Scholarship Programme

20230820 172235 efa23 sem Keep It In The Ground EFA Andrei Pungovschi

31 Jan, 2024

EFA24

Would you like to be part of the European Forum Alpbach event? Apply for a scholarship with us: You're in for a lifechanging experience!

About

Every year, hundreds of young talents from all around the world come to the annual event in the village of Alpbach. Students, young professionals and changemakers attend scientific, competence based and artistic seminars, participate in a high-level conference programme and join social and cultural activities. The scholarship holders are the only participants who stay for the whole duration of the Forum. Both EFA itself as well as the Forum Alpbach Network (FAN) award around 350 scholarships to first-time participants. The two weeks in summer are a unique experience for this selected group of people, providing thought-provoking content as well as inspiring encounters with decision-makers and other generations of passionate Europeans.

The European Forum Alpbach scholarship programme generates ideas and sparks action among its participants: One of our former scholarship holders describes it as "an absolutely outstanding opportunity for young minds to interact, discuss, build friendships and collaborations and promote positive changes in the future."

Forum Alpbach Network: The time spent together at the EFA connects former scholarship holders over the course of many years and across national borders: There are more than 30 alumni organisations in 21 different countries! They fund their own scholarships, organise various events throughout the year and support your stay at the European Forum Alpbach event.

Scholarship services

A scholarship at EFA covers the participation fee and the accommodation for the entire duration of the event. Additionally, scholarship holders receive a daily allowance of 25 Euros per day. Some Clubs within the Forum Alpbach Network offer a reimbursement of travel costs and/or daily allowances to their scholarship holders (please refer to their respective websites).

Qualification criteria

Our scholarship programme is for students, young professionals and change-makers who want to have an impact and become active citizens in their region. A scholarship for the European Forum Alpbach event is available to applicants from all countries and disciplines. Artists and non-graduates are invited to apply, too. We encourage candidates coming from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, members of ethnical or religious minorities, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, people with disabilities, and refugees or displaced persons to apply for a scholarship. If you identify yourself as belonging to one of these groups, you may indicate this in your motivational statement. We will take it into consideration in our jury assessment.

In addition, please note the following application criteria:

  • You have not received a scholarship from the European Forum Alpbach yet and therefore qualify as a first-time scholarship holder. If you attended the Forum virtually in 2020 or 2021, you may still apply.
  • The main language of the European Forum Alpbach is English. Therefore, fluent English language skills are required (English proficiency at a minimum level of B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference). You will be asked to provide supporting documents to prove your English proficiency (Q&A section).
  • You are between 18 and 30 years of age (or between 18 and 35 for citizens of the Global South)
  • All applicants must be available and ready to attend the European Forum Alpbach event for a minimum of eleven days, including the Seminar Days and the Europe in the World Days.
Our scholarship holders come from all over the world, display diverse sets of skills, and enrich the many formats of the forum with their knowledge. We especially invite the participation of female talents in Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics (STEM), as well as talents in urban development, engineering, arts and culture, entrepreneurship, finance, people from the Global South, and Schwarzman Scholars. Read more in our FAQ section!

Application process

You can either apply via EFA's application portal (opening from 5 to 28 March 2024) or via one of the FAN’s alumni clubs.

FAN clubs strive to make the Alpbach experience available to new scholarship holders from their clubs’ regions. If you have a regional affiliation with one (or even more) of the 30 existing FAN clubs that offer their own scholarships, we recommend applying there. You will benefit from smaller mentoring structures and immediate onboarding into our alumni network. (Note: By regional affiliation, we mean nationality or present/past residency status). These are the FAN clubs who offer EFA-scholarships and have a separate selection process: CA Burgenland, CA Liechtenstein, CA Niederösterreich, CA Upper Austria, CA Salzburg, CA Senza Confini, CA Steiermark, CA Südtirol Alto Adige, CA Tirol, CA Vorarlberg, IG Wien.

If the club in your country does not offer scholarships, or if there is no club in your country, then we invite you to apply via the EFA. The EFA scholarship programme is open to international applicants from all regions of the world*, with a special focus on Europe (outside Austria).

*except nationals of ROC Taiwan or permanent residents in Taiwan: Please apply via the Lung Yingtai Cultural Foundation.

FAQs

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the scholarship programme:

EFA24 Scholarship FAQs

If you have any further questions, please get in touch via scholarships@alpbach.org

Your EFA Contact

231117 DSC3432 web c Elisabeth Mandl

Melissa Német

Unit Communities | Stakeholder Manager | Scholarship Programme

E-mail

Similar articles