International Visegrad Fund

Based in Bratislava, the International Visegrad Fund (IVF) was founded by the governments of the countries of the Visegrad Group (V4) - the Czech Republic, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Poland and the Slovak Republic - on 9 June 2000. The purpose of the Fund is to promote the development of closer co-operation between the V4 countries through support for common cultural, scientific and educational projects, exchanges between young people, cross-border co-operation and tourism promotion.

The budget of the Fund (5 million Euros in 2007) consists of equal contributions from the governments of the V4 countries. The IVF provides support through three grant programmes – small grants (up to €4,000), standard grants (from €4,000) and strategic grants (€40,000-200,000). The IVF also provides scholarships within the Visegrad Scholarship Scheme involving Masters and postgraduate study of 1-4 academic terms. In 2006 an Art Residencies Scheme was developed with the aim of strengthening the mobility of artists.

Grant beneficiaries include non-governmental organisations, private entities, schools, universities, municipalities, local authorities, individual students and artists.

The governing bodies of the Fund are the Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Council of Ambassadors. The executive body of the Fund is composed of the Executive Director and the Deputy Executive Director. The administrative body of the Fund is the Secretariat, based in Bratislava.