Road and red-brick university buildings on the University of Manchester campus.

Austria Announced once or twice per academic year through the Montanuniversität Leoben gazette and student mail rather than on a fixed public calendar — enrolled students should watch their university email and contact stipendien@unileoben.ac.at

Adolf Feizlmayr Foundation Scholarship for International Students

Montanuniversität Leoben is Austria's specialist university for mining, metallurgy, materials science, petroleum and subsurface engineering, and industrial energy technology — a small campus in Styria with unusually deep industry links. Be clear about what is on offer financially, because the internet is full of pages overstating it. Leoben does not run a large scholarship for international students. What it has is the Adolf Feizlmayr Foundation, endowed by an Austrian pipeline engineer specifically to support foreign students at Leoben, which distributes roughly EUR 10,000 a year in small grants; individual awards are capped at EUR 500 per semester per student, or about LKR 173,000. A separate Feizlmayr merit fund of similar size rewards academic excellence in petroleum engineering, subsurface engineering and compound energy technology. Both are announced once or twice a year through the university gazette and student email, and the rectorate decides amounts on advice from a board. The real reason Leoben is affordable is not a scholarship at all: it is an Austrian public university, so tuition for a non-EU citizen is EUR 726.72 per semester plus a EUR 26.20 student union fee — around LKR 501,000 a year in total, less than a single term at many UK or Australian universities. Austria also allows a tuition remission on application in special cases, and waives fees outright for students from the UN list of least developed countries. Sri Lanka is not on that list, so budget for the full non-EU rate.

Montanuniversität Leoben

University-funded

emoji_events Award Overview

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Grant Cap

EUR 500 per semester (LKR ~173,000)

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Non-EU Tuition

EUR 726.72/semester (LKR ~251,000)

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Merit Fund Fields

Petroleum, subsurface, energy technology

fact_check Eligibility Criteria

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Foreign Students at Leoben — Sri Lankans Included

The Feizlmayr support fund exists specifically for international students at Montanuniversität Leoben. There is no country restriction, unlike the university's Vitalis fund (Hungarian students only) and Best of South-East scheme (six Western Balkan countries only) — neither of which a Sri Lankan can apply to.

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You Must Already Be Enrolled

This is not a scheme you apply to from Colombo before admission. Calls go out through the university gazette and student email to registered students, so secure your place and residence permit first and treat the grant as a top-up once you are there.

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Small Amounts — Plan Your Budget Without It

Individual grants may not exceed EUR 500 per semester. That is meaningful help with books, deposits or a hard month, but it will not fund your studies. Any agent presenting Leoben as offering a large international scholarship is misleading you.

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Merit Fund Is Field-Restricted

The separate Feizlmayr merit award targets excellence in petroleum engineering, subsurface engineering and compound energy technology. If you are on a materials science or metallurgy programme, the general support fund is your route, not the merit one.

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No Automatic Fee Waiver for Sri Lanka

Austria waives tuition for students from the UN list of least developed countries. Sri Lanka is not on that list, so you pay the full EUR 726.72 per semester non-EU rate. A discretionary remission exists for special cases but should not be assumed.

account_tree Application Process

Apply for admission to a Leoben programme

Apply directly to Montanuniversität Leoben. Bachelor's teaching is largely in German; most master's programmes in petroleum, subsurface and materials engineering are taught in English, which is where Sri Lankan applicants normally enter.

Prove funds for your Austrian residence permit

Austria requires evidence of sufficient means for a student residence permit — an indicative figure of roughly EUR 700 a month for applicants under 24 and more above that. Apply at the Austrian embassy accredited to Sri Lanka (Austria's representation for Sri Lanka is handled from New Delhi), and start early; the permit process is slow.

Enrol and pay the semester fee

Pay EUR 726.72 tuition plus the EUR 26.20 ÖH student union fee, which includes accident and liability insurance, at the start of each semester.

Watch for the Feizlmayr call and apply

Calls appear in the Mitteilungsblatt (university gazette) and by student email once or twice a year. Applications go to stipendien@unileoben.ac.at with proof of your academic standing and, for the support fund, your financial circumstances.

Why Montanuniversität Leoben?

Leoben is one of the few universities in Europe built entirely around resources, materials and energy engineering, and it maintains dense links to Austrian and German industry — OMV, voestalpine, AMAG and others recruit directly from its programmes. It is small, which means teaching groups are small and the mandatory industrial placements are real placements. English-taught master's programmes in petroleum and subsurface engineering, and in advanced materials, draw a genuinely international cohort. For a Sri Lankan engineering graduate, the low public tuition combined with Austria's post-study job-seeker permit is the actual value proposition — not the scholarship.