The City of Grad Rijeka awards scholarships to gifted third and fourth-class students who attend secondary schools and universities, with the aim of encouraging their skills. The key criterion when selecting these scholars is their talent.

Students who regularly attend third and fourth secondary school classes and universities, who meet the following requirements, are entitled to submit a request for awarding scholarships:

• citizen of the Republic of Croatia,
• residing in the territory of the City of Rijeka for an uninterrupted period of at least six months,
• not older than 24,
• must have achieved the following general success over the last two years of education:
  a) secondary school student – at least 4.5 as the average mark for every year of education,
  b) university student – at least 4.5 as the average mark for every year of secondary school education, i.e. at least 4.00 as the average mark and at least 55 ECTS points for every study year at a higher education institution.

The term student, within the meaning of this Decision, shall mean the student who enrolled in a regular study programme at a higher education institution.

The following secondary school or university students shall not be entitled to submit a request for scholarships:

• who study and work,
• who are enrolled in a postgraduate or specialist study programme.

The Criteria for selecting the scholarship holders of the City of Rijeka, form an integral part of the Decision on scholarships for gifted secondary school and university students, which was adopted in July 2016.

For ranking purposes, each candidate is assigned a certain number of points, in accordance with success achieved during education, recognised achievements, and the opinion expressed by professors and professional services. The candidate list is drawn up in accordance with the realised overall points, respectively for university students and for third and fourth-class students who attend secondary schools, which serves as a basis for selecting scholarship holders.

During the scoring and ranking process all candidates undergo psychological testing which is conducted by psychologists employed with the Department of Psychology, University of Rijeka.

The competition for awarding scholarships, as a rule, is published at the beginning of the school/academic year, namely in October.

The Decision on awarding scholarships is brought in by the mayor who signs scholarship agreements with students for the whole period of education within the grade at which the student is assigned the scholarship, (secondary school/higher education) on condition that during this period he must fulfil all the prescribed conditions. When signing the agreement, as well as during its validity, the student shall not receive any other scholarship.

At the beginning of every school/academic year “the old” scholarship holders shall prove that they have met all the requirements contained in the scholarship agreement (enrolment in the next grade/year of study, the average mark, retained residence in the territory of the city of Rijeka), while the Scholarship Commission shall review the submitted documentation, namely evidence that all the requirements have been met.

The competition for awarding scholarships is published on the bulletin board of the City of Rijeka, at the address: Titov trg 3, and on the website of the City of Rijeka, while information on a call for tender is published in the daily newspaper Novi list.

The application form for participation in the competition shall be filled out by the candidate electronically in a predicted form (on-line application form) available on the website of the City of Rijeka. The electronic form shall be personally signed by the candidate after ha has filled out the form, which shall be submitted to the Department by mail with other predicted documentation.

The scholarship agreements signed pursuant to the Decision on awarding scholarships to gifted secondary school students and university students (“Official Gazette of the Primorje – Gorski Kotar County” No. 40/09 and 27/12 and Official Gazette of the City of Rijeka 4/15 ), shall remain in force until the expiry of the term for which they have been entered into, namely until the termination of the scholarship agreement.

The City of Rijeka has been awarding scholarships to gifted third and fourth-class students who attend secondary schools and universities since its establishment in 1993, and even today this programme forms part of its strategic goal 3 – Development Strategy of the City of Rijeka for the Period from 2014 to 2020.

The monthly scholarship for users who attend schools and universities in Rijeka in school year 2017/2018 amounts to EUR 112,81, while for users who attend schools and universities outside of Rijeka it amounts to EUR 146,00 and is assigned for nine months annually.