Erasmus Mundus (EXPERTS) Scholarships, Germany

Brief Description

Erasmus Mundus EXPERTS is a scholarship project targeted to citizens of Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

In accordance with the EMA2 call, the objective of the EXPERTS project is to facilitate collaborations between Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) from South and Southeast Asia (SSEA) and EU through the exchange of information in science and policy issues while sharing key issues of sustainable development in academic cooperation.

The project provides the following mobility scholarships from South and South-East Asia to European partner universities (Please note- there are no scholarships from EU to SSEA)

• Undergraduate and graduate students
• PhD students
• PostDocs
• Staff (both academic and administrative staff)

The EXPERTS aims to establish an innovative framework for capacity development of junior faculty staff, undergraduates, postgraduates, and postdoc researchers through training and upgrading their skills in specified fields of study through a scheme of structured mobility.

The EXPERTS consortium consists of 20 partner universities, 7 European and 13 South and Southeast Asian (from Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand) higher educationinstitutions.

There are four associate partners in EXPERTS consortium, who provide their professional collaboration in EXPERTS namely:

• The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), The Philippines (SSEA Network)
• AGRINATURA, Czech Republic (Global Network)
• COIMBRA Group Belgium (EU Network)
• Tata Institute of Social Sciences India, India

Academic Fields

Special emphasis in the EXPERTS project is given to research and cooperation andto the development of collaborative research initiatives and business opportunities through joint research initiatives.

Most of the EXPERTS partner universities in EU are comprehensive universities or specialized technical institutions, and the partnership aims to cover all thematic fields though the following list of academic fields has been prioritized in EXPERTS:

01: Agricultural Sciences
04: Business Studies and Management Sciences
06: Engineering, Technology
07: Geography, Geology
13: Natural Sciences
10: Law
14: Social Sciences

However, students from other fields can still apply for a scholarship. In case of equally ranked applications, priority will be given to the student majoring in a prioritzed field of study.
At PhD and postdoc level priority will be given to the joint development of innovative and high qualityresearch proposals relevant to the region. Half of academic mobilities will be given to staff from international relations offices to train them in internationalization.

Target Group 1:
Undergraduate, master and doctorate students, post-doctorates, and academic and administrative staff that contribute to the overall topics of the EXPERTS project in research and cooperation from the partner universities that are participating from SSEA region. The candidate must be registered at the home university at the time of application and in case ofundergraduate students- they must have successfully completed at least one year of studies in their home institution.

Targeted mobilities→ undergraduate, master, doctorate, post-doctorate and staff (academic & administrative)

Target Group 2:
Master and doctorate students, and post-doctorates of non partner universities from SSEA region (concerned by lot 11), oriented to the topic of the EXPERTS project in research and cooperation. Graduates from the partner universities.

Targeted mobilities → master, doctorate and post-doctorate

Target Group 3:
Undergraduate and doctoral students belonging to minority groups that provide proposals that increase cooperation and research through innovation in their regions will be sought in this category.
Some of the examples may include:

• having a refugee status or asylum beneficiaries (international or according to the national legislation of one of the European recipient countries);
• it can be proved that they have been the object of unjustified expulsion from university on racial, ethnic, religious, political, gender or sexual inclination, and
• they belong to an indigenous population targeted by a specific national policy or IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons).

Targeted mobilities→ undergraduate, master, and doctorate
Duration and South and South-East Asia (SSEA) ⇒ EU Mobility
The duration of the mobility depends on the applicants` study programme. Duration of the mobility according to various category and mobilty types is presented below :

• Undergraduates: 6- 10 months (Target Group 1); — (Target of Group 2); 6- 34 months (Target Group 3)
• Masters : 6- 10 months (Target Group 1);6- 10 months (Target Group 2);6- 10 months (Target Group 3)
• Doctorates : 6-34 months (Target Group 1);6-34 months (Target Group 2);6-34 months (Target Group 3)
• Post-doctorates : 6-10 months (Target Group 1);6-10 months (Target Group 2); — (Target Group 3)
• Academic and administrative staff : 1 month (Target Group 1); — (Target Group 2); — (Target Group 3)

Note :

• Target Group 1 : Students/staff ofSSEA Partner Universities
• Target Group 1 : OtherSSEAcitizens
• Target Group 3 : Other SSEA citizens in vulnerable situations

There are no exceptions to the minimum duration of the mobility period. However, due to availability of mobility funds and based on the recommendation of the host university, the applicant may be awarded a grant for a period shorter than she or he has applied for (not under the minimum duration set for a individual mobility).

Rates and conditions
The EXPERTS scholarship covers:

1. Travel cost- one return ticket to the host University- provided by the Coordinator
2. A monthly subsistence allowance (see rates below)
3. Full insurance coverage – health, travel, accident.
4. Tuition fees, if applied at the host university- when the study duration is longer than 10 months

The table below shows the minimum and maximum number of months covered by scholarship, and the rates for subsistence allowances.

• Undergraduates and Masters : 1.000 EUR / month
• Doctorates : 1.500 EUR / month
• Post-doctorates : 1.800 EUR / month
• Academic staff : 2.500 EUR / month

The different types of individual mobilities for EXPERTS are awarded within the limits of established norms by the EACEA . See table below:

• Undergraduate : 20-30% of the total
• Masters : 20-30% of the total
• Doctorates : 15-25% of the total
• Post-doctorates fellowships : 5-15% of the total
• Staff : 5-25% of the total

(Source: European Commission- Guidelines to the Call for Proposals 29/09)

The deadline for Applications is Friday, 19 August 2011

Please click HERE to enter the Application Form

EXPERTS
Göttingen International
Georg-August University of Göttingen
von-Siebold-Str. 4
37075 Göttingen – Germany

Email: experts@uni-goettingen.de

Web: www.expertsasia.eu

http://www.expertsasia.eu/index.asp?p=1048&a=1048