Law and Humanities Program – Professional Development Fund Component

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Application Guidelines  (2014-2015 academic year)

The LHP Professional Development Fund is a component of the Law and Humanities Program meant to encourage ongoing LHP beneficiaries to enhance their professional development by participating in extra-curricular activities and by building an academic or professional network outside their education institution. For this purpose, the LHP Professional Development Fund supports LHP students’ participations in various academic activities (as listed below), in their own countries or abroad during the 2014-2015 academic year. 

The following professional development activities are eligible for this financial support:

– Academic Conferences or Symposiums (application form available here)
– Research Projects (application form available here)
– Summer Schools (application form available here)
– Fellowships or in–country Internships (application form available here)

The above listed activities may be organized in the residence country of the applicant or abroad (i.e. regional or international events). However, please note that international internships constitute a separate component of LHP (to be reopened in May 2015; details on last year guidelines available here) and that only in-country internships are eligible under the LHP-Professional Development Fund component.

For the 2014-2015 academic year there are 5 LHP Professional Development Grants available, with the maximum amount of 800 EUR per Grant. 

Eligibility Criteria:

• Applicants should be ongoing LHP beneficiaries by the time of submitting an application for the LHP Professional Development Fund;

• In case of participation at an academic event, applicants should prove that they have been accepted to participate at the respective event and that the event organizers are not covering the costs that applicants request from the LHP-Professional Development Fund;

• In-country internships will be supported only if they are held outside the period of the academic year, OR if they are held in a different locality than the one where the applicant’s university is located

• In case of participation in research projects, the applicants should prove that they would have an important role in the project implementation.

• Applicants should submit proof for any budget expense amount included in the application form. 

• Retroactive events/activities (i.e. that occurred before the time of the application submission) are not eligible.

Selection Criteria: 

LHP Professional Development Fund grants will be given to students on a competitive basis, considering the following criteria:

• The applicant’s general academic standing, as proven by his/her GPA for the first semester of the 2014-2015 academic year;

• Relevance of the event/activity for applicant’s academic specialization;

• The value/importance of the event for applicant’s academic field and/or for applicant’s personal and professional development;

• Expressed motivation;

• The overall accuracy of the application.

To apply for an LHP Professional Development Fund grant, students need to complete in electronic format only the application form relevant for the type of activity/event for which they wish to receive funding (see above), and submit it along with the requested attachments specified in the respective application form. 

Complete applications should be sent to scholarships@romaeducationfund.org by one of the following deadline: June 10th, 2015 

Incomplete applications or applications submitted after the deadlines will not be considered.

All beneficiaries of a LHP-Professional Development Fund grant will be expected to submit to their Country Coordinator a report on the funded activity, together with financial justifications (i.e. payment receipts), no later than 2 weeks after the completion of the activity/event. The submission of the above mentioned report is a condition for the further participation in the upcoming REF Scholarship Program schemes.

In case of equally good applications, priority will be given to students who have not benefited of a Professional Development Fund in the past.

The grant provides support towards only one event related to your professional development per academic year.

For any further question related to the LHP-Professional Development Fund, please contact the Country Coordinator in your country.

According to the requirements of REF Scholarship Program Policies and Procedures the applicants found responsible for sending forged documents shall not be further considered for any REF funded Programs.