Manresa School of Engineering

UPC-MERIT scholarship 2025/26

PRE-ANNOUNCEMENT. CALL WILL OPEN BY FIRST WEEK OF APRIL

1 Purpose

UPC is soliciting applications for study grants to support students of the master's degree taught at UPC Manresa in Machine Learning and Cybersecurity for Internet-Connected Systems. The aim of the scholarships is that recipients benefit from MERIT project's high-quality education in digital areas and to promote equality and excellence in the field of computer science. Gender equality and socioeconomic status are factors that will be taken into account in the evaluation but everyone is welcome to apply regardless of their personal situation. The UPC-MERIT scholarship has received funding from the European Union under grant agreement No. 101083531. Funding is available until 30/09/2026 when the MERIT project finishes.

2 Modalities of support

There are 5 modalities of support:

  1. Reimbursement of tuition fees.
  2. Contribution to living and transportation expenses.
  3. Contribution to purchase of hardware, software or study materials necessary to follow the master program.
  4. Contribution to expenses for scientific achievements (publications, posters and start-up company set up) related to the master program.
  5. Contribution to expenses for mobility stays related to the master program.

It is possible to apply for the 5 modalities but, when assessing applications of modalities 2, 3, 4 and 5, priority will be given to students who haven’t received support under modality 1. 
Supporting documentation for the incurred costs will be required.

Modality 1

The scholarship supports the official total tuition expense. In particular, it covers:

  • The first enrollment tuition costs and other fees and rates charged by UPC for a master full semester (30 ECTS) attended before 30/06/2026 during a maximum of three consecutive semesters.
  • The cost of issuance of the official title (if paid before 31/07/2026).

Modality 2

The scholarship supports living and/or transportation expenses. In particular, it covers:

  • A monthly allowance of 200 € for a maximum of 12 months between the resolution of this call and 30/06/2026. To receive the allowance the student must be enrolled in the program and fulfil the requirements in point 4.

Modality 3

The scholarship supports learning materials expenses related to the MERIT master program. In particular, it covers:

  • A maximum of 1500 € for the purchase of hardware, software or study materials necessary to follow the master program. It must be purchased while the student is enrolled in the program and before 30/06/2026.

Modality 4

The scholarship supports expenses for scientific achievements related to the MERIT master program incurred while the student is enrolled in the program and before 30/06/2026. In particular, it covers:
    • A maximum of 1000 € for costs related to full open access publication of scientific results in Q1 and Q2 journals. 
    • A maximum of 500 € for costs related to full open access publication of scientific results in Q3 and Q4 journals.
    • A maximum of 100 € for costs related to poster preparation for presentation of results at a scientific conference.
    • A maximum of 5000 € for costs due to setting up a start-up company related to the master thesis. 

Modality 5

The scholarship supports expenses for in person mobility stays related to the MERIT master program incurred while the student is enrolled in the program and before 30/06/2026. In particular, it covers:

  • A maximum of 1500 € for living, transportation and accommodation expenses related to attendance to a scientific conference, international event, study collaboration visit to another institution, research stay at another institution for the master thesis or attendance to courses taught at another university within the framework of the master program.

3 Incompatibilities

This scholarship is incompatible with any other scholarship that covers the costs of the same expenses in order to avoid multiple funding for the same purposes.

4 Requirements for applicants

  • The scholarship will only be granted to persons already admitted to the master's program in Machine Learning and Cybersecurity for Internet-Connected Systems at UPC Manresa at the publication of this call (2024-25 academic year) or admitted for the 2025-26 academic year. This means that to be considered for the scholarship applicants will have to apply concurrently to the master's program or be already enrolled in the program.
  • Being an EU citizen or a citizen of Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Ukraine.
  • Being a full-time degree seeking student in the master's degree program.
  • For modality 2, having monthly rental expenses of at least 300 € or living at a distance of UPC Manresa of at least 40 km.
  • For modalities 3,4 and 5, the expenses have to be related to the MERIT master program.

5 Applications

Those interested must fulfil the requirements above and fill in the online form available on the UPC-MERIT scholarship website.
Applicants must submit the following documentation:

  1. ID number used to apply for the master's programme.
  2. Cover letter stating the following: interest in the Master’s degree in Machine Learning and Cybersecurity for Internet-Connected Systems, presentation of the candidate, description of their situation (personal, social, economic, work, academic performance, etc.) that may be relevant to obtaining the scholarship.
  3. Documentary evidence of the situations described in point 5.b.
  4. Candidates who have won a MERIThON event at UPC Manresa should indicate it in the cover letter.
  5. For modality 2 also provide documentary evidence of meeting the rental or distance requirements (see point 4).
  6. For modality 3 also provide a letter explaining what hardware, software or study materials the applicant needs to purchase, the reason why this is required to correctly follow the master degree and the estimated budget.
  7. For modality 4 also provide proof of the scientific achievement (publication, poster or start-up company documentation), letter explaining the relationship with the master program and budget.
  8. For modality 5 also provide information about the mobility stay, letter explaining the purpose and relationship with the master program and budget.

6 Selection criteria

In order to decide who gets the scholarship, the committee will take into account the academic merit of the candidate as well as the gender and socioeconomic disparities in engineering and computer science. For modalities 3, 4 and 5, the relationship of the expenses with the MERIT master program will be checked. In all modalities, excellence demonstrated by winning a competition in a MERIThON event at UPC Manresa will also be considered in the assessment.

Both the master's program application documents and the additional documentation provided for this scholarship application will be taken into account. In particular, per each modality, a formula of 8 points assigned based on academic merit and 2 points for gender and socioeconomic situation for a total of 10 points will be assigned to each candidate based on the information candidates provide to the committee.

Applicants that fulfill the eligibility criteria but are not awarded because of budget limitations will be included in a reserve list (one per each modality). In case one of the awarded candidates can’t accept the scholarship or loses the financial support, the first candidate in the reserve list will be automatically re-considered for assessment.

7 Obligations for applicants

  1. Sign an agreement to accept the scholarship.
  2. Provide bank account information.
  3. Write a report on their experience and learning outcomes every semester.
  4. Validate 21 ECTS per semester.
  5. Provide supporting documentation for the eligible expenses actually incurred.
  6. For modality 5, contract a travel insurance that covers at least health care at the destination country, accident insurance and repatriation in case of death. Please find here further information.
  7. For modality 5 provide proof of attendance to the event or certification of the stay by the host institution.

8 Payment arrangements

Funds will be disbursed directly to the scholarship recipients on a semester-by-semester basis upon verification that all eligibility conditions have been met. In particular, financial support for all modalities will be provided after the completion of each semester based on the eligible expenses actually incurred by the recipient during that semester.
For modality 1, scholarships will cover the tuition fees of any semesters coursed before June 30th 2026 as described above. The exact amount that will be paid to the recipients will be defined by the applicable regulations established by the Government (Decret de Preus Públics) for the academic year. The calculation using the current rules and regulations can be found in the entry "How much does the master's cost?" in the FAQ.

For modality 2, scholarships will cover the allocated monthly amount corresponding to the number of months in which the student is enrolled to the program between the awarding of the scholarship and June 30th 2026.

For modalities 3, 4 and 5, scholarships will cover the actual incurred expenses up to the established maximum. 
In case of non-continuation by the recipient no further support will be given. Supporting documentation for the incurred costs will be required. Costs will be eligible if declared eligible in the agreement and if they fulfill the general eligibility conditions established for the EU Funding Programmes 2021-2027.

9 Budget

  • The total maximum budget of this call amounts to 104000 €.
  • The maximum amount per scholarship is 3500 € for modality 1, 2400€ for modality 2, 1500 € for modality 3, between 100 € and 5000 € for modality 4 (see details in point 2) and 1500 € for modality 5.
  • The indicative total number of scholarships to be awarded is around 40.

10 Deadline

June 1st 2026
 

11 Resolution

Applications for modalities 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 will be assessed once per semester (tentatively 2 months after the publication of this call, July 2025 and February 2026). There will be an additional final assessment in June 2026 for modalities 3 and 4 only. Resolutions will be electronically announced to all candidates and information about awarded scholarships will be published at the UPC-MERIT Scholarship website. If the maximum budget is reached before June 1st 2026, then the call for applications will be closed.  

12 Selection committee

The selection committee will be integrated by the members of the Master’s Committee of the MERIT master program, which currently are:

  • Ilker Demirkol, Coordinator of MERIT project.
  • Xavier Moncunill
  • Cristian Rodríguez Rivero

Funding

The UPC-MERIT scholarship has received funding from the European Union under grant agreement No. 101083531.

Previous UPC-MERIT Scholarship Calls