New scholarship programme for Belarusians is launched

The programme called ”the European Scholarship Scheme for Young Belarusians” (ESSYB) is financed by the European Commission and implemented and managed by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

The application process for the programme has started on November 15.

The purpose of ESSYB is to further strengthen the foundation for future democratic development of the Belarusian society, by giving a generation of young Belarusians access to higher education without ideological bias and according to internationally accepted academic standards. The aim of the programme is that scholarship holders upon graduation will return to Belarus and aspire to become leaders and engaged citizens who can significantly contribute to the modernization of Belarus.

ESSYB will provide a minimum of 200 scholarships to study for a BA or MA degree at universities across Europe. The scholarship program is open to all young Belarusians that are motivated for further studies and who meet the academic, linguistic and personal requirements.

In 2011 the European Commission decided to establish a scholarship scheme for young Belarusians called ‘Open Europe Scholarship Scheme (OESS)’. The EC asked NCM to design and administer this scholarship programme. The programme is still ongoing but has been closed since a year ago for new applications. The EC then decided to establish a follow-up project which is now called ‘European Scholarship Scheme for Young Belarusians (ESSYB)’.

For more information on ESSYB, please visit www.essyb.eu. Applicants to ESSB will be able to apply online at this website from 15th of November to 6th of December.