For the second straight year, India has the highest number of students to be selected for the Erasmus Mundus scholarship, with 153 students from the country landing the scholarship from amongst a total of 2756 winners worldwide. This year, 756 Indians had applied for the scholarship for the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD) funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme. Applications for the scholarship had come in from 167 countries.
Put together by a joint consortium of higher education institutions in the EU, the programme offers a fully-paid scholarship that covers all expenses of living, traveling and studying in various institutions across 20 European countries. The batch of 2021-23 will study and conduct research in at least two universities. They can obtain a joint, double or multiple degrees, and study subjects such as big data management, life sciences, food innovation, environmental sciences, urban climate and culture.
A virtual celebration was organised by the Delegation of the European Union to India to commemorate these Indian students. The programme is set to begin in September this year. Despite the travel restrictions thanks to the COVID-19 situation, some countries have already begun processing visas for the students. Those that are still not at liberty to do so, have arranged for online classes until the situation stabilises.
The Erasmus programme turns 37 this year. It was launched initially as a collaboration between centres of higher education in the EU, and then gradually expanded to invite applications from across the world. The Erasmus+ programme launched at New Year this year is applicable until 2027 and will provide short-term and degree scholarships to students with emphasis on contemporary issues such as social inclusion, the digital era, environmental concerns and participation of the youth in democracies across the world.
