EU Scholarship Scheme in Kosovo

YCS ROUND IX: Info-Days on 7 February 2012 in Mitrovica North and on 8 February 2012 in Pristina (2/2/2012)

An information session on Round IX Selections is being organised on Tuesday 7 February at 13:30 in Mitrovica North, and on Wednesday 8 February 2012 in Pristina. To read more please click here.

YCS ROUND IX: Info-Day on 1 February 2012 (27/1/2012)

An information session on Round IX Selections is being organised on Wednesday, 1st February at 13:30. To read more please click here.

YCS Round IX: Final Announcement Published (13/1/2012)

The European Commission Liaison Office to Kosovo and the Ministry for European Integration, announce the opening of the 9^th Round of applications to the Young Cell Scheme, the EU post-graduate scholarships programme for Kosovo. Please click here for more information.

YCS Round IX: Pre-Notice Announcement Published (3/1/2012)

The European Commission Liaison Office to Kosovo and the Ministry for European Integration, announce the forthcoming opening of the 9^th Round of applications to the Young Cell Scheme, the EU post-graduate scholarships programme for Kosovo. Please click here for more information.

Please note some of the links below may be not working anymore. To find the relevant information visit the page of the previous selection procedures by clicking here.

YCS Round VIII: Final Results Published (12/4/2011)

Round VIII Selections awarded grants to a total of 40 applicants, and retained 6 candidates as reserve. Grants were distributed as follows: EU Law, 10, General Economics 14 (and 6 reserves), Econometrics, 4, and Hard Sciences 12. Out of the 40 grantees and the 6 reserves, 26 are women and 20 are men. To read more please click here.

YCS Round VIII: Results Written Exams (26/3/2011)

The Results of the Written exams for Round VIII Selections have been published today. You can download the rankings, with the names of candidates invited to the interviews, and their scores, at Round VIII Selection page on this website.  To read more please click here.

YCS Round VIII: Update on Candidates Conditionally Invited (21/3/2011)

Following the hosting of the Written Exams on Sat. 12 and Sun.13 March, and following Friday 18th March deadline to bring in the missing documents for candidates conditionally invited to the written exams, updated lists of applicants still competing for a Round VIII Scholarships have been published. To read more please click here.

YCS Round VIII: Pre-Selection Stage Results (5/3/2011)

The Pre-Selection stage for Round VIII Selection Procedure has been concluded and 334 Applicants have been invited to the Written Exams on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 March.To read more please click here.

YCS Round VIII: Applications are now closed (28/2/2011, 17h00)

Applications to Round VIII have now been closed. A total of 376 applications has been received. Further information about sectors of applicants and their gender will be published by 5th of March, together with the lists of those invited to the written exams. Rules of Procedure can still be downloaded here.

YCS Round VIII: Important News for Applicants (23/2/2011)

For the EU LAW Sector: ECLO and the Ministry for European Integration have agreed to include under the EU LAW sector the eligibility of candidates having an undergraduate degree in Criminology. This means that also graduate in Criminology can apply under the EU LAW Sector. In case they will be awarded a scholarship they must apply for either LLM programmes in EU Law or for Master programmes in Criminology provided by a Faculty of Law, as already written in the Rules of Procedure.

For the ECONOMETRICS Sector: Applicants in this sector are informed that the YCS Secretariat is negotiating with different Universities (ie, Sussex University and Staffordshire University in the UK and Central European University in Budapest) a group application for all 6 available scholarships. In case an agreement will be reached with any of these 3 Universities for the whole group of 6, grantees in ECONOMETRIS will be awarded a grant to attend the University where the agreement has been reached.

YCS 2011 ROUND VIII: Info-Day on 15 February 2011 (8/2/2011)

A 2 hours information session is being organised on Tuesday, 15th February at 12:00. To read more please click here.

YCS 2011 ROUND VIII: Info-Day on 31 January 2011 (20/1/2011)

A 2 hours information session is being organised on Monday, 31st January at 12:00. To read more please click here.

YCS 2011 ROUND VIII APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN (14/1/11)

The European Commission Liaison Office to Kosovo and the Ministry for European Integration, announce the opening of the 8th Round of applications to the Young Cell Scheme, the EU post-graduate scholarships programme for Kosovo, which is currently implemented by SOFRECO SA. Applications are open from Friday 14th January and until Monday 28th February 2011. Click here to read more and receive the application documents pack.

YCS 2011  PRE-NOTICE ANNOUNCEMENT ROUND VIII SELECTIONS PUBLISHED (30/12/10)

The European Commission Liaison Office to Kosovo and the Ministry for European Integration, announce the forthcoming opening of the 8^th Round of applications to the Young Cell Scheme, the EU post-graduate scholarships programme for Kosovo, which is currently implemented by SOFRECO SA. Applications will be open from 14 January 2011 and until 28 February 2011 and successful applicants will be offered the opportunity to study in a Master’s programme at Universities in the EU Member States. The Scholarship Programme, whose working language is only English, will offer up to 40 full grants (the actual number of grants awarded may also be less depending on suitability of candidates and availability of funding).. This call is open to graduates in law, economics, business management, political science, engineering, geology, veterinary, statistics, mathematics and other academic backgrounds (as specified in the Rules of Procedures to be published on 14 January 2011) in line with the following sectors of specialisation:

à EU Law

à General Economics

à Econometrics

à Hard Sciences - Technical Sector

CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE MORE INFORMATION AND TO DOWNLOAD THE TEXT OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT

--- CHRONOLOGY ROUND VII 2010 SELECTIONS ---

YCS 2010 Round VII: Final Results published (13/4/2010)

The Final Results of the YCS Round VII Selections have been published. A total of 42 grants has been awarded, and 6 additional candidates have been retained as reserves. Interviews were held on 8, 9 and 10 of April in Pristina for 113 candidates (and not 112 as mistakenly published on 26 March). To read more please click here.

YCS 2010 Round VII: Results of Written Exams and list of Invited candidates are published (26/3/2010)

The Results of the written exams together with the list and the timetable of the Interviews have been published. A total of 112 candidates have been invited to the interviews, which will take place on Thursday 8th, Friday 9th and Saturday 10th of April at the premises of the Kosovo Institute of Public Administration, in Pristina. To read more please click here.

YCS 2010 Round VII: PreSELECTION stage completed (5/3/2010)

The Pre-Selection Stage of YCS Round VII Selections is now over. A total of 404 applicants have been invited to the written exams, which will take place in Pristina, on Friday 12 and Saturday 13 March 2010. To read more please click here.

YCS 2010 Round VII: APPLICATIONS CLOSED (26/2/2010)

Applications to Round VII YCS have been closed today, 26th February at 16h45. 416 applications were received. On Friday 5th of March the listed of applicants invited to the written exams will be published on this website.

YCS 2010 Round VII: APPLICATIONS OPEN (11/1/2010)

The European Commission Liaison Office (ECLO) to Kosovo and the Agency for Coordination of Development and European Integration (ACDEI) in the Prime Minister’s Office of the Government of Kosovo, announce the opening of the 7^th Round of applications to the Young Cell Scheme, the EU post-graduate scholarships programme for Kosovo, which is currently implemented by SOFRECO SA. Applications are open from 11^th January 2010 and until 26^th February 2010 and successful applicants will be offered the opportunity to study in a Master’s programme at Universities in the EU Member States. The Scholarship Programme, whose working language is only English, will offer up to 42 full grants (the actual number of grants awarded may also be less depending on suitability of candidates and availability of funding). This call is open to graduates in law, economics and/or management, political science, arts and literature, engineering, geology, mining, veterinary, biology, nutrition, chemistry and other academic backgrounds (as specified by the Rules of Procedures) in line with the following sectors of specialisation:

◊ EU Law (Legal Approximation, Intellectual/Commercial/Industrial Rights, EU Transport Legislation) – up to 13 scholarships available

◊ Macroeconomics and Public FInance - up to 15 scholarships available

◊ Veterinary, Phitosanitary and Food Safety - up to 6 scholarships available

◊ Energy, Environment and Mining - up to 4 scholarships available

◊ Management of Cultural Heritage - up to 4 scholarships available

TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS PLEASE CLICK HERE

YCS 2010 Round VII: Pre-Notice Advertisement Lauched (28/12/2009)

The European Commission Liaison Office (ECLO) to Kosovo and the Agency for Coordination of Development and European Integration (ACDEI) in the Prime Minister’s Office of the Government of Kosovo, announce the forthcoming opening of the 7th Round of applications to the Young Cell Scheme, the EU post-graduate scholarships programme for Kosovo, which is currently implemented by SOFRECO SA. Applications will be open from 11th January 2010 and until 26th  February 2010 and successful applicants will be offered the opportunity to study in a Master’s programme at Universities in the EU Member States. The Scholarship Programme, whose working language is only English, will offer up to 42 full grants (the actual number of grants awarded may also be less depending on suitability of candidates and availability of funding).. This call is open to graduates in law, economics and/or management, political science, arts and literature, engineering, geology, mining, veterinary, nutrition, biology, chemistry and other academic backgrounds (as specified in the Rules of Procedures to be published on 11th January 2010) in line with the following sectors of specialisation:
◊    EU Law (Legal Approximation, Intellectual/Commercial/Industrial Rights, EU Transport Legislation)
◊    Macroeconomics and Public Finance
◊    Veterinary, Phitosanitary and Food Safety
◊    Energy, Environment and Mining
◊    Management of Cultural Heritage

TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS PLEASE CLICK HERE

Round VII Selections – News Coming Soon (29/11/2009)
The Selection Procedure for Round VII will be launched in the month of December 2009. More information in the following weeks.

-- CHRONOLOGY SELECTIONS 2009 - ROUND VI --

Final Ranking Order Reviewed following a complaint  (20/5/2009)

Thursday 14th May one candidate withdraw from the 44 grantees (Ms Albuena Xhelilli). However, the candidate who in fact replaced her in the list of 44 is Mr Kastriot Halili, originally ranked n¨48 instead than the first on the reserve list, Mr Fusha. Mr Halilli in fact introduced a complaint (also on 14th May) concerning his scores in the EU General Knowledge Test and demanded for a double check on his results. In line with Kosovan Civil Service employment legal frame, the complaint was examined and it was found out that while he was marked an 18, his score was actually 61. The problem in this case was that during the manual corrections of the answer sheets (over 2200 sheets in total, 628 for the EU test) one of the corrector used by mistake the "master answer sheet" for the test of the Friday 10th to correct some of the answer sheets of Saturday the 11th. After the mistake was realised there has been a control on the other EU knowledge test for those in the first 100 candidates, and found 2 other similar cases that however had no practical consequences (Mr Bardh Skrheli, who moved from N*40 to N°24, and Ms Leonora Gashi, N°60, who moved to N°54). Mr Halili should have been included in the list of the 44 grantees from the beginning and so he naturally replaces Ms Xhelili.

The revised final ranking order can be download under the page of the Call for Applications 2009.

Final Results of Round VI Selections (12/5/2009)

The YCS Round VI selection process has been concluded on Saturday 9th of May. During 3 days (7th, 8th and 9th May) two panels, each composed by 4 EU academics, a representative of ACDEI and a representative from ECLO, have interviewed 95 of the 101 candidates invited to take the interviews.
3 candidates were declared ineligible prior to the beginning of the interviews as they could not graduate before the 30th of April and 3 other candidates did not show at the interviews.
Out of the 95 candidates, 44 are awarded with a scholarship and 6 have been included in the reserve list, which means that those 6 candidates are suitable to replace any of the first 44 candidates in case one of them will renounce to the scholarship.
It was not possible to award any grant in the sector of Geology and Mining (of the 3 available) while  it was possible to award only 1 grant in the sector of Veterinary (out of the 4 available).

Click here to download the Final Ranking Order



Accreditation stamp from the Ministry of Eduction No Longer Required (30/4/2009)

For those candidates from Private Universities who were required to bring the accreditation of their degree, we have further investigated the issue with the Ministry of Education, following a number of messages from candidates saying that it was impossible to get in such short time the required stamp. After discussing the issue with the Ministry, we were confirmed that in fact it would take longer than what it is available in terms of time. As this is not (and never was) an essential requirement, it has been therefore decided not to require this anymore anymore. This will be an issue dealt with after the selections are over.

Schedule and timetables of Interviews no Publiched (30/4/2009)

The schedule and timetable of interviews for the 7th, 8th and 9th of May have been published and are available for download in the call for application page of this website.

No Additional Written Exams for Undergraduates and further information from ECLO and ACDEI (29/4/2009)

ECLO and ACDEI have decided that there will be no additional written exams for undergraduates who were declared ineligible at the pre-selection stage.

ECLO and ACDEI have also provided additional information on the published list of candidates invited for interviews on 7th, 8th and 9th of May. Please consult the page of the call for applications. The information has also been sent by email to all interested applicants.



Results of the Written Tests for Round VI Selection Are Now Published (25/4/2009)

The Results of  the Written Tests for Round VI Selections, together with the lists of Candidates invited to the Interviews and with that of the other candidates are now available for download from the YCS website on the page of Round VI Call for Applications. Please visit that specific page on this website.



Publication of Results from the correction of the Written Tests Delayed (17/4/2009)

The correction panel for the written tests has finished its work as planned on Friday 17th, in the late afternoon due to the high volume of tests to correct. The number of candidates that has passed the minimum requirements set in the YCS Rules of Applications is considerably below 100. For this reason, the Government of Kosovo and ECLO have decided to discuss whether to confirm or not the availability of 50 scholarships, as initially announced in the YCS call for applications. A decision on this matter will be taken next week. Once decided the number of scholarships that will be awarded, results will be made public and suitable candidates will be invited to the interviews. After publication of the results, individual files will be available for consultation from the applicants. 



Shortlists for Written Exams Now Online (6/4/2009)   

The Shortlists of Applicants invited to the written exams has now been published on this website, at the page of the Call for Applications 2009. By end of the day we will also publish the full ranking of all invited applicants.



Call for Applications is now closed (30/03/2009)

The Call for Applications to Round VI is now closed. 427 Applications were received by the YCS Secretariat, of which 151 from women and 276 from men. Results of the pre-selection stage and invitation to the written tests will be published online on Monday 6th of April. Due to the large number of Applicants the written tests will take place during 2 days instead than the one originally forecasted. The days will be Friday 10th of April and Saturday 11th April.



Call for Applications Closes (30/03/2009)

Today, Monday 30thMarch, is the last day to apply to Round VI YCS. The Office is open to receive applications from 10h00 until 16h45 without break.



Call for Applications Opens (13/02/2009)

The Call for Applications to Round VI is open as of today, Friday 13 February 2009. The applications deadline is Monday 30 March at 16h45. To apply please visit the related page of this website


Opening of the Call for Applications Delayed (10/02/2009)

Due to unforseeable technical circumstances, the opening of the Call for Applications to Round VI of the YCS has been post-poned to Friday, February 13th 2009 (instead than today, February 10th). Applications will be accepted until 30th March 2009 (instead than 27th March).



Kosovan Delegation Visits UK Grantees (9/02/2009)

From 1 to 5 February a delegation from Kosovo visited the Kosovar grantees currently studying in London Metropolitan University and Lancaster University in England. The delagation was composed by Dr Pleurat Sejdiu, Director for Communication, Information and Training at the Agency for Coordination of Development and EUropean Integration, Mr Besfort Rrcaj, Adviser to the Deputy-Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mr Edoardo Spacca, Team Leader of the YCS project. The delegation spent time with the students and the Universities' management paving the way for further cooperation with both educational institutions for the future generations of YCS.



Pre-notice advertisement for the Round VI Call for Applications published (27/01/2009)

The Pre-notice advertisement for the opening of the Call for Applications for Round VI of the YCS has been published today, Tuesday 27th January 2009. You can find the advertisement in English, Serbian and Albanian here .



The YCS website has been launched (25/01/2009)

The website for the EU Scholarships in Civil Service has been launched. the website will be the main tool of communication for all those involved in the YCS Round VI, applicants, stakeholders and YCS Secretariat.