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:
- Official page for Erasmus Mundus by EC (don’t forget its awesome FAQ)
- The official list of all master courses under Erasmus Mundus scheme by EC (it has links to official websites, you can also filter based on field of study)
- Website of Erasmus Mundus Student and Alumni Association (they have put up a fabulous PDF Erasmus Mundus Student’s Handbook)
- Erasmus Mundus information by Delegation of EC to Indonesia (they have a combined PDF description of each programme)
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:
- The aptly-named Study in Europe website
- European High Education Fair (Jakarta, 1-2 November 2008) also has a page on why study 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.