485 de students from 21 higher education institutions compete in the “Merit Scholarship - 2007” Contest, against 338 participants last year. The applications mainly came from the State University of Moldova (113 files). 101 applicants were representing the Moldovan Academy of Economic Studies and the other 84 applications were from the Technical University of Moldova. March 31 was the day when those 485 applicants were to pass the written test of the contest, an essay on a topic selected from seven proposed previously. This year the topic of the essay was “Your opinion on the mobility of the students”. The students had at their disposal nearly two hours to write the essay and had to comprise it in two sheets of paper. The director of the Educational Advising Centre Angela Muset told Info-Prim Neo that the majority of the universities represented previously in this contest have participated this year too. Only the students of the School of Anthropology and the Balti-based University of Economy and Law participated for the first time. Muset said that the remarkable number of students who desired to participate in “Merit Scholarship – 2007” is due to the increasing popularity of the contest and the award ceremony itself that has become of a great importance to the academic life of Moldovan students. Moreover, the contest is characterized by a sheer transparency and impartiality. “Merit Scholarship– 2007” was officially launched on March 6, and is held under the aegis of the Rectors’ Council of Moldova with the financial support of Soros Foundation Moldova, Moldova Agroindbank, and Voxtel. The program offers 50 annual scholarships: 3rd degree-3000 MDL, 2nd gedree-5000 MDL, 1st-8000 MDL. Eligible for the program were the 2nd year (3 years studying cycle), 3rd-4th year students (4 years studying cycle) and 4th-6th (5 or 6 year studying cycle), for students from all departments of Moldova’s Universities. The Merit Scholarships Programme was launched in 1996 at the initiative of Soros Foundation Moldova in order to encourage the academic, scientific and extracurricular achievements of the Moldovan students. Starting 2001, the initiative is supported by “Moldova Agroindbank” and from 2004 – by Voxtel. Since 2003, the contest has been organised by EAC. During the 11 editions, over 2300 students applied, of which 785 were selected.