Opportunities

Erasmus Mundus is a cooperation and mobility programme in the field of higher education that aims to enhance the quality of European higher education and to promote dialogue and understanding between people and cultures through cooperation with Third-Countries. In addition, it contributes to the development of human resources and the international cooperation capacity of Higher education institutions in Third Countries by increasing mobility between the European Union and these countries. 

About project

Erasmus Mundus Action 2

Erasmus Mundus is a cooperation and mobility programme in the field of higher education that aims to enhance the quality of European higher education and to promote dialogue and understanding between people and cultures through cooperation with Third-Countries. In addition, it contributes to the development of human resources and the international cooperation capacity of Higher education institutions in Third Countries by increasing mobility between the European Union and these countries. 

About the coordinator

The main coordinator is the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CULS, Czech Republic) which is a highly respected HEI in the Czech Republic and a famous university focused on the agrarian sector, forestry, environment, economics and management, information technology, rural and regional development. Since the year 2000, CULS has been participating in more than 50 international projects, including ERASMUS MUNDUS ECW, LEONARDO, TEMPUS, GRUNDTVIG, COMENIUS, and EU Research Framework Programmes, CEEPUS or projects funded by the Visegrad Fund. Furthermore, CULS boasts a Faculty of Tropical Agri-Sciences (FTA), which demonstrates the powerful involvement of the University in the Third Countries. FTA has outstanding and long term experience in the coordination of development projects together with the Czech Development Agency – specifically in Angola, Cambodia, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Peru, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia.

Objectives

The essential goal of the project is to exchange capacities between Asian and European universities oriented to Life Sciences, Food, Agriculture, Biology, Environment and Technology to respond to the main international challenges addressed to the well-being of the next generations: agriculture, food safety and security, technologies in life sciences, balanced management of the natural resources, sustainable rural development, adaptation to climate change, with a special attention to the contexts of rapid economic growth. The project aims to contribute to increase the relevance, the capacities and efficiency of the higher education (HE) system in Asia by strengthening of the existing network of cooperation among universities in the above mentioned fields.

The specific objectives include development of HEI in the Asian countries by institutionalising a high-quality research, education and training network for management of natural resources, agricultural value chains and sustainable rural development. Improvement of education and research capabilities will address subjects relevant to agriculture, environmentally sound development and natural resource management (i.e. applied life sciences in the broadest sense of the term). In the area of human resources it contributes to enhancement of academic and professional staff expertise, production and transfer scientific and scholarly knowledge and information on curricula development and use of ECTS and DS etc.

Activities

The consortium of 9 Asian countries and 7 EU countries guarantees wide dissemination of know-how achieved through mobility in Asia and Europe and the establishment of a strong academic network, active in teaching and research.

Mobility periods are planned as follows respecting the rules of the programme and the budget limitations:

1. Bachelor (undergraduate) mobility period of 5 months (one academic semester), 10 months (two academic semesters), 34 months for Target group 3 candidates (not available in the 3rd call - for ac. year 2017/18)
2. Master mobility period of 10 months (two academic semesters) and 24 months (full degree which is most often preferred by Asian students) (not available in the 3rd call - for ac. year 2017/18)
3. Doctorate mobility period of 10 months (oriented towards practical research) and 36 months (full degree which is very often preferred by Asian students) (not available in the 3rd call - for ac. year 2017/18)
4. Post-doctorate mobility period of 6 months (oriented towards practical research)
5. Teaching and administrative staff mobility period of 1 month (oriented mainly towards training practises, to establish the plan of further research cooperation between the universities, or to exchange experience in administrative and organisational matters)

Application

The 3rd call for candidates for academic year 2017/2018 is open since mid of October 2016!!!

Deadline for applications to 3rd cohort will be the 6th January 2017!

You can apply here: https://www.alfabet-em.cz/login/

Who can apply?

Target group 1: individuals registered in one of the universities that is a member of the Partnership (see List of the Partners https://www.alfabet-em.cz/project-partners/)

Target group 2: nationals of the third countries concerned by the geographical lot and currently not registered in one of these countries partner universities (Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam)

Target group 3: nationals of the third countries concerned by the geographical lot who are in particularly vulnerable situations: refugees, asylum seekers, indigenous population, unduly excluded for various reasons (racial, ethnic, religious, political, gender or sexual inclination) (Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam)

Application process

Step 1: please complete the application form available on the website and submit it with all documents requested as enclosure by January 2017 in the page "Time to go".

Step 2: In case your written application was ranked among the best applications received, you will be invited to a personal interview that will take place in the Asian countries (for Asian students) and in Europe (for European students) during January - February 2017. The dates of interviews will be specified.

Step 3: In case the interview results are positive, you will be informed by April 2017 about the final host institution for your mobility. In case your application could not be accepted, you will be informed by the end April 2017 at latest.

Step 4: Selected students have to firstly sign Declaration of honour of not having received an EM scholarship for the same purpose. Then they will start to apply for visa in May 2017 and mobility will start generally in August/September 2017 according to the schedule at respective EU university.

Application documents

1. Application form (see below the form)
2. CV (see below the model of Europass CV)
3. Evidence of Academic Achievements / Transcript of records
4. Language proficiency
5. Motivation Letter
6. Recommendation letter (just 1 letter is needed!)
7. Passport copy
8. Research Proposal (PhD and Post doc candidates only)

There are three options:

• You do not have a supervisor yet: You need to describe your background, field/s of study and methods you are familiar with skills and experiences relevant to the PhD research, and which field of research you would like to focus on.

• You already have your supervisor on selected European university – Research Proposal can be formulated as a specific research topic supported by the Recommendation letter from future supervisor at the hosting university.

• Teaching Proposal (Teaching staff only; template available at the bottom of this page)

Eligibility criteria

Neither European nor third-country students can benefit from a second scholarship for the same type of mobility under another project under the EMA2-STRAND1. Furthermore, candidates cannot benefit from more than one mobility activity within the same project.

 Mobility flows for students and staff between the European or between third-country institutions involved in the partnership are not eligible!

Third-Country Students

To be eligible, third-country undergraduate and master students as well as doctoral and post-doctoral candidates, referred as "third-country students":

1. Must be a national of one of the third countries covered by the relevant lot;
2. Must have not resided nor have carried out their main activity (studies, work, etc.) for more than a total of 12 months over the last five years in one of the European countries;
3. For target group 1 (TGI): students need to be registered at one of the third-country HEIs within the partnership. Undergraduate students must have successfully completed at least one year of studies in their home institution;
4. For target group 2 (TGII): students need either to be registered in a HEI (not included in the partnership) of the third country concerned by the lot or having obtained a university degree or equivalent by an institution of these third countries. They will need to justify how this study period abroad will benefit them (and their direct socio-economical environment) and include letters of support in their individual application;
5. For target group 3 (TGIII): students need to be nationals of one of the third countries concerned by the lot and be part of the vulnerable target groups.
6. Must have sufficient knowledge of the language of the courses or of one of the languages currently spoken in the hosting countries.

Academic and  Administrative Staff

In order to be eligible, academic and administrative staff hereafter referred as "staff":

1. Must be a national of one of the eligible countries;
2. Must work in or be associated to an HEI within the partnership;
3. The mobility assignments must be based on partnership agreements between the members of the partnership;
4. The home and host universities and the individual staff must agree on the programme of lectures to be delivered by the visiting staff, on the research activities or on the type of training to be followed;
5. The mobility may constitute a post-per-post exchange or a one-way visitor flow to or from a third country.

European Students

To be eligible, European undergraduate and master students as well as doctorate and post-doctorate candidates, referred as "European students":

Must be a national of one of the eligible European countries;

1. For Target Group 1 (TGI): students need to be registered at one of the European countries HEIs within the partnership at the time of submitting their application to the partnership. Undergraduate students must have successfully completed at least one year of studies in their home institution.
2. Must have sufficient knowledge of the language of the courses or of one of the languages currently spoken in the hosting countries (English knowledge is requested)
3. Undergraduate students must have successfully completed at least one year of studies at first higher education level.

Contacts

Coordinator:

Czech Republic at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Contact persons: Petra Chaloupková, Ingrid Melnikovová, Jana Hummelová, Olga Leuner

Contact e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Co-coordinator:

Indonesia at the Tadulako University

Contact person: Aiyen

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Picture credit: ALFABET