CALL FOR GRANTS TO STUDY A UNIVERSITY MASTER S DEGREE PROGRAMME AT THE ROVIRA I VIRGILI UNIVERSITY STUDY GRANTS FOR NEW INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ACADEMIC YEAR 2014-2015 University Master s Degree Academic Committee, 27 February 2014 1. Conditions of the call The Rovira i Virgili University announces a competitive call for grants to study on a university master s degree programme during the academic year 2014 2015. These grants are aimed at new international students with a good academic record. 1.1 Aim The present call aims to facilitate and increase the participation of new international students who fulfil the entry requirements of the URV university master s degrees. The grants apply to the university master s degrees listed in Annex 1. Under no circumstances may they apply to interuniversity master s degrees whose registration procedure is not organized by the URV, professional track master s degrees and those university master s degrees that benefit from scholarships cofunded by the Carolina Foundation 1. The number of grants awarded can be increased by means of any extra resources proposed by the bodies responsible for organizing the master s degree, as long as they use the specific application form. 1.2. Characteristics of the grant The grants cover the registration fee for the first academic year and provide a study bursary of 4000. The registration fee will pay for a maximum of 60 ECTS credits, including registered and recognized credits and insurance, but it will not cover any of the administrative fees (transcript management fees, learning support fees and, in case of the first registration for the graduates as foreign education systems, academic career fees). The administrative fees will be deducted from the study bursary. For master s degrees with blended teaching, the grants cover the registration fee for the first academic year and provide a study bursary of 2000. The registration 1 University Master's Degree in Wine, Sparkling Wine and Beer Sciences; University Master's Degree in Mental Health: Research into Psychiatry, Neurotoxicology and Psychopharmacology; University Master's Degree in Electronic Systems Engineering and Technology; University Master's Degree in Tourism Analysis and Innovation Techniques. 1
fee will cover a maximum of 60 ECTS, including registered and recognized credits and insurance, but it will not cover any of the administrative fees (transcript management fees, learning support fees and, in case of the first registration for the graduates as foreign education systems, academic career fees). The administrative fees will be deducted from the study bursary. For on-line master s degrees, the grant only will cover the registration fee for the first academic year. The registration fee will pay for a maximum of 60 ECTS credits, including registered and recognized credits and insurance, but it will not cover any of the administrative fees (transcript management fees, learning support fees and, in case of the first registration for the graduates as foreign education systems, academic career fees). For master s degrees worth 120 ECTS, if the student has already completed 60 ECTS on a previous course and these credit are recognized for the first year of the master s degree, the grant will cover the second year registration fee and a study bursary of 4000. The registration fee will pay for a maximum of 60 ECTS credits, including registered and recognized credits and insurance, but it will not cover any of the administrative fees (transcript management fees, learning support fees and, in case of the first registration for the graduates as foreign education systems, academic career fees). The administrative fees will be deducted from the study bursary. The student must pay the credit recognition fee for the first year (the credit recognition application fee and the fee for registering the recognized credits). The Postgraduate and Doctoral School will be responsible for transferring the study bursary by means of the Economic Resources Service to the student who is the beneficiary of the grant. The Postgraduate and Doctoral School will also be responsible for paying the registration and tuition fees to the Academic Management Service, and for paying the insurance premium to the insurance company. The students will receive the amount of 4000 in three payments: First payment: As soon as the students have registered at the university and on the master s degree, they must submit the required documentation to the Postgraduate and Doctoral School so that it can transfer an initial payment of 600 to them. This sum is to cover any initial expenses the students may have and will be transferred directly to the students Spanish bank accounts. Second payment: During the two following months, the sum of 2000 will be transferred directly into the Spanish bank accounts of the beneficiaries. Third payment: During the last week of February 2015, the beneficiaries will receive a transfer for the outstanding sum of money directly into their Spanish bank accounts. For master s degrees with blended teaching, the payments will be adapted to the amount of the study bursary. 2
Under no circumstances will the money for the registration or tuition fees be transferred to the students. The Postgraduate and Doctoral School will transfer this amount directly to the Academic Management Service. Likewise, the Postgraduate and Doctoral School will also pay the insurance premium for these students, which will cover the costs of health care, accidents and repatriation during the period that they are beneficiaries of the grant. Nevertheless, students must contact the International Center (Av. Països Catalans, 17-19, 43007 Tarragona) in order to take out this insurance. If the student fails to attend the Master s course without just cause for a period exceeding 60 days, he/she must return the total amount of the tuition and study bursary that he/she has received up to that point. 1.3. Requirements a) General 1. Students must not be the beneficiaries of other incompatible grants or bursaries (see section 1.9 of the present call). Should they be awarded another grant or bursary of the same characteristics, they will have to explicitly renounce one of them and return the amount they have already received. b) Specific 1. Beneficiaries must be pre-registered for the corresponding URV university master s degree before the deadline for submitting grant applications expires. 2. Beneficiaries must be registered for at least 60 ECTS credits of the URV university master s degree. This figure includes the number of recognized credits. 3. Beneficiaries must have been favourably evaluated by the specially appointed Committee and their coefficient must be within the total number of grants to be awarded. 4. People who, during the grant application period, are on study visits or who are living in Spain for whatever reason are excluded from the call. 1.4. Documents that must be submitted with the application: a. Signed application form addressed to the rector of the university (see attached form) b. Responsible declaration that the beneficiary is not living in Spain (see attached form) c. Any other documents that the Postgraduate and Doctoral School may require to appraise students applications during the selection process. 3
1.5. Submission of applications The period for submitting applications is from 1 March 2014 to 30 April 2014 inclusive. Applications can be submitted: a) By e-mail to the address postgraduate@urv.cat. b) By certified mail. In this case, the applicant must communicate this within the application period by means of an e-mail to the Postgraduate and Doctoral School of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (e-mail address: postgraduate@urv.cat) attaching a pdf file with all the documents required. c) To any auxiliary registry or the General Registry of the URV. The location and opening hours of the auxiliary registries and General Registries of the URV can be found at https://seuelectronica.urv.cat/registre.html. The auxiliary registry of the Postgraduate and Doctoral School is located in the Office of the Secretary of the Facultat de Ciències de l Educació i Psicologia, Campus Sescelades, Ctra. de Valls, s/n, 43007, Tarragona. 1.6 Selection procedure After the deadline for submitting applications, students will have a period of five natural days (until 5 May, 2014) to add or amend any documentation that may be required. After this period, the list of admitted and excluded applications will be published on the website at the following address: www.urv.cat/masters_oficials/en_beques_edpd.html. The applications will be appraised by a Selection Committee consisting of three members from the knowledge area of the master s degree. The committee will be chaired by the coordinator of each master s degree. This committee will raise the proposal of grant awards to the Vice-rector for Postgraduate Studies and Lifelong Learning and indicate the order of priority so that all the grants can be awarded should there be any withdrawals. Applications will be appraised using the following criteria: 1. Academic transcript, maximum 6 points 2. Curriculum Vitae (previous training, languages, temporary stays in other countries, mobility, professional experience), maximum 4 points The minimum number of points required to be eligible for a grant is 7. The Selection Committee will evaluate the academic transcripts and curriculums that the applicants have sent to postgraduate@urv.cat along with the remaining documentation required for admission to the master s degree. 4
In order to ensure that all the grants are awarded in the most effective manner possible, the Selection Committee of each master s degree will meet between 12 and 16 May 2014. On the basis of the proposals made by the various Selection Committees, the Vice-rector for Postgraduate Studies and Lifelong Learning shall convene the Standing Recruitment Committee, which will make the definitive award of the grants and indicate the order of priority. This Committee will consist of five members, representing five different scientific areas. In the event that some grants are not assigned, the Standing Recruitment Committee can redistribute them among the other master s degrees, with the exception of those that are funded by the bodies responsible for university master s degrees. In this case, the body responsible for the master degree will decide on how the grants are to be awarded. 1.7 Resolution of the call Once the process has been completed, the Vice-rector for Postgraduate Studies and Lifelong Learning will publish the definitive list of grants awarded. This list will be available at the following website: www.urv.cat/masters_oficials/en_beques_edpd.html. A waiting list will also be published, consisting of those students who will only be awarded a grant if a beneficiary decides not to accept the award or is excluded for any other reason established in the present call. The beneficiaries must indicate whether they accept or relinquish the grant within a period of 10 consecutive days of the publication of the definitive list of grants awarded. If the beneficiaries do not provide this information within this time period, they will be considered to have withdrawn from the application process and the grant will be awarded to the next candidate on the list. Should you wish to do so, you can appeal to the rector of the URV within one month of having been informed of the decision, or make any other appeal that you believe to be in your interests. 1.8 Payment of the grant In order to be able to receive payment of the grant, beneficiaries must provide the Postgraduate and Doctoral School (Crta. de Valls s/n, W1 Building, ground floor, 43007 Tarragona) with the following documents: Photocopy of the student s NIE application (tax identification number for foreigners) Photocopy of the student s Spanish bank account book, which must contain the name of the student 5
Form containing the student s personal and bank data (the Postgraduate and Doctoral School will provide the students with this form so they can fill it in) 1.9 Incompatibilities 1. The beneficiaries of the grants described in this call cannot be the recipients of any other bursary or grant with the same characteristics or purpose, or any other bursary or grant for activities that, in the opinion of the Vice-Rector s Office responsible for postgraduate affairs, may prevent students from dedicating themselves exclusively to the Master s course. The exceptions are the AGAUR and the Spanish Ministry s mobility grants, which are regarded as being a complement to a study programme and designed exclusively to encourage mobility. 2. If students have been awarded any other bursary or grant of a similar kind, or any other that may prevent them from dedicating themselves exclusively to the Master s course, they must renounce their right to the award in writing and return the totality of the sum awarded. 3. Any other case of incompatibility not included in this regulation will be studied and decided on by the Vice-Rector s Office responsible for postgraduate affairs. 1.10 Renewal for master s degrees of 120 and 90 ECTS credits Those students awarded with a URV grant to study a university master s degree and who have registered for the first academic year of a master s degree worth 120 or 90 ECTS (2 academic years) will be able to renew the grant during the 2015-2016 academic year, provided that they fulfil the following requirements: -They must pass the first academic year with an average grade of 7, calculated according to regulation 1125/2003. - They must have registered for all the outstanding credits that they need to complete to finish the master s degree. In all cases, students wishing to renew their grants have to apply to do so. For professional track master s degrees and university master s degrees that benefit from scholarships co-funded by the Carolina Foundation, the renewal call will be administered by the responsible bodies. 6
Schedule of call for grants to study a university master s degree programme at the URV for new international students University Master s Degree Academic Committee, 27 February 2014 Approval of the call for grants 27 February 2014 Publication of the call on the website, information to the coordinators Deadline for application submission Publication of the list of applications Committees meet to propose beneficiaries Standing Recruitment Committee Publication of the list of beneficiaries Beneficiaries accept or relinquish their grants Beneficiaries submit their documents 1 March 2014 30 April 2014 8 May 2014 12-16 May 2014 26 May 2014 27 May 2014 Up to 6 June 2014 After registration to the master 7
ANNEX 1: UNIVERSITY MASTER S DEGREES IN THE 2014-2015 ACADEMIC YEAR WITH GRANTS AVAILABLE UNIVERSITY MASTER S DEGREES ECTS Advanced Studies in Catalan Language, Literature and Culture 60 Advanced Studies in Public Law and Administration 60 Ageing and Health (blended) 60 Air-Conditioning Technologies and Energy Efficiency in Buildings 60 Applied Chromatographic Techniques 60 Business Management 60 Classical Archaeology 90 Climate change: Instrumental Reconstruction and Analysis 60 Company and Contract Law 60 Computational and Mathematical Engineering (online) 60 Computer Engineering: Computer Security and Intelligent Systems 90 Economics 60 Educational Technology: e-learning and Knowledge Management (online) 60 Entrepreneurship and Innovation 60 Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Production 60 Environmental Law (virtual) 120 Genetic, Nutritional and Environmental Determinants of Growth and Development 60 Medical Anthropology and Global Health (blended) 120 Nanoscience, Materials and Processes: Cutting-Edge Chemical Technology 60 Nutrition and Metabolism 60 Professional English Translation 60 Quaternary Archaeology and Human Evolution (Erasmus Mundus) 120 Research into Nursing Sciences 60 Social Sciences of Development: Cultures and Development in Africa 120 Strategic Communication in the Risk Society (MASTERDEC) 60 Synthesis, Catalysis and Molecular Design 60 Teaching Foreign Languages (Spanish as a Foreign Language/English as a Foreign Language) 60 Territorial Planning: Information, Tools and Methods 60 Thermodynamic Engineering of Fluids 60 Urban anthropology, Migrations and Social Intervention (blended) 90 8