Scholarship guidelines
You have already received the general guidelines with your scholarship award (see brochure on www.oead.at/stip). Here you can find them again.
- Scholarship acceptance
- Late arrival
- Premature termination and revocation of scholarships
- Amount of the scholarship
- Disbursement of the scholarship
- Travel costs
- Employment
Acceptance of the scholarship
Your scholarship award only becomes valid once you fully complete your scholarship acceptance, sign it and send it to the OeAD Regional Office at your university location (via e-mail, fax or post) within four weeks. With your signature you accept all general guidelines concerning your scholarship and commit yourself to comply with them. If we do not get a signed acceptance from you, you lose your entitlement to your scholarship.
Visa
If you need an entry or residence title (visa) for Austria, please state on your scholarship acceptance at which Austrian representative authority (embassy, consulate-general) you will apply for your entry or residence title. In principle it is only possible to apply at the representative authority in the consular district of your current place of residence. You can find a list of the Austrian representative authorities and consular districts at www.bmeia.gv.at.
The OeAD will send a confirmation concerning your scholarship to that authority. You will receive a copy of this e-mail to the e-mail address you gave us. The Austrian representative authority will issue a visa for the duration of your scholarship and forward your application documents for your residence permit to Austria. Here you can find further information about the visa application.
Here you can find out whether or not you need a visa or a residence permit for Austria.
Arrival
Please state your exact arrival date in Austria. This date is binding and can only be changed in exceptional cases and only with approval by your academic supervisor and your contact person at the ICM! Therefore please arrange the start date of your scholarship carefully with your academic supervisor.
Please bear in mind when planning your stay in Austria that the issuing of a residence permit for Austria can take up to three months (in some cases even longer). Therefore please enquire in time at your representative authority how long it will take until you get the visa for Austria.
Attention: Nationals of third countries need a reservation of accommodation in Austria when applying for a residence permit. Here you can find further information about the documents for the application for a visa or residence permit.
Accommodation
On your scholarship acceptance you need to tick whether or not you wish accommodation (student hall of residence or flat) arranged/reserved for you by the OeAD Housing Office. If you wish accommodation arranged by the OeAD Housing Office tick “yes” on the scholarship acceptance. The Housing office will then send you a link for the online booking, after you have returned the signed acceptance form to your OeAD Regional Office. Follow this link to the website of the OeAD Housing Office and complete the reservation form. You will then receive a confirmation of reservation via e-mail.
If you have questions about your accommodation, you have to contact the OeAD Housing Office directly.
If you do not wish accommodation arranged for you by the OeAD Housing Office (i.e. you tick “no” on the scholarship acceptance), you have to find accommodation in Austria yourself.
Attention: If you are a national of a third country, you need a photocopy of your rental contract or a confirmation of accommodation by your landlord/landlady. Without such a document you will not get a visa for Austria!
Late Arrival
The date stated in your scholarship acceptance is binding. It can only be changed in exceptional cases and for important reasons. To change the start date of your scholarship you need written consent of your academic supervisor and of your contact person at the ICM. A minor change of 2-3 days usually is no problem; however, you still have to inform your supervisor. A late arrival, moreover, may cause alterations in the amount of your first scholarship instalment.
Should you have waited for your residence permit for longer than three months already or if you have problems with the Austrian representative authorities, contact your advisor at the ICM immediately. He/she will try to help you with your problem.
Should a change of your arrival date be inevitable and your contact person at the ICM and your academic supervisor agree with a change of your scholarship dates, you will get an updated scholarship award. Please sign the renewed letter of acceptance and send it back to us. Attention: You are responsible for any changes in your visa or residence permit.
OeAD Housing Office (OeAD-WohnraumverwaltungsGmbH)
Your room with the OeAD Housing Office is reserved for a specific date. If you do not arrive on time you will still have to pay the entire accommodation fee.
Please note: If you arrive later (e.g. if you receive your residence permit later than expected), you can cancel your room reservation with the OeAD Housing Office free of charge at least 15 days before your expected arrival date (see booking confirmation). If you cancel your room booking later or not at all, you have to pay the rent for an entire month.
Should you arrive in Vienna later than expected, please inform the OeAD Housing Office immediately (housing4scholars@oead.at).
If there are any changes or problems with your accommodation please always contact the OeAD Housing Office directly (Do not contact the ICM or the Regional Office)!
Premature termination and revocation of the scholarship
Premature termination of the scholarship
If you terminate your scholarship prematurely or travel home sooner than planned, please inform your OeAD Regional Office immediately. Please state the reasons for your premature termination of your scholarship and also inform your academic supervisor.
Revocation of scholarships
A revocation of the scholarship implies that no further scholarship payments will be made and that you may have to reimburse the OeAD for the entire scholarship. Your scholarship can be revoked for the following reasons:
- Non-compliance with the scholarship conditions
You have to carry out your planned studies or research work properly and according to the conditions you agreed to in your scholarship details. If you fail to do so or make false statements, your scholarship payments will be suspended. You may even have to pay the scholarship instalments that you have already received back to the OeAD. - Violation of the Austrian laws
If you violate Austrian laws and laws relating to aliens (e.g. take up a job that is not permitted or theft or bodily harm), you may have to pay a fine or go to prison. You may even have to leave Austria and not be allowed to enter Austria for many years. If you violate Austrian laws your scholarship will be terminated immediately. - Missing performance
Your study progress will be checked every six months. Your academic supervisor will send a report to the OeAD. The ICM will stay in contact with your supervisor at all times and enquire about your study progress on a regular basis. If your academic performance or your language skills that are required for your research project are not sufficient or if no progress in your research can be seen, your scholarship will be terminated.
Amount of the scholarship
The amount of your scholarship depends on the federal guidelines that have been determined for the scholarship. It is not possible to raise the amount of the scholarship.
You have to pay your accommodation and – if required – your insurance fee from your monthly scholarship instalments. The monthly scholarship instalment will only cover your living and study costs. It is not sufficient for the living costs of other persons.
Attention: You must not receive any other additional scholarship in Austria for the period in which you receive your OeAD scholarship. If you receive other financial support, you have to inform the OeAD immediately. If you do not inform us, the OeAD scholarship payments will be stopped.
Please note: There are no places for family in student halls of residence. If you want to bring your family or your partner along to Austria, you have to expect high costs for renting a flat. The amount of your scholarship will not be sufficient to cover the rent.
Disbursement of the scholarship
Scholarships are paid by cheque at the OeAD Regional Office at your place of study provided that no other arrangement (e.g. remittance to a bank account) has been made.
The scholarship has to be collected in person at the OeAD Regional Office every month. If you are staying in Austria for a longer period of time, we recommend that you open a bank account. If your scholarship instalments are remitted to your bank account, you still have to come to your OeAD Regional Office once a month.
As a rule the first scholarship instalment is paid between the 1st and 15th of the month in which you have arrived. Should you arrive after the 15th, only half of the scholarship instalment for that month is paid. The last instalment will only be paid upon the submission of your scholarship report.
Travel costs
You will not receive any travel costs compensation in addition to your scholarship unless this is expressively mentioned in your scholarship award. If your scholarship includes travel costs compensation, you have to submit your original travel documents (including flight ticket and boarding pass as well as a confirmation of your payment of the tickets) after your arrival in Austria. If you do not submit these documents, you will not receive a travel costs subsidy.
Working
While you are receiving an OeAD scholarship you are not allowed to take up paid work in Austria. There are only very few exceptions from this very strict law, e.g. minimum income work or a contract for work and labour (Werkvertrag) in the framework of your research project. In any case this has to be approved by the OeAD.
If you take up a job which is not one of the above-mentioned exceptions, your scholarship will be terminated immediately. Working without a work permit will have consequences. The law relating to aliens forces your immediate exit in case of any violation. You may be expelled from Austria and be forbidden to enter for several years. Here you can find further information about working.
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