completion of first-cycle studies obtained in the Programme country along with a supplement containing information about the arithmetic mean of grades from the entire course of education and information about grades from completed subjects.

If there is no mean grade on the diploma, NAWA will determine it  based on the grades presented on the diploma or in the supplement.

Applicants who, at the time of submitting the application, are students of the last semester of first-cycle studies and Applicants who, at the time of submitting the application, have not yet received a diploma of completion of first-cycle studies, submit a scan of a certificate issued by the university with the following stated:

a) name and surname of the Applicant,

b) name of the university issuing the certificate,

c) name of the field of first-cycle studies,

d) date of completion of first-cycle studies (or planned date of graduation),

e) information about the mean grade and a list of all completed subjects along with their final grades,

f)  stamp of the university issuing the certificate.

The certificate template is an attachment to the Announcement;

3) a document confirming participation in admission to full-time second-cycle studies starting from the winter semester 2024/25 at a university in Poland selected by the Applicant, supervised by the Minister of Science and Higher Education:

a) a decision to admit the Applicant to studies (or a conditional decision); or

b) a promise of admission to studies, acceptance letter from the university or preliminary acceptance letter from the university; or

c) a confirmation of participation in admission for the field of study chosen by the Applicant (e.g. e-mail confirmation of registration from the university, university admission account or confirmation of payment of the application fee by the Applicant); or

d) a confirmation of contact with the university where the Applicant plans to start studies - the contact should concern admission process for selected studies (with an indication of the specific field of study). It is also required to include the university's response.

The requirement to provide a document confirming participation in admission to studies does not apply to those who have chosen the Polish-language path - preparatory course and second-cycle studies.

4) a scan of a document confirming knowledge of the language in which the Applicant plans to study in Poland.

If education in the planned field of study is to be conducted in Polish: a scan of a document confirming knowledge of the Polish language at the required level (i.e. minimum A2, B2, depending on the planned form of education), e.g.:

a)      a language certificate, or

b)      a certificate/diploma or other documents confirming completion of secondary school or first-cycle studies with Polish as the language of instruction, or

c)      a certificate of completion of a Polish language course.

If education in the planned field of study is to be conducted in English:

a)      a scan of a certificate confirming knowledge of English at a minimum level of B2, valid on the date of submitting the application for admission (the list of recognized certificates is attached as Appendix 2 to the Announcement), or

b)      a scan of a document confirming completion of first-cycle studies with English as the language of instruction, or

c)      a scan of a document confirming the verification of the level of English language proficiency carried out by a Polish university during the admission process.

Citizens of Programme countries where this language is the official language are exempt from submitting a document confirming their knowledge of English.

5) optional: a letter of recommendation from a Polish diplomatic mission in accordance with the area of ​​accreditation of the facility. A recommendation is a document that the applicant may, but does not have to, attach to the application.

If the attachments are issued in a language other than Polish or English, it is required to attach a translation into Polish or English certified by the signature and stamp of a sworn translator or a translation certified by a Polish diplomatic and consular mission. In countries where there is no institution of a sworn translator, translation of documents certified with a signature and seal by a notarial translator, a regular translator or a Polish language teacher (certified with the seal of the school where the teacher teaches) is allowed.

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.

Substantive assessment

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

Description of the substantive assessment criterion

Evaluation team

1.

Recommendation of the Polish diplomatic and consular mission

Weight max 30%

2.

The arithmetic mean of grades from first-cycle studies on the diploma of completion of first-cycle studies or on the certificate of mean grade (previous course of education).

Weight max 70%

Principles of substantive assessment

The result of the substantive assessment is determined as the sum of the products of individual criteria and their weight. The maximum sum of the assessment criteria is 100%.

The condition for receiving a positive substantive assessment by the Applicant is to achieve a minimum grade average, i.e. the threshold of 60% on the grading scale applicable in the country of obtaining a first-cycle diploma. The threshold is set separately for each Programme country.

Applicants whose average grades do not meet the above condition will be negatively assessed with respect to the substantive assessment.

NAWA Director's scholarships are awarded on the basis of the result of substantive assessment of applications within the limits of places for individual programme countries set by the Evaluation Team. Available scholarship places will be divided among the programme countries, taking into account in particular the proportion of formally correct applications in the call to the number of Applicants with a given citizenship, as well as 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.

If the limit of places is not used, redistribution will be carried out by the Evaluation Team, taking into account in particular the results of the substantive assessment of the Applicants and the division of places between countries.

The scholarship of the Director of the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange includes:

1) monthly scholarship[4] during the regular education period,

2) exemption from fees for education at NAWA preparatory courses or at public universities,[5]

3) lump sum for international travel costs[6] related to coming to Poland to undertake education.

The monthly scholarship amounts to PLN 1,800 per month and is paid for a maximum of 12 months in the academic year, starting from the first month of classes at studies and during the NAWA preparatory course.

Financial conditions of education at private universities supervised by the Minister of Science and Higher Education 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 exemption from education fees remains within the competence of the private university accepting them.

The lump sum for the cost of international travel related to coming to Poland for the purpose of undertaking studies (“second-cycle studies” path) or a NAWA preparatory course preceding studies (“preparatory course and second-cycle studies” path) is paid once together with the first monthly scholarship and charged using the rates below per the grantee's country of citizenship:

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

The NAWA Director's scholarship is paid through the unit conducting the preparatory course or the university where the Scholarship Holder is studying.

Total allocation for the call is PLN 8.9 million, and the Agency reserves the right to change the amount of funds allocated.

Applicants are obliged to conclude scholarship agreements under the Programme no later than 30 days from the date of their availability in the NAWA IT system.

Scholarship holders are obliged to submit annual reports after completing education in a given academic year, no later than October 31 of each year.

The first report must be submitted after the completion of the preparatory course; in the case of Scholarship Holders not participating in the course - after completing the first year of studies under the Programme.

Results of the call for applications will have been announced by September 30, 2024.

Special purpose reserve of the state budget intended for development cooperation