Department of Computer Science
University of Crete
 

The Department of Computer Science has established, starting from the academic year 2025-2026, the granting of distinguished undergraduate scholarships "OTS" to excellent undergraduate students of the Department of Computer Science of the University of Crete. These distinguished scholarships are funded by a sponsorship of the company OTS to the University of Crete and for as long as such sponsorship is valid.
 

1. SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE

1.1 Formation of the Committee
The "OTS" Scholarship Award Committee consists of the Chair of the Department of Computer Science, as Chairman, and the members of the Department's Study Committee (except the Chair of the Department) as members.
1.2 The Commission's responsibilities are:
1) To decide on the selection of scholars annually.
2) To propose to the Assembly of the Department of Computer Science on issues related to the supplementation, correction, or change of the regulation of the distinguished "OTS" scholarships.
(3) To rule on any issue that may arise in the course of the implementation of the OTS Fellowship Programme which is not included in this Regulation.
1.3. Convening of the Committee
The committee is convened at the invitation of its Chairman, where the issues to be discussed are listed.
1.4 Quorum
The Committee is in quorum when 2/3 of its members are present.
1.5 Decision-making
The decisions of the Committee are taken by a majority of 2/3 of the members.

2. DURATION / PERIODS
The scholarships are awarded to fourth-year students based on their academic performance during the previous years of study and are granted for one (1) academic year.

3. BENEFICIARIES OF THE SCHOLARSHIPS / METHOD OF SELECTION
3.1 Conditions for granting
The scholarship is awarded based on (i) the rate of progress and (ii) the grading performance of the students during the previous academic years, as measured by the "Average Progress Index" defined by the "Study Guide and Regulation of the Undergraduate Study Program" of the Department of Computer Science of the University of Crete, and which Average Progress Index must be at least eight (8.0) out of ten in order to be awarded a Scholarship. Among those who meet this criterion, scholarships are awarded to the four (4) students with the highest Average Progress Index per year of study. The distinguished undergraduate scholarship "OTS" cannot be combined with the distinguished undergraduate scholarship "Stelios Orphanoudakis" of ICS-FORTH for the same period of time, i.e. a student can be a candidate for both scholarships but cannot receive both scholarships at the same time for the same period of time.
In order to be awarded the scholarship, the candidate must submit to the Secretariat of the Department, by August 10, an application for candidacy and a certificate of detailed grades that includes his/her Average Progress Index. Although the Study Guide provides that the Average Progress Index is calculated every September, after the second examination period, it is nevertheless explicitly stated in this case that, for the purposes of this Scholarship, this Indicator is calculated in July-August and includes, for the most recent academic year, the grades of the examination periods of January and June (while for the previous years it includes the grades of the examination period of September).
3.2 Calculation of the Average Progress Indicator
The Average Progress Index is calculated as provided by the current Study Guide of the Department of Computer Science of the University of Crete, provided that any future revisions of the method of calculating it will not be substantially departing from the spirit of the scholarships here, i.e. from the fact that it must reflect both the grading performance of the students and whether and to what extent they are progressing smoothly in their studies,  That is, they successfully pass a sufficient number of courses every semester and every year. Indicatively, the current (2025-26) edition of the Study Guide defines this calculation as follows:
 
The "average progress indicator" in the standard curriculum expresses the progress made by the student up to the current year of study based on the standard curriculum. The "average progress rate" is calculated [... ...], and concerns the performance [...] in his/her courses in all previous years of study. The academic year is characterized as the year of study of A', B', or C', in the first, second, or third Academic year respectively and D' in each Academic year thereafter. The calculation of the annual average grade is as follows:
1. Grades of courses that are potentially counted in the degree grade are taken into account (so e.g. only English IV is counted from English courses). Therefore, grades of core courses (compulsory), elective of groups E1-E9 and free choice are included.
2. All (1) courses in which the student has succeeded are ranked in descending order of the grade received by the student.
3. From the list (2), the first number of courses are taken into account so that the sum of the ECTS is equal to the number of ECTS of the standard study programme for the previous years of study. If, by adding the last course to the series (2), the sum of the ECTS exceeds the desired total number of ECTS, then this last course is counted as having had fewer ECTS, as many as is barely sufficient, for the purposes of the average grade (4). If the courses (2) are not sufficient to cover the desired total ECTS, then a grade of zero (0) is considered for the remaining ECTS until the desired total is covered.
4. The average grade is calculated as the weighted average of the grades of the courses (3) where the weight factor of each grade is the number of ECTS of this course (or its fraction for the last course).
Clarifications provided here, in addition to those listed above in the 2022-23 edition of the Study Guide: (i) The free elective courses, for which it is stated in (1) that they are included, are only those that are potentially counted in the degree grade, i.e. (currently) one at most. (ii) Step (3) uses the number of ECTS of the standard study programme for previous years of study; this number concerns only those courses that are potentially counted in the degree grade, so it should not include the ECTS credits of English I, II, and III, but only those of English IV.
3.3 Classification in years of study of those who enter the Department in other ways
Students who enter the Department after studying in another Department/HEI (e.g. with "10%" or with classifications or transfers, and therefore may have received recognition of courses they had passed before their first enrollment in this Department or in which they were examined during the qualifying exams, and/or students who enrolled for the first time in the Department in the Spring semester (e.g. with classifications or transfers) are considered candidates for the scholarships under the following conditions:
 
1. They are judged together with the other students of the Department of Computer Science who enrolled for the first time in the Department in September of the same academic year in which the potential scholarship candidate was enrolled for the first time in this Department, and
2. The Average Progress Index is calculated for the period of their enrollment in the Department of Computer Science. This means that it is calculated only on the basis of courses with educational work (i.e. registration and successful examination) after their enrollment in the Department of Computer Science (and not any recognitions of previous courses, even if they were recognized within this period), as well as using the ECTS credits of the same period, i.e. corresponding to the semesters or years of study that they completed after their enrollment in this Department.
3.4 Announcement of Scholars
The Committee examines the data, decides and proposes to the Assembly of the Department of Computer Science the list of candidate scholars. It also decides and makes recommendations in case of a tie.

4. SUBMISSION OF SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS FOR THE START OF THE SCHOLARSHIP
Those selected for the distinguished "OTS" scholarships are required to submit the following supporting documents for the acceptance of the scholarship:
(j) Application
(ii) Solemn declaration by which:
(1) accept the Scholarship Regulation.
(2) declare that they have no objection to the disclosure of some of their personal information (name, photos) to publicity actions of the Department of Computer Science and/or the University of Crete and/or the company OTS.

5. AMOUNT OF THE SCHOLARSHIP
The amount of the scholarship is set at the amount of five hundred (500) euros.

6. SPECIAL CASES
For scholarships that have been awarded in previous years, what was defined by the Scholarship Regulation in force in the year in which the scholarship recipient accepted the scholarship through his solemn declaration of acceptance applies. For any issue that may arise and is not provided for by these Regulations, the Scholarship Committee decides and recommends to the Assembly of the Department of Computer Science for the appropriate decisions