The Ministry of Science, Education and Youth of the Republic of Croatia and the Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes are offering Croatian Government Scholarships for the academic year 2026/2027 (hereinafter: Bilateral Scholarships) to foreign students, university teachers, scientists and researchers.

The Bilateral Scholarships offer opportunities for study or research in any field of study during the granted mobility period at an accredited public Croatian higher education or research institute to be determined in advance. The awarded mobilities must be implemented during the upcoming academic year (from October 2026 to September 2027). The months of July and August are not acceptable with the only exemption the summer seminar of Croatian language that will take place in August 2026.

Croatian Government Postgraduate Scholarship

Requirements for Croatian Government Postgraduate Scholarship Qualification

The Bilateral Scholarships are on offer through two different application pools:

APPLICATION POOL 1: SCHOLARSHIPS BASED ON BILATERAL AGREEMENTS

The Application Pool 1 is open to citizens of countries (and territories) that have a valid/effective educational co-operation programme with Croatia or a bilateral agreement signed by the Croatian Government and the relevant ministry of the given country (or territory). The number and type of Bilateral Scholarships is different from country to country seeing that the scholarship offers are based on valid bilateral agreements in the fields of science and education.

There are eight types of Bilateral Scholarships that are on offer in the Application Pool 1:

• One semester study of the Croatian language (4 – 5 months).
• Semester/partial Bachelor’s or Master’s studies (4 – 10 months).
• Full undergraduate (BA) or graduate (MA) studies (BA: 36 or 48; MA: 24 or 12 months).
• Full postgraduate doctoral (PhD) programme (36 months).
• Partial postgraduate doctoral (PhD) studies or research for PhD students (1 – 10 months).
• Postdoctoral studies and research (1 – 10 months).
• Short postdoctoral research visit (3 – 29 days).
• Summer seminar of Croatian language, literature and culture (2 weeks)

Potential candidates are invited to apply for the Bilateral Scholarships on offer through the Application Pool 1 by submitting their applications in the Agency’s online application system but the Bilateral Scholarships can be awarded only to the candidates who are nominated by the foreign partner institutions, i.e., national competent authorities responsible for the implementation of the Bilateral Scholarships Programmes. The preliminary selection of applications is usually performed by the respective foreign government ministries, agencies and/or authorities and applications ranked by these offices take priority.

Countries whose citizens may apply based on a valid/effective educational co-operation programme and/or a bilateral agreement: Belgium (Flanders), Bulgaria, People’s Republic of China, Czech Republic, Germany (Bavaria), Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Türkiye and Ukraine.

APPLICATION POOL 2: SCHOLARSHIPS FOR LEARNING THE CROATIAN LANGUAGE

The Application Pool 2 is open to international students who are currently studying (or learning) the Croatian language (or Slavic Studies) at universities outside of Croatia. Foreign students can apply regardless of whether their respective countries have a valid cooperation programme or a bilateral agreement with Croatia and regardless of whether the language department of Croatian language and literature falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth.

Candidates for the Bilateral Scholarships in the Application Pool 2 must be nominated for the Bilateral Scholarships by their current Croatian language professor, i.e., his/her Recommendation Letter.

There are two types of Bilateral Scholarships that are on offer in the Application Pool 2:

• Scholarships for one-semester studies (4-5 months) of the Croatian language at either the University of Zagreb (Croaticum) or the University of Rijeka (Rijeka School of Croatian Studies)
• Scholarships for the summer seminar (2 weeks) of the Croatian language, literature and culture in Dubrovnik organised by the Zagreb School of Slavic Studies during August 2026.

Documents Required for Application

APPLICATION POOL 1: SCHOLARSHIPS BASED ON BILATERAL AGREEMENTS

A valid application for the Bilateral Scholarship in the Application Pool 1 should consist of:

• Required documents in English or Croatian submitted by the applicant in the Agency’s online application system
• Nomination Letter sent by e-mail (or post) to the Agency from the foreign partner institution by which it nominates the applicant for the Bilateral Scholarship.

The deadline for the candidates in the Application Pool 1 to submit the required application documents in the Agency’s online application system and the foreign partner institutions to send their Nomination Letters to the Agency is the 10th of April 2026.

APPLICATION POOL 2: SCHOLARSHIPS FOR LEARNING THE CROATIAN LANGUAGE

A valid application for the Bilateral Scholarship in the Application Pool 2 should consist of:

• Required documents in English or Croatian submitted by the applicant in the Agency’s online application system including the Recommendation Letter from his/her Croatian language teacher.

The deadline for the candidates in the Application Pool 2 to submit the required application documents (including the Recommendation Letter) through the Agency’s online application system is the 10th of April 2026.

Application Deadline

April 10, 2026

How to Apply

APPLICATION POOL 1

The candidates must submit their application documents in the Agency’s online application system and contact their national institution in charge of the preliminary selection of applicants to ask to be nominated for the Bilateral Scholarships. The national competent authorities responsible for the implementation of the Bilateral Scholarships Programmes should send by e-mail (or post) the Nomination Letter by which they nominate the candidates for the Bilateral Scholarships to the following e-mail (or postal) address:

Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes

• E-mail address: bilaterala@ampeu.hr
• Postal address: Frankopanska 26, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia

APPLICATION POOL 2

Contact Information – Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes

• Web address: ampeu.hr
• E-mail address: bilaterala@ampeu.hr
• Postal address: Frankopanska 26, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia 
• Telephone number: +385 (0)1 5556 498

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE AND APPLY