Entries Tagged 'Education' ↓
October 27th, 2008 — Education, Erasmus Mundus, Study
This post may be a general guide to answer How much money I should prepare for Erasmus Mundus scholarship? By general I mean don’t expect it to apply for all cases. Don’t forget to always check with the official sources.
Money for Application
Several Erasmus Mundus programmes/courses still ask for a mail application rather than only electronically. It means that you have to send your application (completed forms, copies of transcripts, diplomas, and any other documents) to the consortium of the course directly. Some programmes also request confirmation by mail (you sign a form) when you are offered a scholarship. Finally, follow-up registration form such as accommodation application may also have to be sent via mail.
The fee for sending documents to Europe varies to what service you would like to use. Several options including (I’m not promoting anything, price listed according to my or other experiences 1 year ago):
- DHL and the like: around IDR 350,000 per mail (below 0.5 kg), contact DHL for exact fee since I can’t find fee information on their website.
- EMS from our beloved Pos Indonesia: around USD 20.
- Regular post mail: around IDR 50,000 (ever wondered what 50 IDR 1,000 stamps glued to an envelope look like?)
The service reliability for DHL and EMS are pretty good, meaning you can track your mail. It is publicly known that you can’t track regular post mail, so if you’re going to use it, pray hard that your mail reaches its intended destination.
Money for English language test
Get a real English proficiency test. By real I mean official and valid internationally. By that I mean the one that in order to take it, you have to pay quite a large amount of money. In Indonesia, IELTS test costs USD 180 (click on more information) and TOEFL test costs USD 150 (find TOEFL test locations on the available PDF document).
My suggestion is that practice your English and practice specifically for the test you’re going to take (get mock-ups or samples) and then take the test. Probably they also have mechanism to send the result directly to the course consortium directly. I’ll leave the IELTS vs TOEFL choice to you (or probably another post?).
Money for Passport and Visa application
It is implied that you’ve already have your own passport when you’re going to apply for a foreign scholarship. The cost of getting an Indonesian passport is IDR 200,000. Go to the nearest Immigration office.
Meanwhile if you are going to another country, you have to apply for a visa. Getting a scholarship offer may or may not make you entitled for a visa fee waiver. UK visa fee for student is GBP 99 and there is no visa fee waiver for non-Chevening/Fullbright scholarship holders. Some embassies or consulates will waive the visa fee if you can prove that you are awarded a scholarship.
Money for Departure
A one way flight to Europe will set you back around USD 550. As soon as you can set the date of departure go search for a cheap ticket and book. I have a good experience with Emirates and I searched the flight using STAtravel (they have a branch in Jakarta: PT Pacto Holiday Tours).
For the fiscal tax (IDR 1,000,000), there is a procedure for a foreign scholarship holder that can be done. Don’t worry, if you get the scholarship, the procedure will be informed to you. You can read the official information about fiscal tax (in Indonesian only), the information about scholarship holder may be entitled for fiscal tax waiver is on page three (letter p).
Money for Living Expenses
For the first few weeks (may be up to two months!) you will probably have to live on your own. Because the living expense in Europe varies, my best recommendation is to bring as much as you can.
My experience on my expenses (as far as I remember them):
- I used DHL for sending the application and EMS for confirmation: IDR 550,000
- I took IELTS, it used to cost AUD 150
- I got my passport in Bandung: IDR 220,000
- UK student visa: GBP 99
- Flight ticket: USD 550
- For emergency and living expenses for the first month in UK: around GBP 300, living the frugal life!
I need to remind you that other fees exist, not limited to:
- Transportation from airport (in Europe) to your accommodation.
- Accommodation fee (agency fee, deposit).
- Transportation fee for moving around (passport application, visa application, etc)l
- Things to bring to Europe (decent suitcase, some winter preparation won’t hurt, etc), but keep in mind to bring only essentials.
October 8th, 2008 — Education, Erasmus Mundus, Study
This is a part of series I will write about Erasmus Mundus, due to heavy demand (not really, but some people did ask me about it). It will also be translated into Bahasa Indonesia and posted at http://indoem.info. The first part of this series is a small FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), an introductory post if you will. Please bear in mind that the information written here is not official. I have no relation with EU, EC, or any Erasmus Mundus consortium other than becoming an awardee of the scholarship and enrolling in MSc NeBCC programme. By saying that, I beg you to always check with the official websites, in which some of the links I will provide below. Please DO READ the official info at the appropriate official websites carefully, before asking me anything in the comment section. Lame questions or comments get deleted and ignored. You’ve been warned. 
What is Erasmus Mundus?
In a nut shell, it is a mobility education scheme funded by European Commission (EC) and implemented by consortia of several European universities. Let me say that in another way: two or more European universities work together (in a consortium) establishing a master degree programme/course, the approved ones get funded by EC. If you enrol in one of these programme you will study in, at least, two universities (in different European countries), hence the word “mobility”.
More information can be found in these websites:
The bottom lines:
- Study in at least two universities in different European countries
- If you are awarded the scholarship, it will (theoretically, unless you are a very-big-spender) cover all the expenses: tuition fee, living cost, mobility/transportation expenses, medical insurance (the scholarship is around € 21,000 per annum, including tuition fee, and it may increase in the coming years)
- Application is submitted directly to a consortium (i.e. to the master course you are interested in), you don’t apply to any other organisation
- Recent regulation limits you to apply to a maximum of 3 master courses each year
- You can enrol as a self-funded student (more expensive tuition fee for non-European citizen) as long as your application is accepted
Who is European Commission?
According to European Union website, European Commission is the executive body
of EU. It has the right to propose legislation and ensures that EU policies are properly implemented
. You can learn more about European Union at a glance, or visit the official website of the European Commission. The EC has a delegation to Indonesia and Brunei, based on Jakarta (Firefox on Mac OS X has problem in viewing the site).
For me, the most important thing is that the EC pays my scholarship.
Why study in Europe?
These websites try to answer the benefits of studying in Europe:
For me, it’s the opportunity to experience a very heterogeneous continent, while getting a master degree, free! (with the scholarship of course).
What is MSc NeBCC?
NeBCC stands for Network and e-Business Centred Computing. It is an Erasmus Mundus master course held by a joint consortium among the University of Reading, UK, Αριστοτέλειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλονίκης (that’s Greek for Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) Greece, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (and that’s Spanish for Carlos III University of Madrid), Spain, and the (silent partner, probably not taking active role in this consortium?) Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Find out more at the official website of MSc Network and e-Business Centred Computing. It is an 18 months intensive course (including 3 months-or-so breaks/vacations). Students will study at all three universities (UoR, AUTh, UC3M).
As the name suggests, the course comprises of subjects/modules about network and e-business technologies. Have a look on brief descriptions of each modules at the aforementioned official page. I will tell more about MSc NeBCC in the next post.
Important dates for 2009/2010 class:
- Application process open: 15 October 2008, application is processed online
- Deadline for application for scholarships: 31 January 2009
- Deadline for submission for self funding students: 30 June 2009
Who is Erasmus? And what about Mundus?
Apparently, according to Wikipedia, Desiderius Erasmus was a Dutch humanist and theologician, while Mundus is a Latin word for “world”.
Who is IndoEM?
IndoEM is a community of Erasmus Mundus awardees from Indonesia. If you have been awarded an Erasmus Mundus scholarship, you will be invited to join IndoEM. We have tried to put up a website indoem.info, to communicate with Indonesians interested in Erasmus Mundus. Not a very successful website, it’s getting revamped soon.
Yansen, an alumni of EMCL (European Master of Computational Logic), an active member of IndoEM, have also put up another (relatively more successful) website about Erasmus Mundus, emundus.wordpress.com.
That’s it for now, and it’s not so short after all After visiting sites linked above, if you still have relevant questions, shout out at the comment section.
January 12th, 2008 — Education, Erasmus Mundus, Life, Software, Thessaloniki GR
After a few sleepless nights (few? yes! see the title, please), here I am, again in the nearest cyber cafe from my studio at Thessaloniki, Greece. I have just submitted an assignment very close to the deadline. What’s more is that the assignment is the only assignment of the module, and the module is a coursework module. So, to cut this unintelligible story short, to pass the module I would have to succeed in doing the assignment, the only assignment. See the importance of this assignment? Continue reading →
December 28th, 2007 — Education, Erasmus Mundus, Friends, Life, Movies, Reading UK, Travel
Kind readers, sorry for not updating this blog for quite some time now. So without further ado, here is a quick recap about what I have done in UK. Continue reading →
August 4th, 2007 — Current Events, Education, Erasmus Mundus, Life, Pictures
The event was held on August 2nd, 2007 at Le Meridien Hotel, Jakarta. Some of the pictures can be seen via raizamn’s album on ipernity: Erasmus Mundus 2007 Pre-Departure Reception.
Hope you like it and do forgive my lack of photographer skills 
And for those who have an eye for one or more picture, just post a comment here stating which one(s) you like, and I’ll email it (them) to you.
One last thing, for other Erasmus Mundus Awardees, do publish your own pictures and let the rest of us know.
June 21st, 2003 — Education, Life, Movies, Parenting
Just watched “Fight Club”. It is true that I can/have figure out the “surprise”. But I’m still amazed by its plot. Yes, you often do not know what do you want to be [the simplest question ever asked], you simply can’t answer that. We are raised by parents that wanted us “not to be like them”. Continue reading →
