VILNIUS TECH MERIT Project Re-/Up-skilling Scholarship Call

MERIT Project Re-/Up-skilling Scholarship

Award Procedure and Selection Rules

at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University

1. The aim of the re-/up-skilling scholarships (hereinafter referred to as SCHOLARSHIP) is to promote lifelong learning and re-/up-skilling in advanced digital skills among European citizens.

2. The SCHOLARSHIPS are granted by the MERIT project. MERIT project is co-funded by the European Union under grant agreement No. 101083531. Up to 3000 euros are available to be distributed for the re-/up-skilling scholarships at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (hereinafter referred to as VILNIUS TECH).

3. The SCHOLARSHIPS can be awarded to persons (hereinafter referred to as STUDENTS) who are citizens of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as the EU) and have passed short-term courses, offered by the MERIT project in VILNIUS TECH from the period of September 2024 to June 2026, but are not officially students of VILNIUS TECH.

4. The SCHOLARSHIP call motivates persons with non-ICT education or ones who graduate their studies earlier, to proceed with life-long learning and re-/up-skill in the area of advanced digital skills. The SCHOLARSHIP would be dedicated to covering the travel, study material purchase and other costs related to the course taking. This will contribute to access to high-quality education in digital areas.

5. Procedures for awarding SCHOLARSHIPS.

5.1. Information is published on the VILNIUS TECH website and other systems about the possibilities for STUDENTS to receive one-time scholarships for their results and activities performed within short-term courses.

5.2. After each short-term course, but before June 2026, each STUDENT can write an application (hereinafter referred to as the APPLICATION) to the study program committee and apply for funding.

5.3. The application should contain the following information:

5.3.1. a copy of the certificate of short-term course completion;

5.3.2. a copy of a passport or personal ID, illustrating the person's nationality;

5.3.3. confirmation that the scholarship will be used to cover study expenses (travel, study material or resource purchase costs) and will not lead to a double funding situation.

5.4. The applications are accepted by the VILNIUS TECH Department of Information Technologies.

5.5. In the first week of each month, the Programme Study Programme Committee considers the APPLICATIONS received and, on the basis of the criteria for the evaluation of applications, makes decisions on the satisfaction of students' APPLICATIONS.

5.6. STUDENTS are informed about the results of the consideration of the APPLICATION within 5 working days after the decision is made.

5.7. STUDENTS who were granted the scholarship application, within 10 working days, must:

5.7.1. sign a scholarship award agreement, which also specifies consent to the processing of the student's personal data, for scholarship management and marketing purposes;

5.7.2. provide the bank details necessary for the transfer of the scholarship;

5.7.3. provide other documents or information related to the award of the scholarship.

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

5.8.1. appeals are accepted by the study programme committee within 5 working days from the date of notification of the results of the assessment;

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

5.8.3. the study program committee must evaluate the appeal within 5 working days and inform the APPLICANT about its results;

5.8.4. if the inaccuracies referred to in the appeal are confirmed, they must be corrected and, accordingly, the fact of the award of the scholarship resumed.

5.9. In the event of a refusal of the SCHOLARSHIP, disagreement with the terms or failure to provide the necessary data in a timely manner, the APPLICATION is recorded as obsolete and the scholarship is no longer awarded.

6. Eligibility criteria for re-/up-skilling scholarships.

6.1. The main requirements that must be met when applying for SCHOLARSHIPS:

6.1.1. to be an EU citizen – provide a copy of the identity document indicating nationality;

6.1.2. to finish on time a short-term course (of at least 6 ECTS) offered by the MERIT project at the VILNIUS TECH study program with a good (8 in 10-scale system) or higher final score for the course.

6.2. A re-/up-skilling scholarship of 100 Euros can be awarded once per finished short-term course by a person.

6.3. One person can provide an application for each course he or she finished, while the total amount of re-/up-skilling scholarships cannot exceed 1000 euros.

6.4. Evaluating the STUDENT application, the following criteria will be evaluated:

6.4.1. how well the need for the SCHOLARSHIP is justified. Up to 1 point awarded for it, if the provided reasons are related to study availability.

6.4.2. how well the re-/up-skilling need is justified, the reason for taking the course is justified. Up to 1 point awarded for it, if the re-/up-skilling is relevant and timely.

6.4.3. what results did the STUDENT achieve in the course. For students with a final mark of 8, 1 point is awarded. For students with a final mark of 9 – 2 points are awarded. For students with a final mark of 10 – 3 points are awarded.

6.5. The APPLICATION is eligible for funding if it reaches 3 points out of 5 possible points, according to the criteria listed in 6.4. paragraph.

6.6. Each time when APPLICATIONS are evaluated, they are ordered by the highest points, to estimate the priority.

6.7. The scholarships will be granted till August 2026, or before the 3000 euro fund is fully used, whichever happens first.

7. Legal disclaimer.

7.1. This call (as well as the financial support that will be provided through it) is NOT an EU action. This call is launched solely by VILNIUS TECH.

7.2. The financial support to the selected successful applicants will be provided directly by VILNIUS TECH in its own name and under its own responsibility.

7.3. VILNIUS TECH's own responsibility includes the preparation and drafting of this call as well as the selection of successful applicants that will receive the said financial support.

7.4. The publication of this call in the EU Funding & Tenders Portal is made solely for information purposes with the aim of increasing the visibility of this call to the general public, including to potential applicants (i.e. students). The said publication shall not be construed as direct or indirect approval of the content and conditions of this call by the relevant EU authorities or as any form of waiver from the above-described responsibility of VILNIUS TECH.

More information is available in VILNIUS TECH website:

1. https://vilniustech.lt/studies/study-programmes/master-study-programmes/317411?element_id=317413&sp_id=856715_pr_2024&f_id=4&qualification=a%3A1%3A%7Bi%3A0%3Bs%3A1%3A%22M%22%3B%7D#About
2. https://vilniustech.lt/studies/study-programmes/master-study-programmes/317411?element_id=317413&sp_id=856714_pr_2024&f_id=4&qualification=a%3A1%3A%7Bi%3A0%3Bs%3A1%3A%22M%22%3B%7D#About
3. https://vilniustech.lt/-stojantiesiems-/magistranturos-studijos/studiju-programos/317403?element_id=317404&sp_id=856715_pr_2025&f_id=4&qualification=a%3A1%3A%7Bi%3A0%3Bs%3A1%3A%22M%22%3B%7D#Papildoma%20informacija
4. https://vilniustech.lt/-stojantiesiems-/magistranturos-studijos/studiju-programos/317403?element_id=317404&sp_id=856714_pr_2025&f_id=4&qualification=a%3A1%3A%7Bi%3A0%3Bs%3A1%3A%22M%22%3B%7D#Papildoma%20informacija

Regarding questions, related to the call and MERIT studies at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, the main contact is Simona Ramanauskaitė (e-mail. [email protected]).