The Bakala Foundation encourages talented students once again. The eighth annual Scholarship program has just started.

Prague 11th January 2017: Today saw the Bakala Foundation kick off another year of attractive Scholarship programmes. Several million crowns will encourage the most talented students with an ambition to graduate in a Bachelor's or Master's programme at prestigious foreign universities. This opportunity to obtain financial support for study abroad is provided to students from secondary schools and universities for the eighth time. The best applicants will receive a scholarship in September. Its amount depends on the selected universities and individual financial specifications. If the scholars meet all of the conditions, the Foundation guarantees support throughout the programme of study for which the scholarship was obtained. Along with filing the application, each applicant is required to write an essay in English on one of three topics specified by the Foundation. In the context of the first topic, students can reflect on what they consider the most fascinating progress in their field of interest over the past 100 years. The second should ponder the question of whether an individual can contribute to sustainable development, and the third a reflection on the topic of the right to life and to death and where are the boundaries of medicine today. Students who are interested in our scholarship can only apply to the programme electronically, via the web form on the Foundation website, where they will also find this year's essay topics. Applications may be submitted until 15th May 2017. Future Scholars are selected in two rounds. In the first round, the jury will assess all applications and invite the best applicants for personal interviews, which will be held in September 2017. From these will be selected the future scholars. The Scholarship Programme is very popular among students. Last year, we received 213 applications from which we selected 22 students for interviews with a commission of experts. The scholarship was granted to 13 of them. The Bakala Foundation For the eigth year The Bakala Foundation offers financial support through Scholarship to Czech students who have excellent results and cannot finance their further studies. Candidates must be less than 33 years old. In general, students who decide to study abroad have to pass the entrance exam and provide the given university with information about financial resources and their method of funding the studies. Annual tuition at the most expensive universities is close to one million crowns (45-50 thousand USD). This price does not include the costs associated with the stay and study. Thanks to Michaela and Zdeněk Bakala, you can encounter Czech students at eighteen American, eleven British, two French, two German, one Dutch and one New Zealand universities. Under the Scholarship programme, the Foundation has already supported 113 Czech students in the last 8 years. In this academic year, a financial contribution from the Bakala Foundation has been granted to 47 students - 13 new, who obtained a scholarship for the first time, and 34 who continue their studies from previous years. As for the long-term statistics, the programme shows that scholarships are granted to young talented people from all regions of the Czech Republic. Most of them have an interest in studying social sciences and humanities – 35, representing 25%. Approximately one-fifth of them want to get a degree in applied sciences and every tenth applicant wishes to study at art schools. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in studying in the UK in particular. Last year, 123 students applied for a scholarship in the United Kingdom; students also continue to show great interest in studying Ivy League universities. However, we also have students interested studying at other elite universities in, among others, the Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia, New Zealand and Australia. For more information about the programme, please visit www.bakalafoundation.org. For more information, please contact Marie Wichterlová: wichterlova@bakalafoundation.org, phone: +420 601 593 949