Swedish Institute (SI) Scholarship Programmes

Enclosure to the application for Swedish Institute Study Scholarships for

studies in Sweden at Masters level for the academic year 2017/2018
LETTER OF REFERENCE FORM (Instructions)
Who can fill out the letter of reference?

The referee should be someone who knows you in a professional rather than a personal manner. It
does not have to be your direct boss. It can be, for instance, the HR manager, as long as the manager
can comment on your work. If you, for instance, are still a student or a freelancer and do not have a
professional referee, you may find an academic referee or a client who is not a family member.

Examples of who can be your referee

Employer/supervisor
Tutor/mentor
Head teacher/principal

Examples of who cannot be referred to and used as referee

Co-workers
Family members/relatives/partners/friends
Individuals who demand compensation (money, goods, favours, services or other means)
from you in order to give you a statement of reference

Why does SISS require a letter of reference?

The referee is expected to state an opinion of the applicant from a professional perspective and will
thereby provide an important supplement to the letter of motivation and the curriculum vitae.
Applicants are recommended to provide a letter of reference from their current or previous employer.

Restrictions

The letter of reference must be completed in English or alternatively translated by an official notary
with the notarys appropriate official stamp. The original letter of reference or the English translation
should not exceed two pages (exempt the instruction page). Any additional page(s) will be
disregarded. In order to be valid, the letter must be dated, signed and stamped by the
company/organisation/university where you worked or studied at and that the referee represents. If
your referee has changed job and is unable to represent your former or current employer, we
recommend that you find a different referee that still works at the company/organisation and is able
to comment on your work performance. The letter of reference must have the official stamp and be
signed; the Swedish Institute makes no exceptions. Letters that are not signed and/or stamped will
be disregarded and the application will be deemed ineligible.

The completed letter of reference in a PDF format should be enclosed along with your online
application (please do not include this instruction page in the file). If the original letter is not in
English, both the original letter and the translation should be enclosed as one PDF file.

SI will carry out random checks on the applications and applicants to control any false or misleading
information, including fabricated documentation. Should any false information be found, the
applicant will be automatically disqualified from this and future SI scholarship programmes. Any false
information discovered during the scholarship period will be cause for termination of the scholarship.
The scholarship holder will then have to repay the full scholarship amount to SI.

Background

Information regarding the Swedish Institute Study Scholarships can be found on the Swedish Institutes
official website.
Enclosure to the application for Swedish Institute Study Scholarships for
studies in Sweden at Masters level for the academic year 2017/2018
LETTER OF REFERENCE FORM (Two pages maximum including this page)

The letter of reference must be completed in English or alternatively

translated by an official notary with the notarys appropriate official
stamp. If so, both the original letter and the translation must be
enclosed as one PDF file. The referee may decide how to allocate text
between the questions provided, given that the letter does not
exceed two pages. Any additional page(s) will be disregarded.
Information should be typed, then printed and signed by hand by the
referee, then scanned and uploaded as a PDF-file by the applicant
along with the online application in the second step of the
scholarship application 1-10 February 2017.
FIRST NAME(S) of applicant (as written in your passport)
LAST NAME of applicant (as written in your passport)
DATE OF BIRTH of applicant (YYYY-MM-DD)
CITIZENSHIP of applicant

FULL NAME of referee

ORGANISATION/UNIVERSITY/ENTERPRISE of referee
TITLE/POSITION of referee
E-MAIL ADDRESS of referee
TELEPHONE NUMBER of referee (with country code)

Please state in what capacity you know the applicant

How long has the applicant been working/studying with you at
your organisation/university? Please specify number of hours.

In your opinion, how would a SI scholarship for studies in Sweden be valuable for the professional
and academic development of the applicant?

Briefly comment on the applicants potential to contribute to and/or drive social change in his/her
context.

Please evaluate the applicants leadership capacity and potential to play a role in development of the
society (e.g. in networking, motivation and perseverance; problem solving and communication).
Please give a concrete example.


Additional remarks (optional)

Date and place Signature of reference person