Erasmus Mundus is the European excellence programme that was introduced in 2004 with an aim to enhance European higher education and its quality by giving financial support to outstanding students from all over the world. The scholarship initially provided full/partial scholarships for Masters degrees with mobility feature (action 1 Erasmus Mudus). Later on, further actions/projects were added to the initiative to support short term exchange and inter-continental inter-university partnerships (Action 2).
As recent as in the beginning of 2014, the European Commission (EC) rolled out an umbrella program “Erasmus+”, that combines different initiatives of EC from the past and includes new ones to provide a generic and streamlined framework to simplify scholarship search and application process.
Following figure explains how Erasmus+ incorporates all different programmes from EC including Erasmus Mundus into an umbrella programme with three key actions.
Clink on the image to enlarge it
Essentially, Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters program stays the very same with the exception that Erasmus Mundus Action 2 projects will move to credit mobility strand during the new Erasmus+. However, for a few years more, the action 2 projects will still offer scholarships the same way until 2017 when they are finally shut down. In the sections below, you will learn about how to understand Erasmus Mundus and its different actions.
Erasmus Mundus Scholarships
Erasmus Mundus scholarships are given under two different actions.
EM Action 1 or Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees (EMJMD)
It is the biggest program by the European Commission that offers scholarship to students from third world countries for complete masters degree in multiple universities in Europe. The important feature to note here is that such a master course involves mobility and a student has to carry out his master curriculum and activities in more than one university in more than one countries in Europe. Thus, each master course is offered by a consortium of universities. At the end of the masters, a student earns a join degree or a double degree (one from each university attended).
There are a large number of master courses available under this action for any student coming from developing countries. In fall 2013 a total of 138 master programs were offered in a variety of different fields of natural sciences, humanities and engineering. Each year, some new courses are added to this list while some of the courses disappear. This is because each master course has a life span of 5-6 years after which it is offered again only if its budget is renewed. Otherwise, the master course retires.
The list of Erasmus Mundus/ Erasmus+ joint masters courses is available at the link below:
https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/library/scholarships-catalogue_en
How to apply for these Joint Masters?
Go through this list of courses at above link. Check out each course website and find out which of these courses relate to your previous studies, are of interest to you and whether you fill their requirements criteria or not. You can also check out which master course is taught at which consortium of universities. Create a list of programs to which you can apply to. Then you have to apply to each of the course you find relevant separately. Please remember that each program application procedure, deadlines and requirements may be different. So it is very important that you check their websites very carefully .
However, you can apply to a maximum of 3 master courses in Erasmus Mundus Action 1. If you apply to more than 3, you will be disqualified. But you should apply to no less than 3 masters programs on the list to maximize your chances of selection for a scholarship. Therefore, in the beginning you short list all those programs which are related to your area of interest. Then pick 3 out of them based on how good the consortium universities are, how less strict the application requirements are and how large the number of scholarships are (if mentioned). An excel sheet like the one below might help organize things better.
[Download EM-Application-workbook.xlsx]
If you are accepted by the program, you will be automatically accepted at all universities of the consortium offering that master course. Let’s put it all this procedure in simple steps for you.
Step 1: Get started! Go to the Erasmus Mundus website.
Step 2: Browse through the courses. Note down the names of all courses that fit your interests, qualification and so on.
Step 3: Click on the website of each of the courses you have noted down in the previous step. The website must appear in right in the next column to where the course is mentioned. On the course website, the information about the specific application requirements, application forms and deadlines will be mentioned. Remember! there are no generic deadlines for Erasmus Mundus. Each course will have its own deadline, requirements and application procedure.
Step 4: Prepare your application! Now that you you know the requirements, start filling out application forms. In most cases the application will be online. Each course will require different documents, but in general you will need: a motivation letter, your cv, transcripts, language certificate(s), and references. But double check requirements from each course website you are applying to.
Step 5: Send your application! Please remember to submit your online application before the deadline. Please also check the course website if you need to send your printed application plus document by post. In case you do, send your application well in time through courier service.
For detailed information, please always visit Eramsus Mundus website:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus_mundus/results_compendia/selected_projects_action_1_master_courses_en.php
EM Action 2 or Eramus Mundus Partnerships
is called external cooperative window. This program is a collaboration between some European universities with some universities in the developing countries such as in Pakistan. This means that student studying in Bachelors, Masters or PhD in Pakistan or individuals who are not studying but with a Bachelors degree can come to Europe for an exchange studies. This program will continue to offer some scholarships until next few years but eventually will be absorbed by credit mobility strand in the new Erasmus+ programme.
Action 2 are different then action 1 program in the following ways:
- Unlike Action 1 where we call Erasmus Mundus master course, we call action 2 opportunities as Erasmus Mundus partnerships.
- They may be full degree programs but also are short term exchanges for 1/2/3 semesters.
- Bachelor, master, PhD all students can apply to them. Also staff members in universities can apply.
- There is no mobility involved. Usually a student studies only in one university when he/she comes to Europe on an action 2 project.
- There is no limit on number of applications as opposed to EM Action 1.
A complete list of Action 2 projects of Erasmus Mundus are available at the following Link:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus_mundus/results_compendia/selected_projects_action_2_en.php
Have a careful look at this link and see in which row Pakistan is located. Here you will see the different projects to which Pakistani students can apply. Check out the websites of every project. In each project there will be many universities. You will also notice that there is one or more universities from Paksitan too in each partnership.
Check out if you can apply to more than one university in a single project. In some cases you can. In some you can’t. Find that out from the web pages of a project or then contact the coordinator. There is no limit for applications in Action 2 programs. Apply to as many as you can. But the application procedure is slightly different than the Action 1 as now you have to apply directly to a university which is part of the partnership (But please confirm this from the web pages of the program). Requirements, deadlines and application procedures will be listed on project webpages. However, in this case, you also might need to ensure that you respect both the project deadline as well as the university deadline to which you are applying. They might be different. Make sure you understand that!
There are certain terms in Action 2 that often confuses students.
– Target Group 1: If you are currently a student of a university in Pakistan which is a partner university for the Action 2 partnership you are applying to, you are a Target Group 1 applicant.
– Target Group 2: You are from Pakistan but not enrolled in the partner university. Instead, you are currently enrolled in a different university or not enrolled at all.
– Target Group 3: Students who have a disability or S who belong to minority groups or are in particularly vulnerable situations such as IDPs, Refugees or are racially/religiously discriminated.
Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate (EMJD)
Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate were previously offered just like Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses. In Erasmus+ they have been moved to Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions. However, some of the EMJD will continue to be offered for until end of 2017. Applying to the Joint Doctorates is rather easy. For information on Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorates click here
For EMJD programs still being offered, please have a look at the following link:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus_mundus/results_compendia/selected_projects_action_1_joint_doctorates_en.php
For Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions please have a look at the following link:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/
The application procedure to EMJD is exactly the same as mentioned for Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters degree above. For Marie-Curie PhD please check out the links.
In a nutshell
In a nutshell – Who can apply where?
If you want to get more detailed information on Erasmus Mundus, application procedure and tips on how to improve chances of your application, please download following presentation and go through it. Alternatively you can also stream one of my webinars on youtube which you can see at the end of this page.
How to get further help/Guidance?
Check out the FAQ section of this website where most of your questions will be answered.
Check out the websites of the course you wish to apply for, in detail. In most cases you will find the answer there. If not, please contact the coordinator of that course.
Get in contact with us on our Facebook Group. Our alumni will try to help you. However, before you ask a questions, we really expect you to go through the FAQ section and the course websites. Please do not present yourself lazy by asking questions without doing proper search and googling.
Erasmus Mundus Talk – Scholarship Network webinar series-2013
Disclaimer: The information above is given to the best of our knowledge. However we bear no responsibility or guarantee for the correctness of the information. The reader is required to confirm the information from Erasmus+ official web pages.
Copyright @ Rizwan Mumtaz
EMA Pakistan 