Applications open for zis Scholarship Program (Germany)

zis wants to enable young people to prove themselves outside school standards and to autonomously shape their own projects. zis is first and foremost an experiential learning concept. Intercultural education plays a part just as the desire to make young people more autonomous. On the other hand zis scholarships have enabled many young people to travel who could not have afforded it otherwise.

Your Challenges

• Travelling alone: Your journey should be the beginning of a new you. That’s why you should do it alone: to extricate yourself from your usual environment, be more open to meeting other people, and immerse yourself in the peculiarities and cultural characteristics of your host country.
• Get going without flying: Approaching your destination slowly helps prepare you for what awaits. Flying is not suited to a journey towards self-discovery. Becoming aware of the distances that lie between the home country and the host country is a vital part of the zis project.
• Keeping to your budget: Travelling on a budget makes it easier to get in touch with the local population and avoid the traps of mass tourism. Sensibly managing a tight budget of 700 € is also a skill that will be useful throughout your life.
• At least four weeks of travel: Your journey should last at least four weeks so that you can truly engage with your topic on a deeper level. Of course you can also travel for longer, as far as your time and scholarship allow – and as long as you continue to pursue your topic!
• Writing your project report: After your journey you will submit your project report or alternative documentation, your travel diary, and your list of expenses. Your report has to be at least 8000 words long. Adding photos or sketches will also make it interesting for others to read. A map showing your travel route is also a useful addition.

Your Project – 3 steps to the Journey

• Because this is your journey, it’s up to you to decide which travel topic best suits you. Whether it’s art, nature, sports or politics – it’s your interests, talents and inclinations that matter. Tell them in your application what it is that connects you to your topic and what links your chosen country to it. Depending on your topic, you can also create a piece of art or craft instead of a written project report or choose an alternative way of documentation. If you want to do this, please let them know what you have in mind and tell them about your experiences and background knowledge in this field. This also applies to photo documentations. As the topic of the journey should serve your personal development, they reject topics on principle which only seek to deepen the field of study.
  • Before the journey
    • If your application is shortlisted, you will no longer be on your own in the further preparation of your trip. You will be supported and personally mentored by a person who has extensive experience with zis journeys. They will give you tips, answer your questions and, ultimately, approve your scholarship as soon as your plans have matured.
  • During the journey
    • As soon as you‘ve started your journey, you’ll have to stand on your own two feet. You’ll organise your time, manage your expenses and find your contacts. Your topic will be your key to the country and its people. You will gather impressions and experiences and visit people who have something to say about your topic. You’ll see how it’s possible to immerse yourself in the culture of your host country in only 4 weeks. Your travel diary, in which you’ll capture your daily impressions, will be your constant companion.
  • After the journey
    • After your return, you‘ll have three months to summarise your impressions and experiences in a project report, a piece of art or craft or an alternative documentation. You should report on what you discovered about your topic on the journey, and how the trip changed your perspective and views. You can be creative and illustrate your topic with pictures or other material. Producing an artistic piece of work is another great way of capturing your experiences and questions surrounding your journey topic.

Eligibility Criteria

• It doesn’t mater if you’re still at school, doing an apprenticeship, studying or taking a gap year. The age limit is 21, so you can’t have turned 21 by the time you start your journey. You don’t need to have any specific prior knowledge or experiences abroad to participate.
• Please note the conditions for non-german applicants:
  • you have to live in Germany, travel to a german speaking country or choose a topic with a context to german culture
  • they cannot assist you with any visa-applications
  • like all other applicants you are not allowed to travel by airplane and you have to cover ALL your expensen (incl. travel) by the scholarship
• Please also note the conditions before applying to the scholarship:
  • You are working on a topic of your choice
  • You travel alone and for at least 4 weeks abroad
  • You’re not traveling by plane
  • You keep a travel diary and write a project report
  • You don’t spend more money than you get from zis
  • You submit your diary, report and list of expenses three months after your return
  • You are at least 16 and at most 20 years old at the start of the journey.

For more information, visit zis Stiftung für Studienreisen.