Apply until July 10th to receiving a scholarship that includes the Summit ticket, food, and accommodation, as well as a partial travel cost reimbursement.

The SIA Summit is the largest gathering of the international SIA community, during which young innovators, social entrepreneurs, and leading actors in the field of social and ecological innovation and entrepreneurship come together.

The SIA Summit 2026 takes place in Podgorica, Montenegro. It’s a dynamic international conference and festival celebrating the power of youth-led innovation, entrepreneurship, and social impact. Alongside 150+ change-makers from over 20 countries, we will create a space for deep learning, bold conversations, and meaningful exchange. The Summit consists of a modular agenda with a very diverse and broad offer of formats and sessions. Those include keynotes of internationally successful social entrepreneurs, interactive workshops, inspiring conversations with renowned experts, opportunities to connect, and many more.

The creation of the agenda is in progress and will be announced here, on this website, once it is finalized.

Scholarships details

• SIA covers the costs and arranges the accommodation for 4 nights in Podgorica (arriving on November 24th and leaving on November 28th). Kindly note that the accommodation will be possible only in shared rooms.
• SIA offers a free ticket, worth 200€ for the full SIA Summit experience (including food, venues, facilitation, video and photo coverage, event material, etc.)
• If you are selected, SIA covers all costs for travel and visa (if needed) up to the amount of either 250€ (in case of European based scholarship holders) or 750€ (in case of non-European based scholarship holders. Travel and visa expenses that exceed these amounts must be covered by the scholarship recipient. Any additional costs which are not mentioned in this document are considered as extra and are not covered through the scholarship.

Travel cost reimbursement

We are aware that for some of us the costs associated with travel can play a big role in saying YES to these experiences, depending on the country of origin and your financial situation at the moment. To keep the experience as accessible as possible, we can offer a partial travel cost reimbursement:

• European based Scholarship holders can receive up to 250€ of reimbursement for their travel costs
• African, Asian, and Central America based Scholarship holders can receive up to 750€ of reimbursement for their travel costs

As part of the application process, you can let us know if you need additional financial support to cover for your travels, and up to what amount.
While we can’t guarantee that we will be able to cover any additional costs, we will do our best to manage the budget in a way which encourages all the selected participants to take part in the experience.

In managing the travel cost we will operate on a reimbursement basis. This means that you will have to pay for the travel expenses yourself and then submit all the necessary invoices/receipts to SIA to be able to reimburse you, according to your travel scholarship after the Summit. Please note that costs can only be reimbursed if participation at the Summit took place or unless you can’t be there for unexpected reasons and have a valid reason for non-attendance (e.g. sickness).

Conditions for participation and selection criteria

Applications are open for all SIA Alumni from all SIA countries and generations.

We will consider the following criteria:

• Is the applicant part of the SIA Alumni Community (i.e. a SIA Finalist up to and including the 2025 cohort)?
• Does the applicant speak the language of the program? (i.e. English)
• To what extent is the applicant motivated for this opportunity?
• To what extent can the applicant contribute to the Summit agenda and has the capacity to dedicate the right amount of time and energy?
• To what extent has the applicant taken any active role in our SIA International alumni community (such as being involved in their local SIA communities, engaging with our Superhive newsletter, interacting in our LinkedIn group or applying for previous opportunities)?

Application process and timeline

1. All the applications received before the deadline will be evaluated by team members of SIA International.
2. Based on the selection criteria highlighted above, we will then select up to 10 recipients of the SIA Summit Scholarships. If clarifications are needed, we might ask for further information or invite you to a short conversation before making the final decisions.
3. All applicants will be informed of the result of the selection process by July 20th, 2026.