Here you will find the answers to a selection of the most frequently asked questions by Scholarship candidates.
1. Does compliance with the Application Guidelines guarantee that a Scholarship of Academic Excellence will be granted?

• No. The María Cristina Masaveu Peterson Academic Excellence Scholarship is a competitive scholarship. Compliance with the requirements established in the Application Guidelines enables students to access the evaluation process for a limited number of scholarships, among all applicable candidates. However, under no circumstances does it guarantee the automatic grant of a scholarship.
• Application assessment is carried out by an Academic Assessment Committee expressly convened by the Foundation based on the needs of each specific call, in accordance with the academic profile of the applicants presented during each call. Assessment is carried out based on scientific fields and in accordance with the established excellence criteria.

2. For students enrolled on their first year of official university studies, what is the minimum grade required to submit a scholarship application?

• The entry exam to official university studies (P.A.U.) is structured in two stages, known as the General Stage (compulsory) and the Specific Stage (voluntary), respectively. The grade necessary to apply for a scholarship is obtained as a result of the weighted average of 60 percent of the average “Bachillerato” grade and 40 percent of the General Stage grade (Final Entry Exam Grade / FEEG). The resulting grade must be equal to or greater than 9.50.
• In order to demonstrate that this requirement has been fulfilled, a copy of the official document (Result Certificate) issued by the University of Oviedo must be attached to the scholarship application, with the grades achieved in the University Entry Exam (P.A.U). Final Entry Exam Grade (FEEG). June 2016 Call.

3. If my academic record does not comply with the minimum grade established in the Application Guidelines, by tenths of the final grade, but I have an excellent CV and academic merits, can I still submit my application?

• No. Unfortunately, compliance with the minimum grade is an essential and decisive condition to be able to access the evaluation process. Any applications that do not comply with the minimum grade will not be admitted.

4. Must I present the originals or certified copies of the documentation that is required with the application form?

• No. In order to minimise costs for students, the only original document that must be presented is the application form, because it must have the original signature of the applicant, along with a photograph that must be attached to the document (if it has not been inserted by filling in the editable PDF). All documentation submitted with the application can be a copy, but it must be clear and legible and of excellent quality, and must comply with the established format, namely A4 (297mm high x 210 mm wide).
• If the Foundation detects that the documentation included with the application form is incomplete or incorrect, it may request that the applicant provides the necessary documentation or rectifies the faults detected, within the term of ten days, notifying them that otherwise their application will be rejected. Likewise, the Foundation may request proof of any of the information included in the application.
• In the event that a scholarship is granted, the student will be requested to present all of the original copies in order to certify the documentation presented. In the event of irregularities, the scholarship will be withdrawn.

5. In the event that I am not awarded with the scholarship, will all the documentation presented with the application be returned to me?

• No. The applicant must take this into account and not attach necessary original documentation to the application.
• All information collected during the selection process of this edition of Scholarships will be used for the purpose, in the manner and with the limitations and rights outlined in Organic Law 15/1999, on Personal Data Protection within the framework of Spanish Law.
• Information provided by scholarship applicants will be included in the personal files managed by the Foundation, where they will be confidentially preserved in Spanish territory. The Foundation is authorised by the scholarship applicant to make use of their personal data and to carry out the computer processing necessary to comply with its objectives and for the purpose of the scholarships granted. All scholarship applicants who provide their personal data give their express consent for such data to be used by companies or individuals who are part of or associated to the Foundation, in order to fulfil the Foundation’s objectives and for the purpose of the scholarships granted. Likewise, applicants who provide their personal data are hereby notified that said communication shall occur at the same moment that they provide their details to the Foundation by submitting their Scholarship application. Furthermore, scholarship applicants expressly give their consent for the information referred to in these Guidelines to be transferred to third parties who provide data processing services to the Foundation and to any of the Foundation’s subsidiary or investee legal entities, to be used with the sole purpose of the published Sponsorship programme. In the event that the data is used for a purpose other than that for which it was obtained, the prior consent of the interested parties shall be requested. Sponsorship applicants whose details are subject to data processing may freely exercise their rights to opposition, access, rectification and cancellation of their data and may withdraw their authorisation, without backdated effects, in the terms specified in Organic Law 15/1999, on Personal Data Protection, in accordance with legally established procedures. These rights may be exercised by contacting the Foundation in writing.

6. Due to the incompatibility of the María Cristina Masaveu Peterson Scholarship for Academic Excellence with other grants or scholarships, in order to pursue my scholarship application, must I first forgo requesting other possible grants or scholarships?

• No, it is not necessary to forgo requesting other grants or scholarships in order to submit your application.
• The María Cristina Masaveu Peterson Scholarship for Academic Excellence is not compatible with any other grant or scholarship granted by any national or international organisation, whether public or private, for the same purposes, or with any paid job or internship. In the section reserved for this purpose on the application form appearing in ANNEX I, applicants must declare all grants and scholarships, whether public or private, national or international, requested for the academic year 2015-2016. They must also declare if they have applied for or programmed any paid internship, whether compulsory or voluntary, included in their academic and educational programme during the scholarship year.
• In the event that the Excellence Scholarship is granted , the Foundation’s Legal Department will determine any possible incompatibilities so that students can evaluate their options and opt for the scholarship or grant that best suits their academic and personal interests, before accepting the scholarship.
• In the event that the Excellence Scholarship is accepted , if it is incompatible with other grants requested or received, the scholarship holder must forgo them all and formally accredit this circumstance. The scholarship shall not be granted and the Acceptance Document shall not be signed until any possible incompatibilities have been resolved.

7. If I study outside of Spain, but am native to and a resident of the Principality of Asturias, or I have lived there for at least five years before requesting the scholarship, can I still apply?

• No. In order to apply for the scholarship, the student must be enrolled in university programmes within the Spanish university system, including first and second cycle official university degrees, Graduates, Engineers, Architects, Diploma programmes, Master’s, Technical Engineers and Technical Architects, for the 2015/2016 academic year at official centres in Spain.

8. If I have all of the documentation necessary to submit my application, but I am missing an important document that I hope to receive within the established term for submitting applications, although there is no full guarantee that I will receive it, what should I do?

• If the student has all of the necessary documentation except for one single document, in order to guarantee registration of their application within the established term, exceptionally, they may proceed to submit their (incomplete) application, with a note or visible explanation, duly justifying the circumstance. As soon as the pending document is available and before 10 November, it should be urgently submitted (by email or certified post) to the Foundation.
• If the document is not received, and said document is crucial to justify that the student complies with the requirements established in the Application Guidelines, their application will be rejected. In the case of documents that accredit academic and non-academic merits declared on the student’s CV, they will not be considered during the candidate evaluation process.
• The Foundation will examine the application files and will verify that they comply with the requirements established in the guidelines, and that they contain all of the necessary documentation. If the Foundation detects that the documentation included with the application form is incomplete or incorrect, it may request that the applicant provides the necessary documentation or rectifies the faults detected, within the term of ten days, notifying them that otherwise their application will be rejected. However, it is not the Foundation’s responsibility to notify students of the absence of curricular accreditations and other similar faults, and students are therefore requested to carefully revise all documentation before submitting their application.

9. When will the official decision regarding the granting of scholarships be made public?

• The allocation of the scholarship will be announced in December 2016. Only the list of those who have been awarded a scholarship will be published on the Foundation’s website (www.fundacioncristinamasaveu.org), for which the applicants give their consent.
• The students who have been awarded a scholarship will also be notified by email. Therefore, it is extremely important that the contact details provided by the students in their application form are correct, legible and in use.
• Once students have been notified by the Foundation that the scholarship has been granted, they will have a maximum term of 15 days to accept it in writing, after which, it will be considered definitively allocated.
• Upon acceptance, the scholarship will be officially granted at a ceremony during which a SCHOLARSHIP ACCEPTANCE DOCUMENT will be signed. Students will receive prior notification of said ceremony.
• The Foundation will not provide any information regarding the reasons why the scholarships have been granted or rejected.

10. What is the financial award offered by the scholarship?

• The María Cristina Masaveu Peterson Scholarship for Academic Excellence is a personalised scholarship, which is adapted to the profile and academic demands of each specific student.
• It is granted based on academic excellence, with the objective of promoting talent and encouraging the dedication and commitment of students to achieve excellence in their education and professional and human training, expanding the training and academic opportunities of each student.
• There is no fixed financial award for each student, but rather the scholarship is adapted to each personalised academic project described by each of the students for the academic year in question. Therefore, its use depends directly on the requirements and academic needs of each scholarship holder.