Information for scholarship holders

The OeAD is Austria's Agency for Education and Internationalisation. Its headquarters is located in Vienna, where the APPEAR Office is based as part of the Department for International Cooperation in Higher Education.

The OeAD has Regional Offices in Graz, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Linz, Salzburg and Vienna. They are responsible for the disbursement of the scholarships and provide advice and support on administrative and legal issues (e.g. insurance, residence permit). If you have any questions about your scholarship, the regional office is always your first point of contact.

The OeAD Housing Office (OeAD-Wohnraumverwaltungs GmbH) provides OeAD scholarship holders with apartments and rooms in halls of residence. The OeAD is the sole owner of OeAD-Wohnraumverwaltungs GmbH.

The diversity of the OeAD's tasks requires a strict division of labour between the various offices. For this reason, we kindly ask you to communicate only with the relevant office.

The OeAD website provides all relevant information on preparing for your stay in Austria, on entry requirements and on administrative matters during your stay in Austria.

Oead.news for scholars & alumni is published four times a year. We inform you about OeAD activities, scholarships and grants, current calls and events. Please subscribe on our website for the newsletter.

We also invite you to like our Facebook page for scholars and alumni, which facilitates interactive communication and informs about activities and cooperation opportunities.

Please find the general APPEAR scholarship conditions in the document below.

APPEAR scholarship conditions

• Master’s studies: 1250 euros per month (average 24 months)
• PhD studies: 1250 euros per month (average 48 months)

Your Letter of Award will normally be issued for a period of 12 months. In order to extend your scholarship, you must submit a scholarship extension application to the OeAD Regional Office. In addition, your academic supervisor will be asked to send his or her assessment of your study progress. The Regional Office will send you and your supervisor the necessary documents in good time.

The following travel costs are financed:

1. Coming to Austria: If there is no Austrian Embassy in the applicant's home country, the flight costs for submitting the visa application to the competent Austrian representation authority will also be covered.
2. Going on field studies in the home countryFlights will be booked by the APPEAR Office, while you are responsible for organising and paying for your travel insurance and/or insurance in your home country.
3. Returning home after completing your studies

Please send requests concerning flight booking to appear@oead.at including:

• your complete name (as written in your scholarship award)
• the purpose of travelling
• the flight destination, including local flights (from-to)
• the flight dates (one way or return flight)

In case of any delays concerning the scheduled flight inform the Regional Office and the APPEAR Office immediately.

1. Flight tickets are booked by APPEAR
   You must submit the original flight ticket(s) and boarding pass(es) to the OeAD Regional Office upon arrival in Austria. If you do not submit these documents, you will have to pay for the cost of the flight.
2. Flight booked by yourself
   You must submit the flight ticket(s), boarding pass(es), invoice(s) and proof of payment (bank statement if paid by credit card) to the OeAD Regional Office in order to receive a refund.

CO2 Compensation

A large proportion of the world's greenhouse gas emissions come from air travel. However, since air travel is necessary for your studies, carbon offsetting provides an opportunity to reduce the emissions caused by air travel in another way. To ensure an environmentally sustainable programme, APPEAR uses the carbon offsetting system of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), implemented by the Centre for Global Change and Sustainability. These funds are used to finance climate protection projects selected by an advisory board and supported by research and development.

The CO2 compensation payment for scholarship holders will be processed directly by the APPEAR Office.

The field study must be carried out in accordance with the study project and in agreement with the scientific supervisor.

The monthly scholarship and the flight tickets (see section > travel arrangements) will be financed by the APPEAR programme. Kindly note, that there is no additional budget for equipment, materials and travel costs.

Please submit your application at least 3 months before the planned field study. Check the terms and conditions of your housing contract. Further information on how to prepare for your field study (e.g. insurance cancellation) can be obtained from your OeAD Regional Office.

If you are going to be away for a long period of time, cancel your contract with the OeAD Housing Office. Check the cancellation conditions in your contract; usually you have to give 2 months' notice.

Requirements

1. Application form for field study (including the signatures of the applicant and the Austrian scientific supervisor)
2. Letter from the home institution, stating that the

a) the home institution is informed about the field study (project, duration, costs)

b) whether and how the field study will be supported (financial support, transport, work place in the institution, material, research assistance, etc.).

The application has to be submitted via e-mail to the OeAD Regional Office. Only a complete application will be forwarded to and handled by the APPEAR Office. You will be informed by the APPEAR Office if your field studies are granted.

Payment and reporting

The allowance will be paid as a lump sum by the OeAD Regional Office before the departure for the field study (usually 14 days in advance).

If the field study lasts longer than 6 months, you will receive a maximum amount of 6 scholarship instalments before the departure. In order to receive the next payment, you must submit an interim report to the OeAD Regional Office (by e-mail),including the followingf documents:

1. Confirmation from your supervisor, that you are performing well and following your work plan and timetable
2. Letter from the home institution, stating that you are carrying out your field studies according to the work plan and timetable

Include the bank account to be used for the transfer in your interim report.

a) Austrian bank account (the one that is used to pay your scholarship instalments).
b) Bank account in your home country. The following information is required: full name and address of the bank; bank code (BIC/SWIFT), bank account details, full name and address of the bank account holder.

Upon completion of the field study a final report, including a letter from the home institution confirming that your fieldwork has been carried out according to the work plan and timetable, must be e-mailed to the respective OeAD Regional Office within 2 weeks of your return to Austria.

In case of any problems or delays, please immediately inform your OeAD Regional Office, the OeAD Housing Office (if you have booked accommodation with the OeAD) as well as your scientific supervisor.

Please read the checklist for field study carefully.

Extension of field studies

Only in exceptional cases your field study may be extended (at least one month before the end of your field study). Only a complete application will be forwarded to the APPEAR Office. The decision on whether to grant an extension will be taken and communicated by the APPEAR Office.

Requirements

• Application form
• Letter from your supervisor (confirming that the proposed extension is necessary)
• Letter from your home institution (confirming that the proposed extension is necessary)

In addition to the monthly scholarship, APPEAR will finance/reimburse the following grants/expenses upon submission of the required documentation to the Regional Office.

1. Costs for the legalisation of study documents required for the application for admission to an Austrian university

These expenses will be reimbursed on presentation of the corresponding documents. All expenses must be supported by invoices and a balancing endorsement (= endorsement confirming that the invoice has been duly paid). Foreign currency: You must provide a currency exchange confirmation showing the exchange rate. Please use the online currency OANDA (date of payment).

2. Costs for the application of the residence permit

160 euros, paid as a lump sum, after submission of the copy of the approved residence permit (no original invoices are required). If the residence permit was also issued for a child or children, this will also be refunded.

Depending on the embassy and the documents submitted, there may also be a legalisation fee for the initial application. These expenses will be reimbursed on presentation of the corresponding documents. All expenses must be supported by invoices and a balancing endorsement (= endorsement confirming that the invoice has been duly paid). Foreign currency: You must provide a currency exchange confirmation showing the exchange rate. Please use the online currency OANDA (date of payment).

3. German courses

400 euros, paid as a lump sum, after submission of the certificate of the language course (no original invoices are required)

4. Participation in scientific conferences / courses

500 euros for max. 2 conferences / courses in Europe

OR

1000 euros for max. 1 conference / course outside Europe paid as a lump sum for the registration fee, travel costs and accommodation. It is required to submit an application to the OeAD Regional Office before the scientific conference / course.

• Invitation letter of the organizer certifying that the paper / poster has been accepted
• Letter of recommendation by the Austrian scientific supervisor

No invoices have to be presented. The amount will be refunded as lump sum upon submission of:

• Confirmation of participation by the conference organisers (confirming that a poster / paper – including the title – was presented)
• News contribution for our website

5. Thesis allowance

300 euros paid as a lump sum upon submission of:

• Graduation documents (notice of graduation, certificate of the final examination and diploma supplement)
• Follow up contact data
• Final APPEAR report uploaded on the online portal as PDF and sent to appear@oead.at as Word document.
• Approval for oead.map and APPEAR map
• News contribution for our website

We provide information on the various and outstanding activities and performances of our scholarship holders on our website. We kindly request you to update us on interesting issues and send us the information for our website, which includes

• narrative CV (about 140 words)
• information of activity, presentation, publication, etc. (including links)
• a photo of yourself (high resolution, as a single jpg or other photo format and including the photo credits, i.e. name of person who took the photo).

The OeAD and the APPEAR offiece organise guided tours, excursions and extracurricular educational activities for our scholars to facilitate the integration process. This will not only help you learn more about Austrian culture and history, but will also allow you to meet colleagues and promote networking among scholars. Separate email invitations will be sent out for each event with detailed information and registration requirements. Please note that APPEAR scholars do not have to pay the registration fee. If a registration fee is required, you will be informed accordingly.

Events will be documented on the OeAD website, the APPEAR website or Facebook.

The OeAD alumni activities address all our former scholarship holders. We inform about further possibilities for studying, researching and scientific cooperation in Austria and we provide a platform for sharing experiences and ideas.

According to the scholarship conditions you are obliged to mention the APPEAR scholarship, the financing institution (Austrian Development Cooperation) and the OeAD in your thesis (and any resulting publications of the Master’s / PhD studies) and your CV in the following form:

The Master’s / PhD studies are / were financed by the Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education and Research for Development - APPEAR, a programme of the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) and implemented by Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalisation (OeAD).

 OEZA Project number: 0894-01/2020