Slovak Scholarship FAQ

No. The NSP funds short mobility stays — one or two semesters for students, and one to ten months for PhD students and researchers. It is not a degree scholarship. If you want a fully funded degree at a Slovak university, you need the ODA Government Scholarship (32 countries, study mainly in Slovak with B2 Slovak required), the Talented Students programme (SAT 1100+ or equivalent SCIO result required), or a bilateral scholarship through your home country's ministry.

You cannot apply for the ODA full-degree grant. Your remaining options are the NSP (open to all countries, short mobility), the Talented Students programme (open worldwide for full degrees; requires an SAT score of 1100 or higher, or the SCIO equivalent, taken on or after 1 January 2021), or bilateral scholarships if your country has an intergovernmental agreement with Slovakia — check with your national academic exchange authority for the latter.

Only once you have completed at least 2.5 years of university study (in the same or a similar programme) by the application deadline. Otherwise the minimum level is Master's. Earlier-stage Bachelor's students who want to study in Slovakia must look at other routes — their own university's exchange agreements, the Talented Students programme, or the ODA scholarship if their country is on the eligible list.

Mostly no. ODA degrees are normally taught in Slovak. The Ministry’s FAQ says mixed English–Slovak programmes are supported, and so are a limited number of English-only programmes, but only tuition-free ones (English-taught Medicine, which charges fees, is not covered). In every case, admission requires Slovak at B2 level. Applicants who do not speak Slovak begin with a 10-month language and preparatory course from September, which the scholarship covers.

It depends on how long. You are not eligible if you spent 15 or more months in total in Slovakia during the 36 months before the application deadline. Shorter stays within that window do not disqualify you.

No. Both the NSP and ODA selections are based entirely on written documents. There is no interview, no telephone screening and no in-person assessment. The committee evaluates your motivation letter, programme of stay or research proposal, recommendation letters, academic records and the acceptance letter from your host institution. This is your entire case — what you write is all they see. (For ODA, your Slovak university’s own admission procedure may still include an entrance exam or interview.)

Check your spam or junk folder first. For the ODA portal (vladnestipendia.sk), the Ministry’s FAQ says to write to helpdesk@studyabroad.sk. For the NSP portal (scholarships.sk), write to the NSP administrator for your category: nsp-foreign2@saia.sk (students), nsp-sk@saia.sk (PhD students) or nsp-foreign@saia.sk (teachers, researchers and artists). Give your registered email address and the date you registered.

For the ODA portal at vladnestipendia.sk — no. The “New Application” button only appears during the official application window, which for 2026/2027 opened on 23 March and closed on 25 May 2026 (the 2027/2028 dates are not yet published). Outside those dates there is no way to start an application. This is intentional, not a technical fault. The NSP form works differently: it opens at least 6 weeks before each deadline (30 April and 31 October).

Not for the same period. The NSP explicitly prohibits receipt alongside Erasmus+, Visegrad Fund grants, CEEPUS, bilateral-agreement scholarships and other publicly funded scholarships. If your Erasmus+ period overlaps with the proposed NSP stay, you cannot apply for that period. Wait until the other programme has ended and there is no date overlap.

ODA applicants are notified electronically by the Ministry no later than 15 July. The notice goes to the email address in your application, so check your spam folder too. For the NSP, SAIA informs applicants by email and through the portal, usually within 8 weeks of each deadline (30 April and 31 October).

No. The NSP terms say the scholarship covers living costs (food, accommodation and so on) and say nothing about tuition. Whether a host charges a visiting student anything is up to the host. Confirm this with your host’s International Relations Office before applying.

No. Neither the NSP nor the ODA scholarship guarantees a dormitory place. You can request one from your host university, and many students receive it — but availability varies by institution and by when you arrive. If no dormitory place is available, you must find and fund private accommodation from your monthly stipend. In Bratislava, a room in a shared flat costs roughly €300–500 a month by our estimate, a significant portion of the NSP master's stipend of €620.

Yes — but you must actively register. According to SAIA, NSP holders from outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland whose stay lasts longer than 1 month qualify for Slovakia’s compulsory public health insurance, free of charge. It does not happen automatically. SAIA recommends buying commercial insurance for the period your visa requires, then joining the public system with a Slovak health insurer on arrival. EU, EEA and Swiss nationals should bring a European Health Insurance Card.

Possibly, but check first. EU citizens have full work rights. For non-EU students, the rules depend on your visa or residence type, and we could not confirm the current limits from an official source. Check with the Ministry of the Interior (minv.sk) or your host university’s international office before taking a job. Remember that the scholarship funds a study or research programme you must actually complete.

The scholarship can be revoked, and a revoked scholarship is not passed to another applicant. You lose the scholarship entirely and would need to fund any continuation of studies yourself. Satisfactory academic progress is a condition of continued ODA funding. The same applies to the NSP: SAIA can end a stay early if it is not carried out as planned, and if you complete 39% or less of your programme of stay, you must repay the scholarship in full.

Yes. A rejection does not make you ineligible, and nothing in the NSP terms bars a previously rejected applicant. The key is understanding why the application did not succeed — usually a weak motivation letter, a generic acceptance letter or an underdeveloped research plan — and fixing those weaknesses in the next cycle. Note that former NSP holders can apply again only once at least 2 years have passed since their previous scholarship, and feedback from that earlier stay may be taken into account.

Yes, in most cases you must report your stay. The deadline depends on your citizenship, residence type and accommodation: for example, SAIA notes that EU, EEA and Swiss nationals not staying in a dormitory or hotel must report within 10 working days of arrival. Non-EU students should check the rules for their visa or residence permit at minv.sk or with their host university’s international office, which often helps.