Bourses

Selection criteria for the Wyss Scholarship

Candidates who have taken the entrance examination for the Master in Visual Arts programme at the EDHEA – école de design et haute école d’art are eligible for the Wyss Scholarship.
The EDHEA Masters faculty provides a preliminary ranking of candidates eligible for scholarships.

Values and principles:

1. The aim of the Wyss Scholarship is to support emerging artists from the south.

2. The evolution of inequalities and conflicts in the modern world influences ‘artistic geography’. In this context of constant change, the Wyss Scholarship focuses on developing countries, characterised by the lack of social and/or economic inaccessibility of a study programme equivalent to those provided by the EDHEA.

3. The EDHEA is committed to developing long-term exchanges with the cultural scenes of the native countries of scholarship students. Since 2012, stable partnerships have been established particularly with Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, southern Chile, Venezuela, Argentina, South Africa and Zimbabwe, thanks to the involvement of alumni scholars.

4. The EDHEA considers the Wyss Scholarship as a tool to open up its art education to multi-faceted teaching, built on diversity where differences are respected.

Criteria for inclusion:

5. The Wyss Scholarship is only awarded once while studying at the EDHEA. Students who received a scholarship while studying for a Bachelors degree at the EDHEA cannot therefore apply for a MAPS Masters scholarship.

6. Age criteria: Candidates up to the age of 30 can apply for the Wyss Scholarship.

7. Previous education: Bachelors degree in Visual Arts or an equivalent qualification according to HES-SO regulations; candidates do not hold a Masters in Visual Arts.

8. Residence at the time of application and previous countries of residence:
   a. Candidates are not resident in Europe at the time of application;
   b. Applications from artists having lived in Europe for a maximum of 6 months may be considered, after consultation with a representative from the Wyss Foundation.

Assessment criteria:

1. Quality of the application and portfolio – taking age and previous experience into consideration. Notably:
   a. Commitment displayed in the cover letter;
   b. Commitment to forms of contemporary art engaged with the local community, society and alternative cultures.
2. Sufficient knowledge of the French language for the Bachelors degree and English for the Masters degree is a basic requirement to be able to work and discuss with students, professors and associates at the EDHEA.
3. Consistency between the motivation to work in Switzerland, at the EDHEA and their research proposal.
4. Knowledge of the EDHEA and the programme for which the candidate is applying.