The Excellence Fund

The University Metropolitan Tirana Excellence Fund aims to promote the excellence of the Albanian university education system through its students. Graduate students in one of the bachelor’s programs or those who have completed the first year in one of the UMT master’s programs. Students who continue their studies in the following year at one of the 20 Most Ranked European or American Universities according to times Higher Education, Shanghai and QS Ranking. The list also includes several partner universities in France and Italy, which collaborate with UMT on scientific and pedagogical projects.

Scholarships of excellence will be awarded by an ad-hoc commission headed by the President of UMT, taking as a basis a set of criteria set out below.

• The candidate must have completed the Bachelor’s or first year of master’s degree at UMT in the academic year of application, with a general average of 9.5-10. He must also be admitted to the European or American university in the next academic year and in the fields of study covered by UMT.
• Priority in the university ranking system is given to times higher education, then to Shanghai and finally to QS. Students enrolled in the best-ranked universities win the scholarship.
• Currently, the partner universities include Politecnico di Turin and Université Grenoble Alpes, which are at the same level of priority, but lower than those of the above ranking systems.
• A rotation system in the awarding of scholarships for students of different UMT faculties will be applied only in the case where the rank of university in which the UMT student is admitted is not in the Top-10. In the case where universities where students are admitted are ranked in the Top-10, the level of rank determines the scholarship award. Rotation will be applied between Politecnico di Torino and Université Grenoble Alpes in case there are students enrolled simultaneously in these two higher education institutions.
• The maximum number of scholarships awarded for each school year by the UMT presidency is two. This number can increase if faculties find private sponsors from undertaking clubs or UMT alumni. Sponsored scholarships will not apply to rotational system.

The student applicant for the scholarship of excellence submits the application file until September 15 of the year of the commencement of studies to the Teaching Secretariat.

The required documentation is as follows:

• Application Form
• Unconditional acceptance letter from the University that meets the ranking criteria according to the specifications above.
• Diploma and final list of grades of primary studies. Certification by the host university on its or non-financial support for the candidate, as well as the funding measure.
• Candidate’s CV.
• Declaration on the authorization of UMT in receipt of official information from the University to which the candidate is admitted.
• Notary declaration that all the data entered in the application form is complete and accurate.
• In case of co-funding between UMT and domestic or foreign organizations, foundations and institutions, documentation certify the scholarship candidate’s receipt from domestic or foreign organizations, foundations and institutions.

*For more complete information on the criteria, deadlines and documentation for each academic year, refer to the respective decisions of the Academic Senate and the Board of Administration at the beginning of each academic year.