Your scholarship, your opportunity at the GTIAE

BEST Foundation is the entity that promotes the Degree in Industrial Technologies and Economic Analysis (GTIAE) since the 2018-2019 academic year. Likewise, the main founding objective is to promote university education of excellence, especially interdisciplinary and interuniversity collaborations. Secondly, to promote the training of professionals with a high level of professional and technical training. Finally, to attract and promote the talent of students with proven intellectual and effort capacities.

Logically, to achieve this goal, BEST Foundation put in place resources so that no qualified person stops accessing studies due to lack of economic means. Thus, it makes available a scholarship program that is presented below.

The endowment and types of scholarships

Let’s take the data from the 2023 call. At the proposal of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, the ordinary call was launched with a maximum amount of €50,000 in endowment.

The grants are grouped into three main types, which are presented below with the corresponding percentage of the endowment. First, allocate a maximum of 90% of the call to study grants and mobility grants, with a maximum amount of €45,000. Second, allocate the rest of the budget of the call to the emergency fund. Therefore, it can be deduced that the types of foundation scholarships to which you can apply are:

• Study grants. Study aid is the endowment aimed at participants with proven need and high academic performance. The objective is to help meet the expenses caused by carrying out the studies. Depending on these needs, the study grant may include an allowance for expenses related to course enrolment (maximum of €1,250 per course and applicant); an allowance for residence or continuous transfers (maximum of €4,000 per year and applicant); support for language reinforcement and an endowment in the form of a scholarship-salary (maximum of €3,500 per year and applicant).
• Mobility grants. A mobility grant is considered to be the endowment for people with proven need and high academic performance. The aim is to help meet the expenses caused by international internships in companies or academic mobility in third universities.
• Emergency fund grants for unforeseen circumstances. The aim is to meet expenses that cannot be met due to extraordinary circumstances that have arisen. For example, the death of close family members, accidents that lead to a situation of disability for the participants or close family members. It also includes the impact of natural disasters in the place of origin of the family unit, among others.

Conditions, requirements, process

To receive a study grant, the candidate must meet the following requirements:

• Requirement #1: take some of the studies promoted by the BEST Foundation. Likewise, to be admitted (preferably in the first assignment) to the university pre-enrolment process in Catalonia to take some of the studies promoted by the BEST Foundation. The support for language reinforcement will only be applicable to first year students.
• Requirement #2: Be part of a family unit with economic need. Generally, the level of annual net income per family member may not exceed the average for Catalonia. This requirement may be assessed in a special way depending on the candidate’s place of origin.
• Requirement #3: Maintain good academic progress. The grades that appear in the academic record will be considered if the person is already at the university. Likewise, the grades to access the university if the candidate has just taken the baccalaureate / PAU evaluation test.
• Requirement #4: apply for the equivalent grant from other public or private entities providing scholarships (state or regional entities). For example, the scholarship from the Ministry of Education
• Requirement #5: apply for the study grant at the BEST Foundation within the deadline set for the corresponding academic year and provide the necessary information completely and truthfully.

Logically, it is a process of competitive competition. Therefore, the costs associated with the monitoring of studies (enrolment, accommodation, maintenance) will be taken into account when determining the amount of the proposed grants. Likewise, the academic results of each candidate will be considered.

On the other hand, the process of awarding scholarships is led by a Scholarship Committee. It takes place between the months of June and July. The process is as follows:

• Firstly, in each annual call for grants, a deadline is set.
• Secondly, a preliminary assessment is carried out with a proposal for the award and orderly prioritisation of the candidates to receive the grants (possibility of interview).
• Thirdly, the provisional list of pre-awards is published.
• Fourthly, the final list of pre-awards of the first allocation is published. It includes the sorting of people with the corresponding pre-awarded amounts, as well as a reserve list, if deemed relevant.
• Applicants are then informed if they have a pre-awarded scholarship. Also, if they do not have it or if they are on the reserve list and in what order.
• Finally, the final award is made.

Going further

The BEST Foundation is satisfied with the results that the scholarship program is giving but wants to go further. Until now, the approach has been to help students who, through their own resources, already come to study the GTIAE. However, without abandoning this approach, it also wants to extend it to people who need help to be admitted to a university degree.

This, however, is a more complex terrain. The aim is to make it clear that students from vulnerable socio-economic backgrounds can also access and excel in the field of engineering and economic analysis.

In this sense, the BEST Foundation is in the process of rethinking and redesigning its scholarship and aid policy. We hope that it will be a reality for the next academic year 2026 – 2027. Undoubtedly, it will be necessary to have more actors, address more complex situations and redouble efforts. Likewise, it will be necessary to consider unexpected side effects, proceed by the method of trial and error… All this will take some time to bear the desired impact.

However, we need to go further. Always!