Appeals Guidelines

Where an applicant to the Global-MINDS programme is dissatisfied with a decision of the Global-
MINDS Selection Committee relating to the individual's admission to that programme and/or
scholarship attribution, (s)he may submit an appeal.

What can be appealed?

An appeal can only be made on the following grounds, which you must identify on your Academic
Appeal Form:

a. There was an administrative error in assessing the student´s eligibility to be admitted to the
programme (e.g., a submitted document was not taken into account).
b. There was an administrative error in the evaluation of the student´s application (e.g., a
submitted document was not taken into account, the scores do not add up).
c. The applicant believes that (s)he has been discriminated against unlawfully.
Different reasons for appeal have different appeal submission deadlines. It is very important to adhere
to these deadlines which are shown below.

What cannot be appealed?

The Global-MINDS programme is funded by EACEA and must follow strict guidelines in regard to
the scholarship attribution. No more than 3 applicants from the same country can receive a scholarship
in any given call and a specific number of scholarships are reserved for some geographic regions (see
http://global-minds.eu/application/costs-and-funding/). Given these rules, similar scores may result in
different application outcomes for applicants from different countries. Decisions related to the funder´s
rules cannot be appealed.

Scholarships are allocated based on merit and not means. Hence, appeals about the scholarship
allocation referring to financial hardship will not be considered.

The appeal is not an opportunity to provide new information not included in the original application.
New evidence or additional information (e.g., additional certificates) cannot be taken into account at
this stage of the process. All relevant information should have been submitted in the initial application.
During the appeal the application is not given a full re-evaluation, but will only be checked for errors in
the process.

The selection procedure includes an evaluation of students’ academic achievements and potential, CV
as well as academic and/or other experience, motivation letter and recommendation forms/letters on a
 100-point scale by two evaluators from different Partner Institutions. Evaluators may not always agree
completely and it is normal that their scores will differ to some extent. Only if the two scores diverge
by more than 20 points, will a third person will evaluate the application. An appeal is not meant to
request a re-evaluation if the difference score between the two evaluators is equal or less than 19 points.

Appeal Procedure

1. The applicant shall submit the appeal form to info@global-minds.eu, clearly outlining the grounds
for the appeal and respecting the respective deadline as indicated below, within 10 calendar days of
being notified of the decision being appealed.
2. The appeal shall be evaluated by the Global-MINDS Coordination Team, which will decide the
merits of the appeal and what, if any, action is required. The Committee´s decision is final and
cannot be re-appealed.
3. Applicants will be notified via email regarding the outcome of their appeal no later than 14 calendar
days after the appeal has been received.

Filing an Appeal

 Submission of the Appeal Form (must be written and signed by the student)
The student must state the reason for appealing and clearly describe the error or bias in the
final decision.

 Supporting documentation
Students are ultimately responsible for providing sufficient supporting documentation with
their appeal, which satisfies the burden of proof of an administrative error or bias in the final
decision.

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