05 July 2005

The European Commission has selected 803 third-country students and 133 third-country scholars, among which are 32 of Ukrainian nationality, from all over the world to receive Erasmus Mundus scholarships for the next academic year (2005-2006). The students will study in Europe for one or two years to obtain a European masters’ degree from one of the 35 Erasmus Mundus masters courses. They will follow their courses in at least two universities in two different countries, giving them the opportunity to familiarise themselves with European lifestyles, cultures and languages. The scholars will instead spend an average of three months in Europe working for one of the Erasmus Mundus masters courses.

The 35 existing Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses — which cover a wide range of disciplines — received thousands of applications from students and scholars from all over the world. The university consortia assessed the applications and selected the best ones. This selection was then submitted to the European Commission, which established the final list of successful candidates on the basis of a set of eligibility criteria.

Of the 803 students, 455 were selected in the framework of the general Erasmus Mundus programme. The remaining 353 fall within the country-specific Asian “windows” in Erasmus Mundus. As for the scholars, 112 were selected under the general programme and 21 under the “China Window”.

The 455 students selected under the general Erasmus Mundus programme come from 84 different countries, with Brazil (35), Russia (31), Ukraine (23), USA (20), China (18), Mexico (18), and Nigeria (18) ranking in the first places. The 353 students selected under the Asian windows come mainly from India (133), China (67), Pakistan (31), Thailand (28), and Malaysia (23). The USA (24) and Brazil (12) are the best ranked countries (35 in total) for scholars.

Nearly EUR 30 million (of which EUR 17 million under the general programme and EUR 13 million under the Asian “windows”) will be used to fund the 803 Erasmus Mundus students. More than EUR 1.5 million (of which EUR 270 000 for the China “Window”) have been set aside to fund the scholars. The student grant will vary between EUR 21.000 and EUR 42.000, depending on the duration of the courses. Scholars’grants will be on average EUR 13.000 for a period of 3 months.

For further information, including a geographical breakdown of the Erasmus Mundus third-country students and scholars selected under the 2005-2006 Call, see:

http://http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/mundus/index_en.html