Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Scholarship

1. What are the requirements for the Symptoma - better diagnosis Scholarship (GPA, social contribution)?

This scholarship is intended for students who are working in order to pay for their tuition fees and expenses. Students will be required to fill out a questionnaire that will determine their need.

2. What are the criteria that determine whether the scholarship is awarded?

After the deadline (31. of January every year) the Symptoma team will, after careful consideration, choose the 6 most appropriate scholarship candidates. All answers from all of the candidates will be evaluated to see whether the candidate recognizes and acknowledges the values of Symptoma. All the decisions are final and not open to recourse.

3. Does the application process require handing in any additional documents or certificates?

The students must fill out the application form that can be found in the Symptoma Scholarship webpage. It is not necessary to provide any documents during that stage of the application process. Before the scholarship amount is paid out to the students who have been selected to receive the scholarship, they will be required to provide proof that they are currently studying and working (such as an enrollment certificate etc.).

4. Is the Scholarship limited to students from certain study programs or majors such as e.g. Medicine or Health study courses?

The Symptoma Scholarship is available for students from all courses and all the types of study programs.

5. How is the Scholarship paid out?

The Symptoma Scholarship is a monetary, one time payout to students. It is not entrusted for a specific purpose and can be freely used by the student. Each student is awarded 500 USD. The scholarship is awarded on a yearly basis. After the six beneficiaries have been selected they will be notified by e-mail. The scholarship is then transferred to a bank account of the beneficiaries choosing.

6. Is the personal data of the student protected?

We at Symptoma GmbH, Austria, take the protection of personal data very seriously. All data is treated according to the data protection laws.

7. In which country are the servers located in which the data from the online application form are held?

If the data was mailed directly to Symptoma, the servers are located in Microsoft Office 365, see link. For the online form see link.

8. How long is the data stored?

The data is kept until the disbursement of the annual scholarship and is then deleted, save for the data of the beneficiaries.

9. Who has access to the data?

Only the Symptoma staff who are involved in assessing the candidates have access to the data.

10. What obligations befall the beneficiaries (e.g. seminars, meetings)?

The beneficiaries are not obliged to participate in any events. By accepting the scholarship (and communicating a bank account for the payout of the scholarship) the beneficiaries agree to a possible publication of their name and home country.

11. What is the sponsor's inner interest in the scholarship?

Both founders of Symptoma, Thomas Lutz and Jama Nateqi, worked while they studied in order to finance their studies. While they studied, they built Symptoma. This scholarship aims to help students who are entrepreneurial and engaged in student life to help finance their living expenses while they study.

12. Will Symptoma contact the beneficiaries’ university?

Yes, Symptoma will contact both the candidate and their university.

13. How many candidates can be expected?

The number of candidates are disclosed. An assessment prior to the deadline is not disclosed.

14. Is there a minimum requirement of working hours that the student must work in order to qualify for the scholarship?

There is not an absolute minimum requirement of working hours. However, the minimum requirements will be evaluated in comparison to other submissions.

15. Are the students required to go abroad (study or work at Symptoma) in order to be eligible for the scholarship?

No, they are not obliged to go abroad.

16. Is this scholarship for the students that study in the local university or is it more focused on students that go e.g. for Erasmus in order to finance their studies there?

This scholarship does not discriminate between local or foreign students.

17. Does the student have to pay an application fee?

The application process does NOT create any costs for the students. The students need only fill out the application form on the Symptoma website.

18. In what currency is the scholarship awarded?

The scholarship is measured in USD.