Are you interested in studying in Poland? Thousands of students from all over the world apply each year to the Polish National Agency for International Exchange for scholarships or academic exchange opportunities. Many scholarships have been awarded to students of Polish origin this year by the Agency.

In 2020, the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) will grant scholarships to over 460 students as part of The gen. Anders Programme. The programme helps young people of Polish origin (including Poles Card holders) to obtain higher education and develop their Polish language skills at a Polish university of their choosing. This year, NAWA received a record number of scholarship applications from all over the world, with over 1,500 applicants vying for a place in the programme. The gen. Anders Programme, according to Wojciech Maksymowicz, secretary of state at the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, plays a key role in improving relations between the Polish diaspora and their homeland:

          We provide young people of Polish descent with the ability to enrol in and complete their studies at the best universities in Poland, while also strengthening the potential of Polish communities abroad through well-educated graduates. Those young people who want to stay in Poland after graduation, though, would have better job prospects.

The recipients of this year's NAWA scholarships come from Belarus, Brazil, Czech Republic, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Most of the applicants have agreed to enrol at one of the leading higher education institutions in Poland: the University of Warsaw, the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, the SGH Warsaw School of Economics or the University of Technology in Warsaw.

The Gen. Anders programme has been awarded for three years now-so far more than 1,380 young people have benefited from the chance to study at a Polish university. Apart from the Gen. Anders initiative for students of Polish origin, NAWA coordinates a number of other scholarships and academic exchange programmes aimed at encouraging young people from all around the world to select Poland as their study destination.