REGULATIONS OF STIPENDIUM HUNGARICUM PROGRAMME

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The main rules of the Stipendium Hungaricum Programme Operational Regulations

ABSENCE (III.3.5.) The scholarship holder is required to stay habitually in Hungary during the training period (i.e. during the semester: study period and exam period): 

  • The scholarship holder's continuous private stay outside Hungary may not exceed 10 working days per training period. In this case, the stay abroad does not entail a withdrawal of the allowance.
  • In case the intended stay abroad for private purposes exceeds 10 working days but does not reach 30 days within a semester, it is the host institution’s responsibility to authorise the absence. In this case, the stay abroad does not entail a withdrawal of the allowance.
  • Abroad stays of more than 30 days per training period are subject to institutional authorisation, in accordance with Section 45 (2) c) of the Higher Education Act, may only be allowed in cases of childbirth, or in the event of an accident, illness or other unexpected reason beyond the own fault of the scholarship holder. If the abroad stay of more than 30 days is realised due to state of emergency, and the scholarship holder participates at distance education while having active student status, requesting a passive status is not necessary. In this case, no scholarship or housing allowance shall be granted from the subsequent month following the decision in respect of the training period concerned. Scholarship holders shall be granted the scholarship and housing allowance again from the month of their return to Hungary.
  • During the training period, the scholarship holder is allowed to attend foreign conferences, internships or other study visits related to shorter research, studies (continuous 14 days or less). If the intended stay is within 15 days to 30 days, it may take place once in each semester, and the institution shall have the power to decide not to withdraw the support. Stay for more than 30 days per semester shall also be permitted only once per semester, in which case the scholarship and accommodation costs shall not be due to the scholarship holder for that training period. 
  • Scholarship holders in doctoral training may participate at student mobility abroad with the purpose of research for the duration of maximum one semester in both phase of doctoral studies. In their case the housing allowance and the monthly stipend shall be considered as mobility grants for this specified period. 

MINIMUM CREDITS (III.3.6-9.)

  • The scholarship holder is, unless otherwise provided by the institutional regulation, require to fulfil the study, examination obligation and curriculum development by earning at least eighteen credits (i.e., earns a total of 36 credits) on the average of the last two (continuous) semesters in which the student is not suspended. The recognised credits shall be always considered separately. The credit minimum requirement applies to those commencing their tertiary education studies within the SH programme in or after the 2018/2019 academic year. 
  • The obligation to complete the minimum number of credits also applies to students who have transferred during the academic year. In their case, the sum of the credits earned in the two institutions must reach 36.
  • The institution informs the student at the end of the autumn semester if the scholarship holder ddi not achieve the recommended number of credits (18 credits) during the semester. If during the academic year it is determined that the scholarship holder has not obtained the required number of credits, the institution shall terminate the scholarship status and inform the Public Foundation without delay. 
  • The minimum credit requirement does not apply to scholarship holders for doctoral schools, foundation courses, short intensive courses and preparatory courses.

EXTENSION (III.4.1.) During the term of scholarship, the scholarship holder may apply for an extension of their scholarship status as follows: 

  • The scholarship holder may extend their scholarship period by a total of two semesters in Hungarian bachelor’s, master’s and one-tier master’s programmes. Altogether two extensions for one semester on each occasion are available in bachelor’s and master's programmes, and in one-tier master's programmes (i.e. 2 semesters in bachelor's programmes or 2 semesters in master's programmes, or 1 semester in both bachelor's and master's programmes. 2 semesters in one-tier master's programmes).
  • If the scholarship holder has previously studied in a bachelor's programme through the SH programme and has applied for an extension for two semesters during the bachelor's degree, he/she may not apply for an extension for the master's degree if he/she later receives a scholarship for a master's degree. If the scholarship holder has been granted an extension for 1 semester at the bachelor's level, he/she may apply for an extension of 1 semester at the master's level.
  • During the extension, scholarship holders may not receive a scholarship or housing allowance. The provision shall first be applied to students starting their studies in the 2020/21 academic year in an ascending order.
  • Scholarships may not be renewed for doctoral, foundation, preparatory, postgraduate specialist training courses and partial courses, furthermore for short intensive courses.
  • Applications for the renewal of scholarship status must be submitted to their host institution. The institution collects the applications and sends the list of those who receive approval to the Public Foundation. The Public Foundation forwards the list of scholarship holders whose extension request has been approved by their host institution to the Sending Partners concerned for their opinion.

CHANGE OF TRAINING, INSTITUTION AND/OR LANGUAGE (III.4.2.) During the term of the scholarship status, the scholarship holder may request, to change the scholarship training and/or institution and/or language of the training:

  • During the scholarship period, the scholarship holder has the possibility to request a change of the training and/or institution and/or language of training, once per level of training. The scholarship holder may choose any of these options once (in any combination) during the course of his/her studies.
  • The institution, training, language may be changed at the end of the semester, so that the scholarship holder can start the next semester in the new institution, training, language. The institution, training, language may be changed within one calendar year from the start of the scholarship period.The scholarship holder may also apply for a change during the second semester of the scholarship during which he/she is taking a passive semester.
  • Deadline for submitting the requests to the Public Foundation is 1 December (for a spring semester) and 15 May (for an autumn semester). The scholarship holder must submit the request for changing the institution, training, or language and the obligatory attachments to the Public Foundation via email to stipendiumhungaricum@tpf.hu
  • In case the scholarship holder changes to a training where the training duration differs from that of his/her original training, the number of remaining semesters and the end date of the scholarship period are determined as follows: In all cases, the duration of the new training is taken into account, i.e. it must be considered as if the student had started his/her scholarship studies in the new training to begin with. The number of active semesters already used up (in the original training) are then deducted. Passive semesters are not deducted as scholarship holders are not entitled to scholarship benefits during passive semesters in the first place.

FURTHER OBLIGATIONS OF THE SCHOLARSHIP HOLDERS (III.3.14-15.)

  • The scholarship holder is obliged to continue and successfully complete their higher education studies to the best of their knowledge and ability. 
  • The scholarship holder must cooperate with the host institution and the Public Foundation for the success of their higher education studies and scholarship, and in particular, shall notify the Public Foundation and the SH coordinator of the host institution of any material circumstance affecting the fulfilment of this Operational Regulations and the student agreement without delay, but no later than 8 days after its occurrence. 

TERMINATION OF THE SCHOLARSHIP (III.5.2.) The scholarship status shall terminate by unilateral declaration if

  • the scholarship holder has provably participated in the application process in bad faith and/or on the basis of false eligibility, 
  • as a result of institutional disciplinary or criminal proceedings against the scholarship holder, the scholarship holder is expelled, and for this reason the Public Foundation asks the host institution to terminate the scholarship status,
  • etc.
Last update: 2023. 03. 13. 11:22