Scholarships for European Countries: Erasmus Mundus Programme

Studying abroad is a rather expensive and no matter whether or not you can afford the education, a scholarship often adds to the value of the entire experience. Not only does it lessen the financial burden on the student and his/her family, it also becomes a matter of great pride. However, wanting to receive a scholarship might be there on everyone’s list, finding the right one is a concern for all. Some might go for large fund-based scholarships and some might look towards University scholarships. Then there are scholarships that cover a region like Scholarships for Germany,etc.  

There are some other scholarships as well, that encompass a list of countries and is focussed towards providing financial aid to deserving candidates. Erasmus Mundus Programme is one such programme that students should look into. Not only are they offered by the best of the institutes across different countries in Europe, but also are funded programmes, providing scholarships to students who are selected.

What is Erasmus Mundus Programme?

Essentially speaking, Erasmus Mundus is a joint initiative of the European Union which caters to bringing about cooperation and mobility for higher education. European Union, in an attempt to make the education system of the member countries more effective and innovative, launched this programme in 2004. The basic objectives of the programme as laid down at the time of its incorporation were:

• Enhancing the Quality of European Higher Education
• Promoting the EU as the global centre of excellence in learning
• Promoting and supporting
  • an intercultural understanding between the members of the EU and the third countries
  • development of third countries by means of higher education

In order to achieve the same, the Erasmus Mundus programme provides help to

• Higher education institutions by giving them an opportunity to partner with the joint programmes at postgraduate level
• Set up and implement institutional cooperation and partnership between universities in the EU and Third Countries
• Individual students, researchers and university staff from across the world in terms of scholarship
• Any other organization which aims at conduct research or develop programmes focussed on the programmes laid down under the programme

The programme was incorporated for a period of 4 years from 2004 – 2008 and then extended from 2009 – 2013 with a corpus fund of over €900 million for its various actions and activities listed. The implementation of the programme is entrusted to the Education, Culture and Audio-visual Executive Agency (EACEA). In the year of 2014, the programme was renewed for a few of its activities for the period of 2014 – 2020.

How can it help the students planning to pursue higher education in European Union?

Though the earlier Erasmus Mundus Programme had undergraduate courses, the same expired in 2013. However, some of the masters and research programmes continued on for the period of 2014 – 2020 and are called the Erasmus+. These programme provide scholarship and funding support to

• Students planning to pursue Masters and Joint Degree Programmes under the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree – EMJMD programme
• Students planning to pursue their doctorates under the Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate – EMJD programme
• Students/ academicians who wish to study, research and/or teach at the institutes which are under the Erasmus Mundus Partnerships

These scholarships include academic costs, sustenance (staying) costs as well as other special needs that might arise.

Which all subjects does this programme cater to?

These scholarships are divided as per the various programmes (or courses). At present, there are over a hundred and forty masters programmes listed under this. These programmes cover a variety of courses including

• Arts & Humanities
• Engineering & Manufacturing
• Social Sciences, Business and Law
• Agriculture and Veterinary
• Health and Welfare, and
• Science, Mathematics and Computing

How to get these scholarships?

The scholarships are directly linked to the programmes. These are the steps a student need to take in order to get one

1. Select the programme he/ she is interested in. This could be either the EMJMD, EMJD or the Erasmus Mundus Partnerships.
2. Visit the consortium handling the programme. The lists have the links to the websites.
3. Candidates are required to apply directly to the consortium as per the guidelines mentioned

The applications for 2014 and 2015 are already closed. The applications for the next academic year usually opens in the last quarter of the previous academic year and a student should keep a lookout for the same. Though not a rule, some consortiums might charge you an administrative fee for the applications.

So if you are planning to pursue your higher education from any country in Europe and have a particular field in mind, we urge you to first have a look at these programmes. They are the best in the domain and come with funding! So start today.