The Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) grants a number of scholarships for academic excellence to students newly admitted to doctoral courses. The scholarships aim to attract a high level of PhD students and provide the financial support necessary to enable students to devote themselves exclusively to their PhD studies.

Academic Excellence Scholarships are complete, i.e. cover all tuition fees and include an allowance. However, Academic Excellence Scholarships financed from the Faculties/Departments' own revenue may cover only tuition fees either completely (100%) or partly (50%).

1. General Conditions

1.1 The CUT announces a number of scholarships per academic year for PhD full-time candidates. The number depends on the University’s own revenue centrally allocated (14%) and on the revenue that each department/faculty chooses to use for this purpose. The aim is to offer at least three (3) scholarships from the CUT’s centrally allocated own revenue.

1.2 The final evaluation of the candidates is done by a Special Selection Committee composed of the Vice Rector of Academic Affairs (VRAA) and one representative from each Faculty. Each Faculty selects its representative on the Special Committee from the members of the Faculty Board. The Special Committee is chaired by the VRAA. The Head of the Service of Student Affairs and Student Welfare acts as a secretary of the special committee with no voting rights.

1.3  The scholarships which are covered from the University’s central own revenue (beyond the state grant), are not allocated to the Faculties/Departments.  The Committee has the right to give more scholarships to candidates of a certain Faculty and/or not to give scholarships to candidates of another Faculty, according to the applications.  Scholarships covered by a Faculty’s or Department’s' own revenue can only be awarded to candidates of that Faculty or Department

1.4  All scholarships are announced by the Service of Student Affairs and Student Welfare in the spring semester simultaneously with the announcement of positions in the doctoral programs and relate to the next autumn semester.

1.5 The start date of the scholarship is defined as the start date of the Fall Semester courses. The date cannot be differentiated.

1.6 The end date of the scholarship is set to be the 30th of June of each academic year.

2.  Scholarship Beneficiaries

2.1. All applicants who will apply for full time study of a doctoral program are eligible to apply for the scholarship.

2.2. Applicants must study on a full time basis for the whole duration of their studies.

2.3 Holders of a full scholarship (tuition fees and allowance) may not be employed within CUT as Postgraduate Partners, Special Educational Staff, Special Scientists, Researchers, Administrative Staff or in any other position within or outside the CUT.

3.  Scholarship Terms

3.1 The duration of the full scholarship is up to three (3) academic years.

3.2 The renewal of the scholarship must take place each academic year. The Vice Rector of Academic Affairs, on the recommendation of the Postgraduate Studies Committee of the Department, decides whether or not to renew the scholarship for the next academic year. The recommendation of the Postgraduate Studies Committee is accompanied by:

(a) The Annual Progress Report on the student's research activities (prepared by the doctoral student and signed by the Research Advisor) and

(b) A detailed Statement of Insured Earnings by the Department of Social Insurance of the Republic of Cyprus for the corresponding period that the scholarship was in effect.

3.3 The (VRAA), on the recommendation of the Postgraduate Studies Committee of the Department/Entity, decides on the suspension, reduction or termination of a scholarship to a particular student when he/she considers that there are specific reasons that make it necessary (e.g. reasons relating to the performance of the scholarship owner).

3.4 Extension or suspension of the payment of the scholarship allowance can only take place if the student is on suspension, temporary interruption of study, maternity leave or paternity leave.

3.5 A doctoral student who has received a scholarship from the Cyprus University of Technology for a maximum of three (3) years cannot apply for a new scholarship.

3.6 The doctoral student to whom a scholarship has been awarded is obliged to reside in Cyprus.

3.7 The doctoral student to whom a scholarship has been awarded is obliged to have teaching or other obligations in his Department for up to four (4) hours per week, without being paid any additional fee.

3.8 A doctoral student who has been awarded a full scholarship is not allowed to work in any form during the course of the scholarship. If he/she is found to be working, the scholarship is suspended and cannot be renewed for the following academic year.

3.9 If the holder of a scholarship leaves the program before completing it and therefore before acquiring a doctoral degree, the scholarship is discontinued. In this case, the CUT reserves its rights to claim reimbursement of the amounts of tuition fees paid.

3.10 If the holder of a full scholarship is employed within and/or outside the CUT, the scholarship is discontinued. The student is obliged to return a proportion of the amount received as an allowance, based on the date that his/her employment commenced.

3.11 Scholars will be required to sign a declaration that they do not receive any other scholarship/income from CUT or from any another institution/organisation/entity, etc. and that they are not employed within or outside the CUT. The Special Committee may investigate the veracity of the responsible statements. Any false declaration will have legal consequences for the signatories. If the holder of a scholarship from the CUT receives a scholarship from another institution/organisation etc., the amount of the existing scholarship will be deducted from the amount of the new scholarship.

3.12 At the end of each academic year for which the doctoral student received a Scholarship, the student will submit an Analytical Statement of Insured Earnings from the Department of Social Insurance of the Republic of Cyprus to the Special Committee. The statement should cover the corresponding period of time that he/she was awarded the scholarship (see Note No. 3.2.).

4.  Financial Benefits

4.1 A Full Scholarship for Doctoral Students includes:

4.1.1 The tuition fees of the student (this applies only to the remaining instalments in accordance with the invoices showing what the student owes).

4.1.2 A flat-rate annual allowance of €14,400, paid in equal instalments of €1,200 each, at the beginning of each month

4.2 The scholarships are paid by the CUT’s central income deriving from the postgraduate tuition fees (14%) and any other form of own revenues of CUT (beyond the state grant).

4.3 Additional scholarships that the Faculties/Departments wish to offer to their own students are paid by the Faculty’s/Department’ own revenue. It is understood that the selection is made in accordance with the procedure and criteria described below. It is further understood that in the case of additional scholarships from Faculty/Departments these may be complete or partial (to cover all or part of the the tuition fees).

5. Procedure for the Payment of Benefits

5.1 The Service of Student Affairs and Student Welfare informs the Financial Department of CUT of the candidates to whom a scholarship has been awarded, at the beginning of the semester.

5.2 The students who have the scholarship shall receive payments by direct transfer to their bank account.

5.3 The payment of the monthly allowance begins at the start of each academic semester, within a reasonable period of time after enrolment in the courses and after it has been confirmed that the student has enrolled in courses (the term "courses" includes registration in research and/or writing stages, etc.).

6. Criteria for Evaluating Applications and awarding a scholarship

6.1 The basic criteria for evaluating an applicant are:

6.1.1 Academic performance

6.1.2 Additional academic qualifications

6.1.3 Contribution-Interest-Originality of Research

6.1.4 Participation in conferences at which the applicant was the author or co-author of a paper presented, other publications etc.

6.1.5 Letters of recommendation.

6.1.6 Other criteria decided by the Special Committee (or the Department/Faculty/Entity in the case of additional scholarships as described above) which are to be included in the the announcement of the scholarships.

6.2 The individual scoring shall be determined by the Special Committee as follows:

6.2.1 Contribution‐interest‐originality of the survey

6.2.2 Full CV (academic qualifications, publications, participation in conferences with the announcement of either the fellow only, or co-writing of the communication by the candidate and the Research Advisor, etc.)

6.2.3 Recommendation Letters

7. Evaluation Process for the Applicants

7.1. The final evaluation of all scholarship applications is done by the Special Committee that is set up.

7.2 Every Faculty choses its representative for the Special Committee from the members of the Faculty board.  When the representatives for the Special Committee are chosen from the 6 Faculties,, the Vice Rector of Academic Affairs is informed of the final composition of the committee.

7.3 If it is found that a member of the Special Selection Committee is the Research Advisor of a candidate, the Vice Rector shall request that a replacement be made.

7.4 Each Department/School receives a file of applications from the Service of Student Affairs and Student Welfare, scores each application based on the Criteria defined by the Special Committee and places, in order of priority, the candidates of its Department/Faculty on the basis of the evaluation criteria. The Department/School may also invite candidates to an oral interview.

7.5 The President of the Department sends a documented report and ranking list to the School representative on the Special Committee, who shall take it into account during the decision-making process.  Of course, the Department can send a separate evaluation report for scholarships that will be funded by the Department’s own revenue.

7.6 The Special Committee shall decide on the candidates to whom a Scholarship will be awarded, taking into account the evaluation and ranking of each Department/Faculty, and shall submit nominal lists with its recommendation to the Rector's Council for approval.

7.7.  The Rector’s Council has the right to refer back to the Special Committee the whole or part of its recommendation.

7.8 The Vice Rector of Academic Affairs informs the Special Committee and the Faculties about the students who have been chosen for the scholarships.

7.9 The students that have been chosen for a scholarship are informed by the Service of Student Affairs and Student Welfare.

8. Application Procedure

8.1 Applicants for a scholarship must submit the following information via the electronic system:

i. "Electronic Application".

ii. Full CV exclusively in Europass format.

iii. Description of the proposed research (report of up to 2 pages, with objectives and research plan).

iv. All necessary supporting documents, qualifications, analytical scores and other additional information.

v. At least two letters of recommendation (one letter of recommendation should be from the candidate's Research Advisor). Evaluators submit letters of recommendation via the electronic system.

8.2 The deadline for applying is set by the Special Committee and announced by the Service of Student Affairs and Student Welfare.

8.3 Applications which do not include all the required and supporting documents and/or are submitted late, will not be taken into consideration.

The Rules for the Granting of Internal Scholarships for Postgraduate Studies were approved at the 95th Session of the Senate (2/5/2018) and at the 83rd Council Meeting (24/5/2018) of the University. They were revised with the inclusion of the policy for scholarships of academic excellence at the 131st Session of the Senate dated 17/6/2020 and ratified at the 108th Council Meeting dated 16/7/2020.