Estonian government places a great importance on education and this is already reflected in basic education. According to the PISA study, Estonian basic education is the best in Europe.
Continuing to higher education level - Estonian government and universities have initiated various scholarship schemes in order to support local students as well as international students who are interested in acquiring higher education in Estonia.
Estonia offers different scholarships based on:
- fields of study – for all degree levels
- exchange studies
- short courses
- research degrees
With this scholarship database, you can search and find the most suitable scholarship according to your interest.
Grants and achievements of an international student
To paint the picture of how it is possible to support one`s studies in Estonia, Study in Estonia team contacted Ahmet Kose from Turkey, an international student in Estonia, to hear his story about studying in this small but smart country.
Ahmet is a PhD student at Faculty of IT at T251823inn University of Technology and has lived in Estonia since 2013 and received his Master’s degree in Computer and Systems Engineering. During his Master studies, he received Study IT in Estonia Speciality Scholarship for all semesters (2 academic years). He had the chance to participate in the European Innovation Academy in 2014. He also received a performance scholarship in 2014/2015 academic year at TTU and had the chance to be an Erasmus+ student for a semester in 2014/2015 academic year at Czech Technical University.
As he is a second year PhD student, he has already received Study IT in Estonia Scholarship for PhD students and participated in IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence in Canada on July 2016, with the support of Study IT in Estonia programme.
Currently, he is working at Virtual and Augmented Reality Laboratory at Mektory and he is convinced, that if potential international students could see how one has achieved all those grants and achievements, they could have a higher motivation to come study abroad in Estonia.
Why Estonia?
Before coming to study in Estonia, Ahmet had been studying for an M.Sc. and had been a research assistant, whose main purpose was to develop skills in research and teamwork. Unfortunately, in Turkey, he felt that research and a team approach to education were not emphasised or encouraged. Since he had an opportunity to be an exchange student for a semester in Hungary during a Bachelor’s degree, he discovered that studying in an international setting would help him to learn more and to be able to work with people from different cultures.
Ahmet considers Tallinn University of Technology as one of the leading technological universities in Europe and he thought that this university welcomes international students and would afford him with many opportunities that are not available in Turkey. He welcomed the tuition-free opportunity to become a hardworking and cooperative student in Computer and Systems Engineering M.Sc. During his Master’s studies in TUT, he received more than expected - lecturers, officers and students were friendly and supportive and the atmosphere in TUT warm and encouraging. He was certain that doctoral studies in TTU would advance his skills in research, development and teamwork.
E for easier student life
According to Ahmet - Estonia is almost a perfect place to study. The size of the country might be small compared to other European countries, but the quality of education, joy of student life and different e-services in Estonia make life easier for everybody including foreign students. Ahmet sees scholarships having a major effect upon studies and he is really thankful for various scholarships in Estonia.
He has had the chance to receive different scholarships since he started to study in Estonia and thinks that scholarships really helped him to concentrate on his studies. Ahmet considers the scholarship support system in Estonia quite fair, transparent and evident for students including international students. Achievements are always awarded and it boosts up positive outcomes of studies.
Future career in Estonia
Ahmet says he sees his future in Estonia and is willing to continue his academic career here. Today he is working in a Virtual and Augmented Reality Laboratory, which is a part of the Centre for Intelligent Systems in Tallinn University of Technology. The laboratory is located in MEKTORY Innovation and Business Centre. They mainly focus on Virtual Reality applications framing education, science and industry and Ahmet is delighted to be a team member of the laboratory. His aim is to apply VR technology into Machine Learning approaches - a topic which is an essential part of his doctoral thesis.