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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
You will find below the answers to frequently asked questions regarding STRAINS (programme, application process, etc).
All of the countries below are considered Programme Countries:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United-Kingdom.
Any country that is not on this list is considered a Partner Country.
If you are a student in your last year of Bachelor's degree, you can also apply before the application deadline. Before applying, make sure that you will be able to graduate before the start of the programme (in September).
Note: Instead of your BSc diploma, you will have to provide an enrollment certificate attesting that you are currently in your last year of Bachelor's degree. This document also has to mention in which month you are expecting to graduate. Your transcript of records will also need to include all courses completed and all uncompleted courses for which you are enrolled.
Yes, you can apply if you already hold a Master's degree.
You have to choose at the moment of application under which nationality you wish to apply. Only the nationality you indicate in your application form will be considered for the scholarship.
You can apply without an official English test (TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS, Cambridge…) if your mother tongue is English or if you can provide a letter from your university attesting that the medium of instruction during your studies was English.
The purpose of this document is to prove your current place of residence. If you are selected, it will be used to determine the type of scholarship (Partner or Programme country) and to calculate the amount of the contribution to travel costs. Your application will not be considered complete without this document.
To be considered a valid proof of residence, your document must contain:
- your full name
- your exact address (i.e. street name, city, country)
- the date of issuance
The document must have been issued within 12 months before the submission deadline.
As a proof of residence, you can provide a utility bill for example or a letter written by your employer/university attesting your postal address. The document must fulfill the requirements written above (name, postal address, date). If you don’t have such a document you can ask your town office to provide you a certificate/letter of residence with all information written above.
Please note that the following documents are not accepted: ID documents (student card, national ID card, passport, driving licence, etc) or “work certificates” from the company you are working for. We need your current personal postal address and not your working address.
If your transcript does not include your rank among your class, you need to provide us with a letter from your University attesting your rank. We also accept certificates of rank among specific departments.
Here are some examples found in different documents:
- First or second class honours (upper division).
- The student was ranked 5th out of 73 students in his/her class.
- The student has the second best CGPA among all graduate students in his or her programme.
If it is not mentioned in your documents, please ask your university if they can provide you with such a letter. If this is not possible at all, do not upload any documents in this section.
All applicants are required to indicate the contact details of their referees on our online application platform. Make sure that the chosen referee will be able and willing to send a reference letter for you. Applicants are required to indicate an OFFICIAL institution email address, the precise name of the referee's institution as well as information about the institution.
After having filled in this information, an automatic email will be sent to the referees you have chosen, asking them to upload their letters.
- To whom should my recommendation letters be addressed? Reference letters can be addressed to the “STRAINS Academic Board”.
- Is there any specific format to respect? The preferred format for letters is as follows: headed letter from institution, signed by referee with official stamp. If it is not possible, a signature from your referee will suffice.
- How do I know if my referees have uploaded their letters? For each letter that has been uploaded, you should receive one email from our platform stating that a document has been added to your application file.
Be sure that your referees did upload their recommendation letters, otherwise your application will not be considered complete.
- Not sent – Your application is not submitted, it can still be modified.
- Sent – Your application has been submitted. It can no longer be modified. It has not been reviewed by our administrative staff yet.
- Pending documents – Your application has been reviewed by the administrative staff but some documents must be added before it can be validated (including the letters of recommendation, which need to be uploaded by your referees). If the documents have been not been added before the deadline, your application status will be changed to "Incomplete".
- To be evaluated – Your application has been validated by our administrative staff and is to be evaluated by the reviewers after the deadline has passed.
- Incomplete – Your application has been reviewed by our administrative staff and one or several documents are either invalid or missing. Since the deadline has passed, it will not be evaluated.
- Shortlisted – You will be invited to the next step (interview).
- Rejected – Your application has been rejected.
- Accepted - You have been placed on the main list.
- Reserve list – You have been placed on the reserve list.
Your application status is changed manually (by our administrative staff) which is why it may take some time for it to be updated.
