Scholarships

1. A candidate has to receive an official approval of acceptance (Conditional Agreement) from the chosen Lithuanian higher education institution.

2. The candidate has to be a student, lecturer or researcher (lecturers and researchers in the fields of linguistics or philology only) of higher education and research institution abroad, except citizens of Belarus and Russia who are not eligible to apply.

3. The state scholarship can be granted only once. A candidate who has already received funding under this instrument will not be eligible.

1. A candidate has to receive an official approval of acceptance (Conditional Agreement) from the chosen Lithuanian higher education institution.

2. A candidate has to be a foreigner of Lithuanian origin or a Lithuanian living abroad (citizens of the Republic of Lithuania who have lived abroad for at least three years or citizens of foreign states who have lost the citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania are regarded as Lithuanians living abroad. A foreigner of Lithuanian origin is considered to be a foreigner of Lithuanian descent if at least one of his parents or grandparents is or was Lithuanian and who considers himself Lithuanian).

3. A candidate has to be an active member of the Lithuanian community abroad or a student, lecturer or researcher of a higher education institution abroad.

4. The state scholarship can be granted only once. A candidate who has already received funding under this instrument will not be eligible.

1. A candidate has to receive an official approval of acceptance (Conditional Agreement) from the chosen Lithuanian higher education institution.

2. A candidate has to be a student, lecturer or researcher of a centre of Lithuanian (Baltic) studies of a foreign country, except citizens of Belarus and Russia who are not eligible to apply.

3. The state scholarship can be granted only once. A candidate who has already received funding under this instrument will not be eligible.

• A candidate must apply through the online application system and attach the listed scanned documents. All information in the application (including attached documents) must be provided in English or Lithuanian.
• Before applying for the first time, the candidate must register in the online application system.
• Once logged in, the candidate must click on the “Create Application” box under “Applications” and select the scope “Scholarships for Short-Term Studies and Short-Term Lithuanian Studies” and the call “Scholarships for Short–Term Lithuanian Studies 2025 (at least 50% of the subjects must related to Lithuanian studies)”.
• Applications must be filled in and documents must be submitted by the set deadline. Please note that after the deadline, no changes to the application are possible. Incomplete applications or applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

Candidates must provide copies of these listed documents through the online application system:

1. The Conditional Agreement for Studies (this template form must be used. It must be completely filled in and signed by three parties: the candidate, a responsible person at the sending and receiving institutions). The programme of short-term Lithuanian studies specified in the study agreement must consist of at least 30 credits per semester. It is not applicable to candidates of the third study cycle. At least 50% of the subjects in the study programme must be related to Lithuanian studies (e.g. Lithuanian philology, linguistics, literature, history, ethnology, folklore, cultural studies, etc.). Recommendations for filling out the Conditional Agreement.

2. One recommendation letter (it is recommended to use this template form). IMPORTANT: The date of issuing the recommendation provided must be no earlier than 6 months before the date of submission of the application. Specific conditions for the recommendation letter apply to:

• Lithuanians from abroad and foreigners of Lithuanian origin: a recommendation letter must be from a Lithuanian community abroad or a higher education institution abroad.
• Candidates of centres of Lithuanian (Baltic) studies: arecommendation letter must be from a centre of Lithuanian (Baltic) studies.

3. Only for Lithuanians from abroad and foreigners of Lithuanian origin: A certificate or other document proving the Lithuanian origin issued by the Lithuanian community of a respective country or other competent authority (an embassy and similar) or a document issued by a competent foreign authority (a school, municipality, embassy and similar) proving that the person has resided for three years in a foreign country if he/she is an alien.  

All eligible and complete applications are evaluated by experts. The final decision on granting the State Scholarship to candidates will be based on the following criteria:

1. The goals of chosen studies are clear and realistic.
2. There is a clear connection between the planned studies and the candidate’s motivation.
3. The candidate’s studies are relevant to Lithuania (Lithuanian language, culture, history) and/or is connected to their plans in Lithuania.
4. The candidate clearly articulates the added value for their future career.
5. The candidate clearly articulates the added value for personal improvement.

Priorities:

Priority will be given to the applicants (except the candidates from centres of Lithuanian (Baltic) studies) who:

• Formally or informally study Lithuanian language, history and culture as a subject at the home institution – it should be noted in the application form.
• Are Lithuanians from abroad or foreigners of Lithuanian origin. Candidates must submit a certificate or other document proving their Lithuanian origin, issued by the Lithuanian community of a respective country or other competent authority (such as a school, municipality, embassy or similar).

Note: Each priority equals to 1 extra point to the competition score.

• Students must physically study in Lithuania in order to receive the scholarship and the grant covering the study cost. Distance learning is not eligible for financing.
• The grant covering the study cost is equal to the national standard study cost when the study cost established by a higher education institution exceeds the national standard study cost, or equal to the study cost payable for the studies, when the study cost established by a higher education institution does not exceed the national standard study cost. When the study cost established by a higher education institution exceeds the national standard study cost, the candidate has to cover the difference between the study cost established by a higher education institution and the national standard study cost.
• Scholarships are paid throughout the study period (including periods of holidays), by transferring money on a monthly basis to a student’s personal account (transfers to student’s personal bank account are made by the Lithuanian higher education institution, in which the student is enrolled).
• The total amount of the scholarship and the grant will be transferred to the bank account of the Lithuanian higher education institution, in which the student is enrolled.
• All candidates approved for the short–term Lithuanian studies will receive a monthly scholarship of 910 EUR. 
• The exact sum of the total amount allocated for the candidate will be calculated according to the number of days of the short-term Lithuanian studies, thus slight variations in the monthly scholarship might occur. The scholarship is intended to cover the scholarship holder’s expenses only. Additional amount for accompanying partners or family is not provided. Lithuanian state scholarships cannot be double funded from other sources, e.g. other scholarships or other academic exchange programmes.

The financial support (a scholarship and a grant covering the study cost) is terminated if a student:

1. Stops his/her short-term Lithuanian studies in a chosen Lithuanian higher education institution in Lithuania.

2. Does not start his/her short-term Lithuanian studies in time.

3. Finishes his/her short-term Lithuanian studies more than 6 days earlier than it was stated in the official document issued by a Lithuanian higher education institution.

4. Has academic debts.

5. Circumstances arise or become known due to which the scholarship could not be awarded.

6. Violates the requirements set out in the call for applications.

• Please note that the application for the State Scholarship is a separate procedure, not having any influence on admission to short-term Lithuanian studies at Lithuanian higher education institutions: you should apply for short-term Lithuanian studies, then afterwards – for the Lithuanian State scholarship.
• Applications with the attached documents must be submitted only through the online application system, applications submitted in other ways (e. g. by post or by e-mail) will not be considered.
• All application documents (in any of the following formats: JPEG, GIF, PNG, PDF) must be submitted by the set deadline. Please note that after the deadline, no changes are possible. Incomplete applications or applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
• The list of Lithuanian higher education institutions is available at https://studyin.lt/universities/

Important dates for applicants for the year 2025:

6 May 2025: deadline to apply for the scholarship. The online application system will be closed at 4:00 p.m. Vilnius European time on 6 May 2025.

1 July 2025: notification of eligible applicants about the final results.

Contact

E-mail state.scholarships@smpf.lt