There is something very special about Slovakia. Apart from its amazing nature, unique culture and world-class education, its international scholarship programmes such as the National Slovak Scholarship (NSP), supported by the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic, slowly becoming a prestigious international academic brand. NSP have enabled thousands of international researchers (like me) who  come to Slovak universities for research and development and knowledge exchange. The NSP has made Slovakia an attractive destination for educational research among the world's emerging  scientists. I am fortunate enough to won NSP twice, first as a PhD student, then, as a researcher. My name is Amit Singh. I am an Indian origin social science researcher and a writer based at the University of Coimbra, Portugal.

 

Amit Singh with wife Margie Gianan Singh I received my first NSP in 2022 to conduct and collaborate on my doctoral research at the Institute of European Studies and International Relations, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava. Under the supervision of Professor Oľga Gyárfášová - a world-class political scientist - I was able to produce two research papers and a book. In addition, I gave some lectures on Indian political culture at the Comenius University.

While in Bratislava, my research paper was accepted for presentation at the prestigious international conference organised by the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) in Prague in September 2023. I also had the unique opportunity to meet legendary political scientists, Charles Taylor and Craig Calhoun at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna.  In 2023, I successfully defended my PhD at my home university in Coimbra passing with the highest grade-Summa cum laude.

Author with Professor Oľga GyárfášováThanks to Slovakia's central geographical location, I also travelled to eight countries during my scholarship period. A particularly memorable trip was to Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps in Poland and the Museum of Communism in Prague.

NSP is not only an amazing educational experience, but also a cultural one. The non-governmental organisation Slovak Academic Information Agency (SAIA) plays a key role in facilitating the NSP by assisting students and researchers during their academic stay in Slovakia, but also by organising various cultural and travel programmes that promote the true spirit of cultural exchange among the participants.

I enjoyed watching Slovak folklore festival and tasted traditional Slovak cuisine at Bratislava's flagship restaurant. There are also some Indian restaurants in the city, but I enjoyed my daily meal at 'Dosa Samosa', an Indian restaurant in the city centre, which is popular not only with Indians but also with Slovak students.

With Babukuttan Balu, owner of Indian restaurantIn 2024 I won the NSP again. This time it was for my postdoctoral research at the same institution. So, I came to Bratislava for the second time- as a researcher. My priorities as a researcher are to produce innovative knowledge in collaboration with my supervisor Professor Oľga Gyárfášová and to attend seminars and exchange of knowledge with students and other scholars. Needless to say, Slovakia has already played a very important role in taking my academic career to a new level and bringing so many wonderful experiences to my personal life, which I have documented in an NSP blog.

During my academic journey in Slovakia, some people and institutions, apart from my supervisor and the university, have played a crucial role.  These includes the staff of the Officers at the International Relations Department of my faculty and Bratislava city Liberary.

With International relation’s officer

Slovakia is fast becoming an international academic hub and a popular tourist destination. The Slovak government and SAIA are doing a great job in supporting foreign scholars. I hope that Slovakia will continue to internationalise its educational initiatives such as NSP and provide them with academic support.