We provide scholarships to young people who have been admitted to the world’s leading universities, are eager to gain professions derived from Armenia's sustainable development priorities and make contributions to the development of Armenia.

You can apply to My Step Foundation’s scholarship by filling the online application. The application period begins on April 10th (10:00, Yerevan time) and ends on July 10th (23:59, Yerevan time).

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for applying to the Scholarship Program, you must fulfill the following three conditions:

• Be a citizen or a permanent resident of the Republic of Armenia.

• Be between the ages of 17 and 40 at the time you apply for the scholarship.

• Have an unconditional offer of a full-time, degree-granting academic program at one of the eligible universities.

The Permanent Resident of Armenia is considered a person who permanently lived in Armenia for the last 2 years for at least 183 days in a year. A person who was outside of Armenia in the mentioned period on educational purposes, health issues or official duties, but before leaving Armenia he/she lived permanently in Armenia for 2 years for at least 183 days a year is also considered a permanent resident.

My Step Foundation will provide scholarships to those applicants who: meet the eligibility criteria and have the motivation and potential to return to Armenia upon graduation to reside and work in Armenia to make their investment in the development of the country.

The Foundation will consider the applications of those applicants who have been admitted to the world's best 20 universities ranked by subject and meet the eligibility criteria. The university rankings will be based on the University Rankings by Subjectpublished in https://www.topuniversities.com/ and https://www.timeshighereducation.com websites.

Academic Degrees

In order to apply to My Step Scholarship Program, you must be admitted to a full-time, degree-granting academic program at one of the eligible universities.

The eligible programs are:

• Master’s program
  Priority will be given to the applications for a Master’s degree.
  

• PhD
  Will only be considered those PhD programs which include research related to Armenia and in particular areas relating to Armenia's development.

• Bachelor’s program
  Will only be considered applications with priority specialties and a very limited number of scholarships will be awarded.(updated: 11.03.2020)
  

The following programs are outside our criteria: summer academic programs, short-term academic programs, professional tracks, distance and online educational programs, as well as certification programs, conferences and business trips.

Scholarship Disbursement

My Step Foundation will grant scholarship to the selected candidates as follows:

• for Master's and PhD applicants - up to 50% of total tuition and related expenses but not more than $25,000; (updated: 11.03.2020)
• for Bachelor's degree applicants a very limited number of scholarships will be awarded -up to 50% of total tuition and related expenses but not more than $10,000. (updated: 11.03.2020)

My Step Foundation will grant scholarships to the selected applicants with the condition of returning and working in Armenia for at least 3 years upon graduation. Up to 1 year grace period can be granted after graduation and before returning to Armenia. The scholarship amount of each selected grantee depends on the application, specialty, results of the interview with the Selection Committee and the number of applicants.

When awarding a scholarship, the Foundation takes into account the university’s statement of need for financial aid and any additional grants the student may have received. Therefore, the amount also varies depending on the student’s individual financial situation and assistance awarded by the university and other organizations.

The study-related expenses accepted by the Foundation are:

• tuition fees,

• health insurance,

• living expenses,

• cost of academic materials.

Main requirement of the scholarship recipient

A My Step Scholarship recipient is obliged to:

• Study and successfully graduate from the academic program for which the “My Step” scholarship has been granted.

• During the study be in constant contact with My Step Foundation.

• Be involved in projects of My Step Foundation.

• During the study be actively involved in the local Armenian communities.

• Return to Armenia upon graduation to reside and work in Armenia for a minimum of 3 years (note: for fulfilling this requirement, the Foundation may award a student up to one year for professional internship or work).

• Share knowledge and develop their field of expertise in Armenia.

Selection Procedure

The selection procedure of scholarship recipients will be implemented in 3 stages:

• Fulfillment of Eligibility criteria,

• Evaluation by Selection Committee,

• Interview with Selection Committee.

Applications will be reviewed by the scholarship program coordinators. All applications that meet the eligibility criteria will be anonymously reviewed and evaluated by the Selection Committee.

While reviewing the applications, priority will be given to specialties that are related to the sustainable development of Armenia. The list of those specialties can be found below. This list may be extended in future.

• Agriculture & Forestry
• Veterinary Science
• Medicine & Healthcare Management
• Pharmacy & Pharmacology
• Earth Science
• Meteorology
• Environmental Science
• Mineral and Mining Engineering
• General Engineering
• Electricity & Energy
• Mechanical Engineering
• Manufacturing
• Electronics & Automation
• Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
• Biological Sciences & Biochemistry
• Genetics
• Biophysics
• Biotechnology
  
• Computer Science
• Mathematics
• Data Science
• Artificial Intelligence
  
• Statistics
• Economics & Econometrics
• Physics & Astronomy
• Materials Sciences
• Education
• Didactics
  
• Educational assessment and testing
  
• Educational neuroscience
  
• Architecture
• Urban Planning
• Civil Engineering
• Transportation Engineering
• Aviation
  
• Logistics
• Journalism
• Marketing and advertising
• Sociology
• Criminology
  
• Arbitration
  
• Public Policy
• Tourism, Hospitality & Leisure Management
• Sport Science
• Psychology
• Animation
• Cinematography
  
• Graphic design
• Radio and TV production
• Design of industrial products

All applications that pass the threshold set by the evaluation, will be invited to an interview with the Selection Committee. All applicants will be notified about the results of interviews within a specified time frame.

The main points that will be taken into account during the application evaluation process are:

• specialty,

• university,

• academic degree,

• motivation letter,

• recommendation letters,

• the project proposal in the field of specialization,

• any other personal and professional achievements.

The final decision will be based on the application evaluation, interview results, the number of applicants and scholarship program budget.

Breach of the scholarship agreement

• In case the duties described in the Scholarship Agreement are not fulfilled by a scholar, then the latter will be obliged to return the scholarship funding and a penalty to the Foundation according to the conditions set in the Agreement.

• Non-observance of any of the conditions described in the Scholarship Agreement entitles the Foundation to publish information on violation of the Scholarship Agreement by a scholar and liability deriving therefrom.

Required documents for submission

All documents should be either in Armenian, English or Russian. In other cases an official translation of those documents shall be required. Total size of the attachments should not exceed 20 Mb.

Required documents for all applicants

• Copy of a valid passport

• Copy of an unconditional offer from the degree-granting university

• Copy of the statement of purpose/personal statement sent to the university

• A motivation letter to My Step Foundation

• A project proposal related to the field of specialty that the scholar will implement upon return to Armenia

• 2 recommendation letters

• CV

• Photo (3X4)

Additional documents required for Armenian residents

• A proof of Armenian residency

Additional documents required for applicants who have received a decision about financial aid from university

• The decision about financial aid

Additional documents required for applicants who wish to inform the Foundation about their personal achievements

• Documents about their personal achievements

Additional documents required for all non-first year applicants

• Academic transcript

Requirements for documents

• Copy of a valid passport

Armenian citizens should attach copies of all filled pages of the passport, including pages containing the registration address, any types of visa and stamps.

• Copy of an unconditional offer from the degree-granting university

An applicant can apply to the Scholarship Program only with an unconditional letter from the university.

The financial condition of the offer is not considered as an academic condition by the Foundation.

If you are already a current student at the university you are applying for, you need to combine the following documents into one document:

• your unconditional offer from the university

• an official letter from your university stating that you are currently enrolled at your university and will be eligible to continue your studies for the upcoming academic year which you are applying for.

• Copy of the statement of purpose/personal statement sent to the university

If such a letter doesn’t exist, you should submit the copy of the questions and answers on your university application that pertain to your professional and intended future goals.

• A motivation letter to My Step Foundation

The motivation letter can be written in either Armenian or English and must contain a maximum of 400 words. The letter should contain information about yourself and answer the following questions:

• How do you imagine your contribution to the development of Armenia? Please be clear and concrete.

• Which are the main challenges in Armenia in the field of your specialty?

• How will you apply the gained knowledge and experience in Armenia upon graduation?

• A project proposal related to the field of specialty which the applicant will implement upon return to Armenia.

You should download the project proposal form here, fill it and attach to the application form.

• 2 recommendation letters

It is preferable that at least one recommendation letter is provided from an academic representative.

If you have work experience, it is preferable that at least one recommendation letter is provided by your current or previous employer.

The recommendation letters should describe your personal and professional qualities, achievements and potential.

If the recommendation letter provider wishes to send the letter directly to the Foundation, he/she can send it to [email protected] email address mentioning applicant’s name and surname in the subject line of the email. In this case, the applicant should attach a blank document in “.pdf” format, which includes only the name and surname of the recommendation letter provider.

• CV

CV can be either in Armenian or English.

• Photo (3X4)

The photo should be a high resolution formal portrait rather than a freestyle photo, showing your face clearly. The photo should not portray you wearing sunglasses and a cap, should not be cropped from a group picture. Selfies are not acceptable.

• A proof of Armenian residency

The Armenian Permanent Resident is considered a person who permanently lived in Armenia for the last 2 years for at least 183 days in a year. The person who was outside of Armenia in the mentioned period on educational purposes, health issues or official duties, but before leaving Armenia he/she lived permanently in Armenia for 2 years for at least 183 days a year is also considered a resident.

Official documents signed and provided from an educational institution or employer or any other documents officially proving the Armenian residency are satisfactory.

• The decision of financial aid from the university

You should attach a copy of the official letter from your university about the decision of your financial aid status.

• Personal achievements

You can provide references, certificates or any other official documents about receiving medals from international olympiads, any successful representation of Armenia in international competitions, achievements in military service etc. You should combine all documents in one file.

• Academic transcript

You should provide your latest official transcript which should contain your latest GPA score. If your university does not use the GPA system, any other official document about your study progress is acceptable.