The Center of International Training Programs at Semmelweis University is announcing a call for applications for the excellence scholarship “Professor Attila Fonyó Award” / “Professor Andor Szécsény Award” for the academic year 2024/2025. Foreign nationals holding a student status at Semmelweis University are eligible to apply, provided that: i) they are enrolled in a program of the Faculty of Medicine taught in either German or English, ii) prior to being successfully admitted to Semmelweis University, they completed a two-semester Pre-Med program, or a two-semester intensive Pre-Med program or preparatory year program with equivalent professional content at the Budapest Campus of McDaniel College, iii) they began their studies in the first semester of the 2024/2025 academic year and successfully completed their first academic year.
The scholarship is based on excellence. The award shall be granted to one student each participating in the English/German language program. In case of identical academic results, the evaluation of performance shall be determined by community activity, distinguished academic achievements, as well as outstanding cultural activities and sports achievements.
- Application requirements
- Completion of a two-semester Pre-Med program, or a two-semester intensive Pre-Med program or preparatory year program with equivalent professional content at the Budapest Campus of McDaniel College
- The date of establishing student status at Semmelweis University is September 2024
- In the first year of the Faculty of Medicine, the student has fully met the subject requirements of all mandatory subjects specified in the curriculum and recorded in Neptun ETR (all exams passed and all practical exam grades obtained)
- Successful completion of at least one elective or optional subject
- Not having any subjects accepted under the credit transfer procedure
- Not holding an exemption from attending/completing obligatory classes (except for the courses Physical Education and Summer Practice)
Applicants must provide the necessary data for identification and verification of their eligibility; failure to do so will result in the application not being accepted.
An application cannot be submitted by individuals who, during previous application cycles, have been found by the evaluation committee or other authorized university personnel (e.g., the ethics committee) to have provided false information or misled the reviewers in any way.
- The Selection Committee
Applications will be evaluated by the committee established under Decision No. 72434-2/NHKK/2025 with the following composition:
- Vice-Rector for International Studies
- Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
- Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry
- two committee members appointed by the Director General of College International Oktatási Kft., the operator of the Budapest Campus of McDaniel College
The Committee shall submit the names of the three most outstanding students for each language program, in order of their academic grade point average. The decision on the awarding of the awards shall be made jointly by the Rector of Semmelweis University and the President of the Local Board of the Budapest Campus of McDaniel College, as well as the Director General of College International Oktatási Kft.
- Deadline for application:
Applications must be submitted by 31 July 2025, via the Requests interface of the Neptun system.
In the event that a student, for reasons beyond their control, was unable to complete all of their exams during the spring exam period and has submitted a request to take an exam outside of the academic year (TKSZV), it is possible to submit a supplementary application. In this case, the deadline for submitting the application is the last day of the TKSZV period.
- Amendments, objections and decision:
There is no opportunity to submit a request for an extension due to missing deadlines or incomplete applications. Incomplete or late applications will be rejected. Applicants may modify or amend their application (e.g. name, contact information or bank account number) if mistakes or changes occur.
Applications submitted with all required documents and data will be evaluated by the evaluation committee specified in point 2 within 10 days following the application deadline.
- Applicants have the right to appeal a rejection within 5 business days following receipt of the notification by contacting the Head of the Center of International Training Programs. The appeal shall state the specific action or omission of the committee being challenged. If the appeal is upheld, the committee shall re-evaluate the application accordingly.
- Amount of scholarship:
10,000 USD/student
The total amount of the award will be paid in the form of a non-refundable financial grant. The scholarship will be paid in a single installment no later than 30 September 2025, provided that the recipient is enrolled in the second year of the Faculty of Medicine at Semmelweis University.
- Repayment of scholarship:
Scholarship recipients who fail to meet the obligations outlined in the scholarship contract in part or in whole must repay the entire amount received, or the portion affected by the breach, plus interest for late payment as per the Civil Code of Hungary, within 8 days of receiving a notice by the University.
In cases where it is established that the applicant provided false information during the evaluation process, they will also be required to repay the full amount of the scholarship.
The scholarship may be revoked in exceptional cases if, during their studies, the awarded student displays behaviour unbefitting the University or is subject to disciplinary action resulting in an ethical violation.
- Data Protection and Processing
- By submitting the application, the applicant agrees that their data provided in the application may be processed by the committee specified in Section 2, by the individual or body responsible for appeals and by the university employees authorized by internal university regulations to handle the evaluation, process objections, manage payments and fulfill the University’s document retention obligations, for the purposes of identifying the applicant, processing and evaluating the application, maintaining contact with the applicant and disbursing the scholarship. Only those individuals who are required to know this information for the aforementioned purposes will have access to the personal data of the applicants.
- Further details on data processing and the rights of data subjects are provided in the data protection policy. The data protection policy is available at the following link: Data Processing Policy
Budapest, 25 June 2025
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Dr. Alán Alpár
Vice-Rector for International Studies
Head of the Center of International Training Programs