Scholarships · As of 5 Oct 2026
There is funding for a semester or a work placement in Japan, Scandinavia or Italy, for your studies and later for your own artistic work. Here are 18 programmes with eligibility, deadline and step-by-step application. Many can be combined, for example Erasmus+ with the Austrian grant for studying abroad194.
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01 · Going abroad
Erasmus+ funds Italy and the Nordic countries at the same rate: like Austria, they count among the countries with higher living costs195. Japan lies outside Europe and gets the highest monthly amount, but only if your university has funds for it192. All amounts are per month.
| Destination | Erasmus+ study | Erasmus+ placement | Grant for study abroad (only with the study grant) | Province of Upper Austria (IPS) | In the country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | €520192 | €670, i.e. €520 plus €150 for placements192 | €450194 | up to €100, travel up to €240196 | – |
| Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden | €520192 | €670192 | €450194 | up to €100, travel up to €240196 | no tuition fees for EU citizens197,198,199,200 |
| Japan | €700, if the university has funds for countries outside Europe192 | €700, without the placement top-up192 | €450194 | up to €100, travel up to €480196 | JASSO: 80,000 yen, around €452, via a partner university201,202 |
If you receive the Austrian study grant, you get €250 a month extra with Erasmus+192,193. The grant for study abroad does not apply to placements194. The provincial IPS programme requires your main residence to have been in Upper Austria for at least one year196.
During your studies
From Austria, Erasmus+ pays €700 a month for Japan, €520 for Italy, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, and €670 for a placement there192. For Japan your university needs its own funds and usually a partner university192.
After the bachelor’s
The Japanese government’s MEXT scholarship pays 143,000 yen a month, around €808, waives tuition fees and pays the flight203,202. Art is possible as a field, with photos of your works203.
Full master’s
Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway charge EU citizens no tuition fees197,198,199,200. You can take the Austrian study grant with you as a mobility grant194.
After your studies
The Austrian federal government awards studios abroad, among them in Tokyo and Helsinki, each for 3 months rent-free204,205, according to the 2028 call with €2,000 a month206.
For Sophie
In the Digital Arts bachelor’s, a semester abroad is possible in the 5th or 6th semester; the work placement is in the 6th207. In Hagenberg the deadline is 1 February for stays in the winter semester and 1 July for the summer semester208. For the summer semester 2027 this date has passed. What remains there is the work placement abroad, funded by Erasmus+ in Italy or the Nordics. In the Digital Arts master’s, 1 or 2 semesters abroad fit into the 3rd and 4th semester209. Whether there is a partner university in Japan for Digital Arts is something the International Office Hagenberg knows210. Without a partner, “freemovers” usually pay tuition fees211.
02 · All programmes
Each card states who is funded, what you get and by when. “How to apply” lists the steps. Amounts in yen are converted at the European Central Bank rate of 2 October 2026202.
Erasmus+ · study
Per month €520 in Italy, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden; €700 outside Europe, for example in Japan, if your university has funds for it; €250 more with the study grant192.
Provider: EU programme Erasmus+, paid out via your university · Deadline in Hagenberg: 1 February for a winter semester, 1 July for a summer semester208
Who for: students, 2 to 12 months per study cycle192. At partner universities, tuition fees are usually waived211. In Digital Arts in the 5th or 6th semester of the bachelor’s, in the 3rd or 4th of the master’s207,209.
Erasmus+ · placement
Per month €670 in Italy and the Nordics, i.e. €520 plus €150 for placements; €250 more with the study grant. Outside Europe, for example in Japan, €700 without the placement top-up192.
Provider: EU programme Erasmus+, applied for by your university · Deadline: ask the International Office as soon as you have a place
Who for: students, 2 to 12 months per study cycle. The company must fit your studies in content193. The work placement in Digital Arts is in the 6th semester, in Austria or abroad207.
Federal · stipendium.at
Study grant from €451 a month, €336 more if, among other things, you study far from your parents212. For studying abroad, an additional €450 a month in Italy, the Nordics and Japan, travel costs and up to €365 for a language course194.
Provider: Austrian study grant authority · Deadline: winter semester 20 September to 15 December, summer semester 20 February to 15 May212; grant for study abroad no later than 3 months after the start194
Who for: whether you get the study grant depends on your parents’ income and your academic progress; your studies must have begun before your 33rd birthday212. The grant for study abroad is only paid in addition to the study grant, 1 to 20 months, not in the 1st and 2nd bachelor’s semester and not for placements194.
Province of Upper Austria
Up to €100 a month, plus travel costs of up to €240 in Europe and up to €480 outside, at most €1,480 in total196.
Provider: Province of Upper Austria · Deadline: apply before departure196
Who for: students at a university in Upper Austria, including FH OÖ, whose main residence has been in Upper Austria for at least one year. For study, a course or a placement in a non-German-speaking country, up to 10 months196.
Japan · JASSO
80,000 yen a month, around €452201,202.
Provider: Japan Student Services Organization · Deadline: set by the Japanese host university, which alone submits the application201
Who for: exchange students who come through an agreement between their university and a Japanese university, for 8 days to 1 year, with very good grades and without their own means. Not for those who receive more than 80,000 yen a month from other scholarships for Japan201.
Erasmus+ pays €700 for Japan, around 124,000 yen192,202. Anyone receiving it is above the JASSO limit. JASSO page as of 31 January 2024.
University · Study Support Act
Merit scholarship €750 to €1,500 per academic year; project scholarship for an artistic work €750 to €3,600213.
Provider: your university · Deadline: announced every academic year213; at FH OÖ the call comes by email and payment is in autumn214
Who for: merit scholarship for very good grades, at FH OÖ according to the students’ union with an average grade of 2.0 or better, also up to 2 semesters after graduation214. Project scholarship for a scientific or artistic work during your studies. There is no legal entitlement to either213.
Erasmus+ · after graduation
Same monthly amounts as during your studies, for example €670 in Italy or the Nordics192.
Provider: EU programme Erasmus+ via your university · Deadline: apply while still studying193
Who for: graduates, for a placement within one year of graduation. You may not then be enrolled in any further degree193.
If you start a master’s straight away, you cannot use this route193.
Japan · government
143,000 yen a month, around €808, 144,000 yen in a master’s; tuition fees waived, return flight paid203,202.
Provider: Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT) via the embassy in Vienna · Last deadline: 10 June 2026, test and interview on 7 July 2026215
Who for: Austrian citizens born on or after 2 April 1992, with a degree at the latest on arrival in Japan215. Art is possible as a field; photos of your own works are part of the application203. For a 2027 start, the scholarship runs until March 2029203.
Contact
Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway
No tuition fees for EU citizens197,198,199,200. You can take the Austrian study grant with you as a mobility grant194.
Provider: the Nordic universities; mobility grant: Austrian study grant authority · Deadline: set by each university
Who for: those who want to do their whole master’s abroad after the bachelor’s. In Norway this generally applies at public universities199. The mobility grant is available for a full degree in the EEA, Switzerland or the United Kingdom if you meet the study grant conditions; in the 1st year you need 15 ECTS credits194.
Fulbright Austria · USA
Up to $50,000 for one year or up to $75,000 for several years, plus travel up to €2,000 and health insurance216.
Provider: Fulbright Austria · Deadline: 1 May, interviews in June216
Who for: Austrian citizens with a bachelor’s degree or graduating by 1 October. Art is possible: clarify directly with Fulbright Austria how to submit your portfolio216.
Federal · start grant
€1,500 a month for 6 months, €9,000 in total217.
Provider: Austrian Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport · Deadline: 31 January every year217
Who for: young artists with Austrian citizenship or permanent residence in Austria, under 35 or graduated no more than 5 years ago; not while studying. Every year 5 grants for media art and 3 for design217. In media art and visual art, at least 2 exhibitions are required218.
Federal · state grant
€1,500 a month for 12 months, €18,000 in total217.
Provider: Austrian Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport · Deadline: 30 September every year for the following year217
Who for: artists with Austrian citizenship or permanent residence in Austria, for larger projects. Every year 10 grants for visual art and 5 for media art217. Anyone enrolled at a university or university of applied sciences cannot apply219.
Federal · studio abroad
Rent-free studio apartment217 and, according to the 2028 call, a grant of €2,000 a month206. Tokyo and Helsinki 3 months each204,205.
Provider: Austrian Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport · Deadline: 30 September every year217
Who for: artists in visual art, photography and media art with Austrian citizenship or permanent residence, for a specific project; 29 places a year217. Students are excluded206. In Tokyo, Studio Gross looks after you in German, with an exhibition in its gallery204; in Helsinki, the Helsinki International Artist Programme205.
Federal · social insurance
Up to €158 a month towards your pension insurance, up to 4 years retroactively113.
Provider: Künstler-Sozialversicherungsfonds (KSVF)220 · Deadline: ongoing
Who for: self-employed artists with at least €6,613.20 income from art and at most €35,821.50 in total a year (2026 figures). There is also a support fund of up to €5,000113.
Province of Carinthia
Annual grant for visual art 2026: €875 a month, €10,500 a year221. For 2027: two grants with a studio apartment in Paris, €10,680 each for 6 months222.
Provider: Carinthian provincial government · Deadline: announced the year before, most recently 31 July 2025 for 2026221 and 15 June 2026 for Paris 2027222
Who for: professionally qualified artists who were born or work in Carinthia, or whose person or work has another clear connection to Carinthia223,221. Visual art is funded in even years, interdisciplinary art in odd years223.
The details on Paris come from a secondary source.
Province of Upper Austria
€6,600 per grant, up to 6 grants across all fields224.
Provider: Province of Upper Austria · Deadline: every 2 years, most recently 30 April 2026224,225
Who for: artists born in Upper Austria or who have lived there permanently for at least 4 years, for a larger, non-commercial project225.
In 2026 there were also talent awards of €5,400 each in architecture, film and video, photography and music224. Conditions from secondary sources.
Prize · Carinthia
Prizes of €5,000, €3,000 and €2,000226; in 2026 the 6 nominees each received €500 from the Province of Carinthia for production227.
Provider: GALERIE3 · Last deadline: 19 December 2025 for 2026, documents must have arrived by then226
Who for: artists aged 20 to 35 who were born, live or work in Carinthia, or whose person or work has another clear connection to Carinthia226.
Prize · Linz
Golden Nica: up to €10,000 per category92.
Provider: Ars Electronica · Deadline 2026: 7 January to 9 March, extended92
Who for: artists with a work in one of the categories, in 2026: New Animation Art, Digital Humanity and Interactive Art +; plus u19 for young people in Austria92.
03 · Erasmus+ step by step
With Erasmus+ you never apply directly to the EU. Your university always submits the application and also pays out193. This is how it works at FH OÖ in Hagenberg.
Start planning about a year before your stay211.
Clarify with the programme director which courses abroad will be recognised211.
At the International Office of your campus, in Hagenberg by 1 February for a winter semester and by 1 July for a summer semester. All documents are in the Moodle course “Studieren & Praktikum im Ausland”208.
You find the place yourself. The company must fit your studies, which the programme confirms193.
A monthly amount depending on the country, with the study grant €250 more for the whole duration192,193, plus a one-off top-up for travelling by train or bus193.
The Upper Austrian IPS before departure196 and, with the study grant, the grant for study abroad194.
04 · Good to know
Provinces
Upper Austria funds stays abroad if your main residence has been there for at least one year196, and its art grants if you were born in Upper Austria or have lived there for 4 years225. Lower Austria requires residence there since 1 January 2021; birth alone is not enough228. Carinthia funds art if you were born or work there or have a clear connection223, but according to FH OÖ it has no programme for students’ stays abroad208.
Combining
You receive Erasmus+ in full alongside the grant for study abroad194, and the provincial IPS comes on top196. Exception: JASSO only if other scholarships for Japan stay below 80,000 yen a month201. Federal start, state and studio grants are only available after your studies217,219,206.
At FH OÖ, the Marshall Plan scholarship for research in the USA is only available for technical programmes208. You can find more scholarships in grants.at, the Austrian database for scholarships and research funding208.
05 · Questions
From Austria, Erasmus+ pays €700 a month for Japan, €520 for Italy, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, and €670 for a placement there. Japan is only available with Erasmus+ if the university has funds for countries outside Europe192. After the bachelor’s, Japan’s MEXT scholarship pays 143,000 yen a month, tuition fees and flights203.
Yes. With the study grant you get €250 a month more with Erasmus+192. For studying abroad there is an additional €450 a month in Italy, the Nordics and Japan, and Erasmus+ is not deducted from it. This grant does not apply to placements194.
The federal government awards start grants of €9,000 for 6 months, deadline 31 January, and state grants of €18,000 for 12 months, deadline 30 September. There are also studios abroad, for example in Tokyo and Helsinki. You cannot apply for any of them while studying217,219,206.
Not as an EU citizen. Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway only charge fees to students from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland197,198,199,200. You can take the Austrian study grant with you as a mobility grant194.
Not necessarily. A 6-month language course in Japan comes first; it is waived for English-taught programmes or good language skills. The selection includes a written test in English and Japanese215.