OSI Roma Memorial scholarships Program

Roma Memorial University Scholarship Program
Academic year 2002-2003

Overview
The Open Society Institute (OSI) announces the second year of a scholarship
program for eligible Romani students at the university level. The funds for
this memorial program derive from gold looted by the Nazis during World War
II and held by the Allied powers since then. A portion of the funds from the
gold was allocated for Roma. These funds are supplemented by OSI.

Roma who are eligible will (a) have been accepted at a recognized Central or
East European university in their home country or country of residence as a
first year student in the fall of 2002 or (b) already be enrolled at such a
university in the second or higher years. Preference will be given to those
studying humanities or social sciences - economics, political science,
journalism, sociology - or medicine, public health, computer sciences, urban
planning. [Roma seeking scholarships in law and public administration should
apply to the European Roma Rights Center.]

Eligibility Criteria
Scholarship winners must come from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary,
Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia. [Other countries may be added later.]
They must demonstrate:

financial need including employment status and income of parents, number of
children in the family, etc.;
acceptance at a recognized university in their own country by presentation
of an original university enrollment certificate;
acknowledgement of being Roma and interest in Roma issues or Roma activism;
Scholarship Awards
Scholarships normally will cover tuition; partial living expenses; books and
fees related to higher education, such as exam fees. Scholarships may be
awarded for up to 5 years subject to successful completion of the prior
academic year. Annually such awardees must present official transcripts of
grades and exams in their own language plus their annual statement outlining
their activities related to the Roma community to the Roma Memorial
University Scholarship Program in Budapest in order to be considered for
second and future year funds.

Application Process for New Applicants
Each candidate must submit a complete application at the same time in
English or his/her own national language in a neat form. The complete
application will consist of:

a letter of interest stating your needs, your family background and the name
of university and faculty you have been accepted to;
an original certificate from the university in the country of one's
residence showing:
that the applicant is enrolled for the current academic year;
the cost of tuition and exam fees for the current academic year (if
applicable)
the applicant's grades (a photocopy) from the previous year (if applicable)
an annual statement on what you have done to further Roma issues in your
community;
an itemized annual budget showing expenses for tuition, books, fees, living
expenses which are not covered by state/government budgets/grants or other
sources.
a letter of recommendation from one person (other than a relative) who can
provide details of the applicant's academic and leadership potential and
his/her commitment to the Roma. This person may be a secondary school
teacher, a university professor, a local community leader, or Roma NGO
leader.

Applications and Deadlines
For the academic year 2002-2003, completed applications must be received no
later than September 15, 2002. There will be only one round of applications
for 2002-2003.

If you are a new applicant and intend to apply, you must do the following:

Send a pre-registration letter stating your intention to apply, the name and
faculty of the university in which you plan to enroll and your full name, a
mailing address which is valid for the next 12 months and a telephone number
where you can be reached during the summer holiday:

Roma Memorial University Scholarship Program
Open Society Institute
H-1051 Budapest
Oktober 6 utca 12.
Hungary
Fax: 00 36 1 327 3117
E-mail: [email protected]


Upon receipt of your letter, you will be invited to an orientation session
to explain the program and help you fill out an application. This will take
place in your own country in the second half of August 2002. You will be
notified about the details and location of this meeting in a letter.


After the meeting, you will then be required to attach documents to your
application and send it to us (the same address as above) by September 15,
2002. If you fail to submit the completed application with the required
documents by September 15, 2002, you will not be eligible to receive a
scholarship for the academic year.


Some applicants may not be able to obtain an original university enrollment
certificate by September 15, 2002. If this applies to you, you may send this
document separately from the completed application. The deadline for sending
the original university enrollment certificates in this case is October 15,
2002. If you fail to submit the original enrollment certificate by October
15, 2002, your application will be rejected.
Please note that if you have received a full scholarship from another
organization, you will be ineligible for this one.

A selection committee of three Roma from different countries will make the
final selection with advice from the national foundations of the Soros
network.

Annual Awards are expected to be in the range of $500 - $1000.