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“This scholarship affirms the strength of the cooperation between the universities of the Baltic states. In addition to knowledge, we share common values – respect for language, culture and education. Students who engage in this process become bridges between our countries,” emphasizes UL Rector Professor Gundars Bērziņš. “We are proud that this scholarship promotes academic excellence, and, furthermore, strengthens Baltic unity, offering students the opportunity to gain experience and knowledge that broadens their horizons and forms the basis for further professional and personal growth.”
This year’s winner of the Scholarship of Three Baltic Universities, Arnita Agrita Umalas, is a master's student at the University of Tartu, specializing in Estonian language and linguistics with the research focus on the Livonian language. Her keen interest in the languages of the Baltic Sea region led her to study Lithuanian, and she sees it as a logical continuation of her research. She received encouragement to participate in the scholarship competition from her Lithuanian language teacher, who persuaded her to see it as an opportunity to test her language skills and strengthen her self-confidence.
The scholarship of 2000 euro is aimed to promote the study and teaching of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian languages and cultures. The scholarship has been awarded annually since 2017. The three Baltic universities award this scholarship consecutively. In 2025, the scholarship is financially supported by the UL Foundation from the Kristaps Morbergs scholarship fund.
The scholarship was open to full-time students of all study levels and programmes from all three participating universities, including international students. To qualify, candidates had to demonstrate good language skills: at least one of the Baltic languages – at the level C1, and the others – at least the level A2.
The selection process took place in three rounds. In the round of written assignment, three written works were submitted – in Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian. In one language, the participants had to prepare a discussion essay, while in the other two – related texts to address the topics of language, culture and personal experience. After that, the best candidates were invited to the round testing the skills of speaking, after which the participants of the final round were selected, which took place on 15 April at UL.
, the University of Tartu and the Vilnius University – in 2025 has been awarded to the University of Tartu student Arnita Agrita Umalas. This year, the organization and financing of the scholarship was implemented by UL. The awarding ceremony of the scholarship took place on 16 April in the UL Senate Hall and the scholarship certificate was presented by the UL Rector.){kind=link}