Visegrad Fellowships 2026 in Central Europe Now Accepting Applications

For doctoral students and post-PhD researchers working across Central Europe, few programs offer the kind of focused, flexible short-term funding that the Visegrad Fellowship Program 2026-2027 delivers. Backed by the International Visegrad Fund, this fellowship bankrolls in-person research visits, lecture series, and archival study across the four Visegrad nations — Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia — with Ukrainian scholars also welcome to apply. The 2026 cycle is now live, and applications are being accepted on a rolling basis through the My Visegrad portal.

What makes this Visegrad fellowship program worth a closer look is its simplicity. There are no complex institutional partnerships to arrange beforehand, no multi-year commitments, and no restrictive thematic priorities. If you hold a PhD or are actively pursuing one, and you have a well-defined reason to spend two to ten weeks at a host institution in a Visegrad country other than your own, this fellowship was designed for exactly that kind of work. Fellows have used it for everything from conducting primary archival research to delivering university-level seminars and developing collaborative publications.

The Visegrad fellowship program is open exclusively to citizens and residents of Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine. It is not a global call, but within that five-country pool, competition is real and growing — the fund itself has publicly noted increasing demand and now discourages repeat applications within the same application window.

The total number of this Visegrad fellowships awarded per cycle is not publicly fixed. Awards are made on a rolling basis while institutional capacity allows, which means applying earlier in the window carries a practical advantage.

What the Fellowship Actually Pays — And How the Money Arrives

The Visegrad Fellowship keeps its financial structure clean and predictable, making it easy to plan your stay without guessing at reimbursement timelines.

• The fellowship provides a lump-sum scholarship of 500 euros per week for the entire approved duration of the stay, covering two to ten weeks
• Payment is split into two instalments: 80 percent is disbursed at the start of the fellowship period, with the remaining 20 percent released upon completion
• The funding is a flat-rate stipend, meaning it is not tied to receipts or expense reports — fellows decide how to allocate it across accommodation, travel, and daily costs
• A fellow approved for the maximum ten-week stay would receive a total of 5,000 euros under this structure

Who Can Actually Apply — Eligibility Stripped to the Essentials

This is a narrowly targeted visegrad fellowship, and understanding whether you qualify takes less than a minute. The core rule is straightforward: you must be a doctoral-level scholar from one of five specific countries, and your research stay must take place in a different country within the same group.

• Applicants must hold citizenship and current residence in one of the following: Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, or Ukraine
• The host institution where the fellowship will be conducted must be located in a different Visegrad country from the applicant’s country of citizenship and residence
• Candidates must be either enrolled full-time in a doctoral program or already hold a completed doctoral degree at the time of applying
• The fellowship is conducted in person; remote participation is permitted only in exceptional cases involving documented limited mobility, and must be justified in both the application and the host invitation
• Previous fellowship recipients may reapply, but first-time applicants receive priority, and returning fellows must demonstrate that their new proposal builds meaningfully on past work
• Reapplying within the same application term — whether after approval or rejection — is discouraged due to capacity constraints.

From Account Creation to Submission — How the Application Process Works

All applications go through the My Visegrad online portal https://www.visegradfund.org/visegrad-fellowship-program-apply, and the process is designed to be completed independently without institutional pre-approval on the applicant’s side. Once you create an account, you will work through a single submission that combines a research plan with a set of supporting documents — everything uploaded in English.

The first step is preparing your research proposal. This should clearly explain what you intend to do during the fellowship, why the specific host institution is the right fit, and how the proposed duration matches the scope of work. Evaluators look specifically at the coherence of your plan, your academic track record including publications, and the regional relevance of your chosen topic.

Alongside the research proposal, you will need to upload four key documents: a scanned copy of a valid national ID or passport, proof of doctoral status (either your diploma or an enrollment certificate), a formal letter of invitation from your host institution that specifies the fellowship timeline and intended outcomes, and a recommendation letter from your home institution or a recognized expert in your field.

Once everything is uploaded, your application enters a rolling review process. There is no single decision date — approvals are made continuously as long as funding and capacity remain available.

The Clock Is Running — Final Deadline for the Current Cycle

The spring 2026 application window of Visegrad fellowship program will close on May 31, 2026, at 12:00 PM noon.