If you are interested in studying abroad but are unsure of which country to choose or are worried about how to fund your travels, consider Austria! This beautiful country borders Italy and Germany, offering stunning landscapes and architecture. The Ernst Mach Grant is available to anyone studying abroad in Austria and covers EUR 1,250 per month for 4-10 months. That’s nearly 2,000 Canadian dollars per month! Follow this guide to learn how to apply for the grant.

First, a few things to take into consideration:

• Your application for this grant is due February 1st of the year prior to you studying abroad
• Some aspects of this guide may only pertain to those studying at the Management Center Innsbruck
• No persons can be held liable for information that may no longer be accurate.

Step 1: Deadline

The deadline for the Ernst Mach Grant is February 1. You will find out if you’re a recipient
five months later, in July. This being said, you need to prepare the required documents
much earlier than you would naturally have them.

Step 2: Understand the grant

The correct grant is the Ernst Mach Grant for Universities of Applied Sciences (if you’re a
research student or teacher, look at the other grants listed). This is misleading if you’re
taking Business or Arts; however, MCI is still considered a university of applied sciences.
Any programs they offer are eligible for the grant.

Step 3: Make an account

After reading the eligibility criteria and following the link to the grant’s website, you will be asked to make an account. This is the correct website, though it appears outdated, and you may be prompted with security warnings. This is due to a difference in time zones and country security regulations. Once logged in, read the instructions thoroughly and explore every area of the grant application to ensure you have a thorough understanding of what’s required.

Step 4: Required documents to prepare

References

After making an account and logging in, you will see there is a specific document for your
references to use. It is very straightforward and easy for your references to fill out. You must
print this document, one for each reference, and them signed in handwriting and
stamped by the TRU Study Abroad office. Then you must scan them (can be done easily
with your cell phone) and upload them to the appropriate area of the application.

University acceptance letter

You must complete a preliminary university application to receive a letter of acceptance.
You must have the acceptance letter stamped by the TRU Study Abroad office.

Tips for applying to your university:

• Contact MCI’s international department to attain the application papers.

• The Austrian course outlines are what’s described on MCI’s website. Send the link to the courses you would like to take to the TRU Transfer Credit department, transfercredit@tru.ca, to see what the courses will transfer back as at TRU. This will take approximately 2 – 20 business days.
  • You can only select one MCI course that begins with ‘IEL’.
  • You can only select one course from the International program.
  • Austrian bachelor’s degrees are only three years long; if you need your
  • Austrian courses to transfer back to TRU as 4XXX, then you must select courses from a master’s program.
  • Most master’s programs start one month earlier than bachelor’s programs (Sept. 1 instead of Oct. 1).

6 ECTS (Austrian credits) = 3 TRU credits.

The grant requires a minimum of 15 ECTS.

To earn 3 TRU courses, you require 18 ECTS.

Most Austrian courses are worth 2-5 ECTS; thus, you’ll need to take more than 3 Austrian courses to fulfill 18 ECTS.

• Book an appointment with your program advisor for as soon as you expect to
  receive the transfer credits. There are large wait times to talk to advisors.
  • Use the transfer credit information that you receive to fill out your course
    request list. Bring the course request list to your advisor meeting as it must
    have a handwritten signature from your advisor and the Study Abroad
    office stamp.

• An unofficial transcript is sufficient for the preliminary application, but not for the
  official application. Stamp your transcript with the Study Abroad office stamp.
  When the official MCI application opens, you will receive an email.

• Send a PDF of these stamped and hand-signed documents to MCI’s international
  student department.

Step 5: Give yourself lots of time

The combination of these processes takes time, so begin preparing documents a few
months in advance. Once you make an account, you will see there are many short answer
questions. Look under all the tabs before making assumptions about the quantity of work
to be done. Additionally, submit the application a few days early to avoid sit maintenance
and time difference confusions. Point being, this is an important grant, so don’t leave it
until the last minute.

Good luck!

If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out to a study abroad ambassador, or email studyabroad@tru.ca 🙂

*This guide was put together for you by Olivia Corke, one of TRU’s study abroad ambassadors.*