AI4CI Scholarship Grants for Babeş-Bolyai University (Romania)

1. The aim of the Scholarships (hereinafter referred to as “Scholarships”) is to increase the accessibility of master's studies developing advanced digital skills and promote the growth of higher-level skills, equality and diversity in computer science.

2. The Scholarships are granted by the AI4CI project. AI4CI project is co-funded by the European Union under the grant agreement N° 101123524.

3. The Scholarships will be awarded to persons (hereinafter referred to as “Applicants”) who are citizens of the European Union, listed EEA countries or of countries associated (https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/digital/guidance/list-3rd-country-participation_digital_en.pdf) to Digital Europe Programme studying in the AI4CI project master's degree program “Artificial Intelligence for Connected Industries” at Babeş-Bolyai University (hereinafter referred to as UBB), in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

For this call, 16 Scholarship Grants will be granted.

4. Procedure for awarding Scholarships

4.1. The AI4CI Master Programme Responsible and the Project Manager ensure to contact all accepted to AI4CI Master students and inform them about:

-the possibility of applying for scholarships;

-the criteria for awarding scholarships;

-requirements for the student's application for a scholarship;

-the time limits for submitting the application.

4.2 Applications are accepted until June 8, 2026. Applicants are required to submit all documents and information referred to 5.2 paragraph and proving eligibility for scholarship.

4.3. Within 10 working days after the deadline for the acceptance of applications, the study program committee of the programme assesses the received applications, their suitability, awards points according to the criteria set out in paragraph 5.3 and ranks the applicants.

4.4. The programme committee selects the best-ranked applicants, but only those who fully meet the Scholarship requirements. Other applications are assigned to the reserve list and are reconsidered if any of the scholarship recipients refuses the scholarship or loses the opportunity to continue receiving it during their studies.

4.5. Within 5 working days of the meeting of the study programme committee, all applicants who have submitted applications are informed about the decisions taken in relation to their applications.

4.6. Students who have received Scholarships, within 10 working days upon notification, must:

-Sign a scholarship award agreement, which also specifies the consent to the processing of the student's personal data, for scholarship management and marketing purposes and a series of legal obligations that apply to students receiving the support such as respect of ethics, record-keeping, etc;

-Provide the bank details necessary for the transfer of the scholarship.

4.7. Students have the right to appeal about the results of the assessment, presenting aspects that they consider inappropriate in their assessment, factual errors in the assessment of the data provided. In the case of an appeal, the following procedure shall apply:

-Appeals are accepted by the study programme committee within 5 working days from the date of notification of the results of the assessment;

-The appeal must be submitted in writing, indicating the specific places where the student's score was improperly assessed;

-The study program committee must evaluate the appeal within 5 working days and inform the applicant about its results;

-If the inaccuracies indicated in the appeal are confirmed, they must be corrected and, accordingly, the order of award of the scholarship is updated.

4.8. In the event of a refusal of the scholarship, disagreement with the conditions or failure to provide the necessary data in a timely manner, the applicant is not included in the list of scholarship recipients, and for the occupation of this scholarship, the next priority applicant who is on the reserve list is contacted.

4.9. After all scholarships have been awarded, but no later than July 31, 2026, the final list of students who have received scholarships is published and their payment begins.

5. Requirements for students. Scholarship award criteria.

5.1 The main requirements that must be met when applying for scholarship are:

-to be an EU citizen or a citizen of one of the listed EEA countries or of one of the countries associated to Digital Europe Programme – provide a copy of the identity document indicating nationality;

-to study at Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in the Artificial Intelligence for Connected Industries master's degree study programme;

-to be included in the list of students of the AI4CI master programme as part of the promotion 2025-2027 in UBB.

5.2. When submitting an application, the student must provide the following documents:

-a motivation letter, in which he or she briefly indicates the motivation and plans, how the received scholarship will be used, how it will contribute to the student’s upskilling in advanced digital skills (mandatory);

-a copy of the identity document showing the date of birth and nationality of the applicant (mandatory);

-a document showing that the applicant is admitted to the AI4CI master programme in UBB as well as the grades obtained in the first semester of the first academic year (mandatory);

-Curriculum vitae of the applicant (mandatory);

-copies of documents / links to data sources, illustrating applicants’ achievements (optional).

5.3. Criteria by which applicants' applications are ranked:

5.3.1. Promotion of gifted students. A competitive grade G is calculated for each Applicant as the weighted average of the grades obtained for the subjects of study in the AI4CI master's programme from the first semester of the first academic year (where the weights correspond to the number of ECTS for each subject). From the grades G of all applicants, the lowest MIN(G) and highest MAX(G) competitive grades are selected. For each Applicant whose competitive grade is x, a score (x-MIN(G))/(MAX(G)-MIN(G)) is awarded. The criteria weight is 5.

5.3.2. Promoting equal opportunities for people who have fewer opportunities because of their social, economic background or their disability. If the student can prove any difficulty, the score will be awarded on this priority criteria.

5.3.2.1 Economic barriers: students whose family has not realized in the 12 months prior to the beginning of the academic semester/year an average net monthly income per family member higher than the minimum net basic salary in the economy, i.e. 2574 lei/ family member or approximately 500 EURO/family member (EURO is calculated at the BNR exchange rate on the application deadline, the last day for submitting the documents to apply for the scholarship). The average net minimum MONTHLY salary is taken into account for the period   April 2025 – March 2026, and the student agrees to request the income certificate from ANAF for all family members. According to the motivation given in the application and the justification for the need for financial support, a score from 0 to 1 is awarded. The criteria weight is 1.

5.3.2.2. Health problems or disability: support for people suffering from chronic illnesses, psychological disorders or disabilities that can affect their mobility. Documentation is requested and the medical documents will be endorsed obligatorily by the family doctor or the doctor of the student dispensary that they suffer from one of the conditions provided by Order 6.742/4.12.2023 and fall under Article 10, paragraph 9, letter b), by mentioning this clearly on the medical documents. Based on the documentation provided, a score from 0 to 1 is awarded. The criteria weight is 1.

5.3.3. Promotion of students contributing to society and personal development in the area of advanced digital skills. It is estimated how much in the last 2 years the Applicant has actively participated in various events related to advanced digital skills or their application. The following activities are scored:

5.3.3.1. up to 1 point – participation and achievement of a published article at an international scientific conference event;

5.3.3.2. up to 1 point – participation and achievement in a hackathon-type event related to advanced digital abilities;

5.3.3.3. up to 1 point – the establishment of a start-up or company that provides services of competences requiring advanced digital skills or sells a product based on them;

5.3.3.4. up to 1 point – participation in volunteering related to advanced digital skills.

If the Applicant has received scores for several activities, the maximum of them is used for the assessment, and not their cumulative sum. The criteria weight is 3.

5.4. The scores obtained by the Applicant for each criterion are multiplied by the weight of that criterion and then added together. The maximum amount of points that an Applicant can score is 10 points.

5.5. According to the score each Applicant received, they are ranked from the highest to the lowest scorer. This is how the queue of candidates for scholarships is formed, where up to 16 of the highest-ranked Applications get the Scholarship.

5.6. Promote diversity in terms of gender and age as written in the document, and inclusion. In the case of candidacies with equal scores, in order to promote gender equity, diversity and inclusion, the priority order will be determined according to the approach, inside every group of candidacies with the same scores:

1) candidates from the gender minority group

2) candidates with disabilities (based on the supporting documents provided in point 5.3.2.2)

3) candidates from the age group 26-30 years.

6. The procedure for paying scholarships to students.

6.1 The scholarship is paid in three instalments as follows:

- the amount of 700 euros in October 2026,

- the amount of 700 euros in January 2027,

- the amount of 725 euros in April 2027,

if the student meets the requirements, i.e. does not satisfy any of the conditions referred in the 7.1 paragraph.

6.2. The amount of the scholarship is 2125 euros for both years and it will be fixed for the scholarship period. During the whole scholarship period, one student cannot be awarded more than 2125 euros from AI4CI project scholarships.

6.3. By receiving this scholarship, the student does not lose the right to apply for and receive other scholarships, unless otherwise specified in them and unless EU double funding is received in terms of scholarships, getting multiple EU funding for the same purposes.

6.4. Upon receipt of other scholarships rather than AI4CI project, the student should additionally provide a written declaration, justifying the absence of EU double funding in forms of scholarships.

6.5. In case of double funding, the AI4CI scholarship can be rejected or its size can be reduced, to meet the real expense and income from scholarships balance.

7. Termination of award and payment of scholarship. Redistribution of the scholarship

7.1. The award and payment of the scholarship shall be terminated if the student has completed at least one of the following actions:

-discontinues studies;

-interrupts his or her Master's studies;

-transfers to another study program;

-does not pass all the exams during each scheduled semester;

-violates the rules of ethics and academic honesty.

7.2. The student can terminate the receipt of the scholarship on his or her own will, for personal reasons. In this case, a written request should be submitted for the termination of the award and payment of the scholarship to the study program committee.

7.3. The award and payment of the scholarship to the student is terminated from the occurrence of the circumstances referred in the 7.1 and 7.2 paragraphs.

7.4. In the cases provided for, upon termination of the award and payment of scholarships to a student, the process of assigning that scholarship to another student for the remainder of the scholarship payment period shall be carried out.

7.5. The procedure and criteria for the redistribution of scholarships are analogous to those for their award and use the reserve list as follows:

-From the moment of termination of a scholarship, within 10 working days, the programme committee selects the next Applicant that meets the requirements (i.e. does not satisfy any of the conditions referred in the 7.1 paragraph) from the reserve list referred to in the 4.4 paragraph and informs the applicant(s) selected for redistribution of scholarships.

-Within 10 working days upon notification, the selected applicant(s) must sign a scholarship award agreement and provide the bank details necessary for the transfer of the scholarship, according to the information referred to in 4.6 paragraph.

Regarding questions, related to the call and the AI4CI Master programme at Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, the main contact person is Camelia CHIRA: [email protected]