The scholarships program of the Norwegian Government to 500 of the best students of the year in Serbia lasted from 2000 to 2004.
Below find information reletaed to the last award ceremony:
The Norwegian government has for the fourth and for the last time in a row awarded the five hundred best students of the Universities in Serbia. The list of awardees was published in March 2004. The award ceremonies took place in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Nis, 14-16 April 2004. Each student received a grant of YUN 30 000.
Press release 19 April 2004:
Norwegian Scholarships Distributed to the Best Students
The scholarships granted by the Kingdom of Norway to students of final years on Serbian universities were distributed last week to the best students. G17 Institute and Belgrade Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway organized ceremonies of handing the awards in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Nis.
The scholarships award ceremony for students of Belgrade University was held on April 14, 2004 in the Belgrade City Assembly. His Excellency Hans Ola Urstad, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway in Serbia and Montenegro, Predrag Markovic, President of the National Assembly, Miroljub Labus, Vice President of Serbian Government, Mladjan Dinkic, Minister of Finance in the Government of Republic of Serbia and Milko Stimac, Executive Director of G17 Institute, addressed the students, their parents, journalists and guests.
The best students of the University of Novi Sad received their scholarship awards on April 15 in the Novi Sad Town Assembly. The scholarships for students of Nis University were distributed on April 16 in the Town Assembly. Ambassador Hans Ola Urstad and Milko Stimac congratulated the winners on their success and handed them diplomas and grants in aid.
Release from the press conference February 2004
Results of the competition "15 Million Dinars for 500 Best Students" 2/24/2004
His Excellency Hans Ola Urstad, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway in Belgrade, and Milko Stimac, Executive Director of G17 Institute, have announced results of the competition for 500 scholarships for the best students in Serbia for academic year 2003/2004, on the press conference held on February 24, 2004.
His Excellency Hans Ola Urstad has said that he is very pleased that the Norwegian embassy will provide scholarships for the fourth time to the best Serbian students and that he is satisfied with the cooperation with the G17 Institute. He has added that it is pity that the scholarship project finishes this year, and it is not because Norway do not intend to help students any more, but because there are several other projects that demand attention. The ambassador emphasized that the granted scholarships, which will be distributed at the beginning of March in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Nis, are not intended to help the young people to leave Serbia, but to help the best to stay.
Milko Stimac, Executive Director of G17 Institute, has thanked the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway and presented data on this year scholarship winners. He has reminded that the scholarships are lump sum financial assistance and amount to 30,000 dinars per scholarship winner.
Source: Press releases from the G17 Institute website.