SysSec Scholarships Q&A

The goal of the SysSec Scholarships is to stimulate collaborative research in Systems Security. Towards this end, the application process has been deliberately kept simple in order not to discourage people from applying. Aspects that are not extensively covered in the call for applications are explained below. If you have any additional questions that could be included, please email us.

Eligibility

• Q: Are researchers/students in a non-EU member European state eligible for a SysSec scholarship?
  A: The SysSec scholarships are available to all researchers in EU member states and affiliated states (such as Switzerland).
• Q: I am not an EU national. Am I eligible for a SysSec scholarship?
  A: Yes, as long as you are affiliated with a European university or research institute and you do systems security research.
• Q: Is it possible to receive a scholarship for visiting an organisation that is not member of the SysSec Network of Excellence?
  A: No. Scholarships are restricted only to visits to members of the SysSec Network of Excellence.
• Q: I am already affiliated with one of the members of the SysSec Network of Excellence. Am I eligible for a scholarship?
  A: Yes, as long as you apply to visit an organization that you are not currently affiliated with.
• Q: Can I apply for a visit to a research group that belongs to the 8 organizations of the SysSec NoE but works on an area other than systems security?
  A: Probably not. The scholarships are intended to stimulate research in system security. Unless there is a very clear system security angle, your proposal will probably not be funded. If your proposal is not a core system security proposal, but relevant to system security, you should really argue why this is the case in the application.
• Q: My current research area is not systems security. Can I apply for a scholarship to extend my reasearch on this area?
  A: See the answer to the previous question.
• Q: I am soon finishing an MSc related to systems security in a European university. Am I eligible for a scholarship?
  A: Yes.

Applying for a scholarship

• Q: How extensive should my motivation letter be?
  A: In a nutshell, explain what you want to do, why you want to do it, why you should do it at the hosting institution, why this is good for you, and why this is good for system security research.
• Q: If my application is turned down at the first evaluation, can I apply again?
  A: Yes. An application may be submitted up to 3 times.
• Q: May I submit different applications for visiting different hosting organisations?
  A: There are 3 subcases here:
  (1) Yes, you can definitely submit an application to a different org after a previous application was rejected.
  (2) No, we do not allow two simultaneous applications.
  (3) We do not preclude multiple consecutive applications, but in the interest of fairness, we will probably give preference to a first time submission if both applications are (approximately) equally strong.
• Q: If my application is accepted, can I apply to receive a second SysSec scholarship?
  A: No.

Financial related

• Q: The hosting organization I propose is not in the Eurozone. In what currency will I receive the scholarship?A: All scholarships will be transferred to the recipient in Euros.
• Q: Do I need to submit receipts?
  A: No. We want to keep this as lightweight as possible.

After receiving a scholarship

• Q: Can I arrange with the hosting organization to extend my stay with them beyond the four months of the SysSec scholarship?
  A: At your own expense, sure.
• Q: Do I have any obligations after the end of my scholarship?
  A: We would like to hear how things went and expect a short report about the research project. Also, to receive payment, candidates should provide the chair of the scholarship committee with a statement by the hosts at the host institution vouching for the candidate's presence in their research group. All documents should be sent to SysSec scholarship committee.
• Q: Assuming my proposal is accepted, do I need submit any documentation during the project time?
  A: Not really, but see above: to receive payment, your host needs to let us know you were working in his/her group.
• Q: Except from the SysSec scholarship I got also accepted for an intership at the same time period. What is the deadline for declaring my preference or not to the SysSec scholarship?
  A: Let us know at least one month prior to the start of the internship.