Giving our best to the best students

In a wonderful conclusion to this year’s 13th annual Scholarship program, the eleven winning students of the Bakala Foundation Scholarship will fulfill their dreams of studying at a top international university. The new scholarship recipients will attend schools in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, and the United States. The subjects that the young scholars will study from September onwards are very diverse, including physics, mathematics, history, archaeology, computer science, and education.

This year’s committee selected from 180 applications, and the final round, held June 7th and June 8th at the Bakala Foundation’s office in Prague, included 24 finalists. Michaela Bakala, the chairwoman of the Bakala Foundation’s board of trustees, continued her tradition of participating on the committee and encouraging all the finalists.

In her speech during the closing ceremony, she praised their talent, diligence, and determination. She also expressed happiness that despite the complications of Brexit and two years of covid online learning, applicant interest in the scholarships remains high. “We are delighted that none of this has affected their excellent academic credentials, nor has it affected their determination to take on a world full of new challenges.”

The garden of Wroclaw Palace hosted a beautiful closing ceremony where finalists, guests, and other Bakala Foundation scholarship recipients and alumni gathered to toast the success of the Czech students. “Every year is unique for us. This year, however, the best of the best applied from all corners of the Czech Republic. We take this as a positive signal that our education system is developing and talented young students are coming out of it across all regions,” added Michaela Bakala.

Among the selected students who received scholarships this year, seven will study in bachelor’s programs, and four will start master’s studies. Most of them chose the UK for their studies (7 students), with the University of Oxford being the most frequently chosen school, followed by the University of Cambridge, University College London, and King’s College London. Three of the remaining students will head to the European continent, to Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Germany, and one scholarship holder will study at a university in the USA.