Student and academic staff exchange co-operation between Europe and Partner Countries
In 2007-2008 over 160 higher education institutions will work together to promote the mobility of some 1.800 students and academics to study, teach and carry out research in Europe and partner countries. An amount of € 36.4 million has been dedicated to this mobility scheme.
1. What is the new initiative Erasmus Mundus External Co-operation Window?
Launched in December 2006 (IP/06/1721), the Erasmus Mundus External Co-operation Window sets up a new scholarship scheme open to EU partner countries. These scholarships will facilitate mobility of undergraduate, masters, doctorate and post-doctoral students between partner countries and Europe, as well as exchange of academic staff for the purposes of teaching, training and research.
The new external cooperation window builds on the general EU Erasmus Mundus programme and on the experience gained from external relations' policies and programmes in higher education development cooperation.
1. What countries participate in this scheme?
For the 1st academic year 2007-8, the geographical coverage includes 24 EU partner countries organised into 9 lots:
* Neighbouring countries in South Mediterranean Europe: Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria (lot 1); Egypt, Israel, Palestinian Territories (lot 2); Jordan, Syria, Lebanon (lot 3);
* Neighbouring countries in Eastern Europe: Russia (lot 4), Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan ( lot 5); Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus (lot 6);
* Iran, Iraq, Yemen (lot 7),
* Central Asian Republics: Kazakhstan (lot 8), Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan (lot 9).
33 Eligible European countries: 27 EU Member States, candidate countries (Croatia, FYROM, Turkey), EEA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway)
1. What is the budget of the scheme?
The new mobility scheme has a budget of €36.4 million for the academic year 2007-2008. The first Call for proposals launched in December 2006 invited higher education institutions to present partnership projects for mobility activities starting in 2007-08.
Each partnership has to be composed of a minimum of 5 European universities and at least one university from each of the partner countries. It should involve a maximum of 20 higher education institutions and grants awarded can be up to €6 million as a maximum. The duration of these scholarships may vary from 3 to 34 months.
1. What is the state of play?
The European Commission received 87 partnership project proposals. 9 out of these 87 proposals have been selected on the basis of the academic quality of the proposals and the relevance to the EU partner countries' development priorities. The 9 partnership projects represent over 160 higher education institutions, from both European countries (79 institutions) and the 24 EU partner countries (88 institutions).
The 9 partnerships are committed to an institutional academic co-operation framework, and will now select the best candidates for scholarships. This framework will benefit more than 1800 students and academic staff from Europe and EU partner countries for the 2007-2008 academic year.
The list of selected partnerships is available at the following address
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/static/en/mundus/extcoop/results/call2006_en.htm
1. Students and academic staff mobility: how does it work?
The European Commission contributes to financing academic partnerships between European and third-Country higher education institutions for the organisation of the mobility (flat rate of €10,000 per eligible partner) and the implementation of individual mobility flows of higher education students and academic staff (travel costs in accordance with distance, monthly allowance from €800 to €2500, tuition fees from "fee waiver" to €5000/academic year and insurance costs).
Students and academic staff from Europe and EU partner countries who are interested in participating in this mobility scheme are invited to submit their applications directly to the 9 selected partnerships. There is an obligation for at least 70% of individual mobility to be made up of "Third country nationals" coming to European countries.
Further information for applicants is available at the following address:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/static/en/mundus/extcoop/call/index.htm
1. What does it concretely mean for a European student and a third country student to participate in the scheme?
Let's take the example of the partnership involving Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria: It means that a European Student can apply to study in any of the universities of these 3 partner countries involved in the scheme (3 universities in each of these countries).
For a partner country student, let's take the case of a Moroccan student: She/he could apply to study in one of the European Universities included in the selected partnerships, i.e. a total of 5 European universities (2 in Italy, 2 in France, 1 in Spain).
1. Will this work in parallel to Erasmus Mundus II?
The ultimate aim of the Erasmus Mundus External Co-operation Window is to contribute to creating lasting strategic co-operation partnerships between Europe and EU partner countries in higher education through students and academic exchanges.
A higher education policy co-operation with non-EU countries contributes to the overall purpose of the EU external relations and development policies. This initiative is therefore complementary to other higher education initiatives implemented such as Erasmus Mundus, Erasmus, Tempus, Asia-Link, ALFA, Alban, and Edu-link.
The External co-operation window will be fully integrated into the Erasmus Mundus II proposal in 2009-2013, e.g.Erasmus Mundus II will be an extension of the on-going programme (external window) through a geographical expansion funded under external aid geographical programmes.
1. Where to find further information?
The Erasmus Mundus External Co-operation Window is an initiative launched by the Europe Aid Co-operation Office (AIDCO):
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/index_en.htm
Its management has been entrusted to the Education Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA):
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/index.htm
It complements the general EU Erasmus Mundus programme:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/mundus/index_en.html
-http:/www.europa.eu
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