How to get a European Erasmus Mundus scholarship

I had always dreamed of studying in another country and during my undergraduate studies, I was looking for information about various exchanges and scholarship programs. At that time I could only go to the States under the Work&Travel program, but I was disappointed because higher education and low-skilled labor – are still different things. There are a lot of opportunities to get educational scholarships, but I was embarrassed by several factors: I was not fluent in other languages besides English, I did not have a particular country to which I was strongly attracted and therefore it was difficult to decide on the city or the university, and I realized that I did not want to burden my parents with their dreams. What does the last point, you may ask if we are talking about scholarships, but most scholarships cover only a small percentage of the necessary costs, most often only the so-called tuition fees – tuition fees, and the cost of rent, travel, food, etc. have to take on themselves, which in the end comes out even more expensive than the education itself.

Lots of different specialties

I knew about the Erasmus+ Scholarship Fund, which exists with the support of the European Union, and its Erasmus Mundus Master programs, but for a long time I could not find a relevant program. Although there is a lot to choose from: grants are provided annually for about 80 master's degree programs, which are renewed every few years. When choosing programs, the European Union is guided by the need for certain specialists, so they often teach quite narrow specialties. It is rare to find ordinary economists or lawyers here, but it is possible to get scholarships for masters in innovative medicine, paleontology, urban studies, cartography, wine tourism, ecology, chemical nano-engineering, mechatronics, and many other disciplines.

What the scholarship covers

Erasmus Mundus seems to me to be one of the most generous foundations out there. Fellows receive:

• Grant covering tuition at each of the partner universities,

• Medical insurance that is valid worldwide,

• Compensation for travel expenses (2000-3000 euros per year, depending on the distance from the coordinating university),

• Coverage of visa fees (1,000 euros at a time),

• Monthly stipend of 1000 euros for the entire period of study, including during vacations.

The stipend, when spent wisely, was enough for me to pay rent and live even in the expensive UK and Belgium (the cities were small in both cases). Also, a scholarship is a great way to give up student part-time jobs and focus on core internships or volunteering. Yes, the financial rewards would probably be much higher if you took a job in Europe as a part-time waiter, but it would probably be less beneficial to your studies and future career. My full scholarship for two years of study was 46 000 euros (about 3.2 million rubles), I got 28 000 euros to my bank account, and I could dispose of them at my discretion (ie, to plan flights, choose to house, etc.). Students in Europe have a wide range of different benefits, ranging from free museums, free/reduced fares on public transport, reduced rent, and discounts in cafes. Erasmus Mundus students have even more opportunities to save money – student visas for scholarship students are often free and are issued under a simplified scheme, and universities do not have to pay additional social fees that other students pay.

In addition, there are a lot of opportunities to save money.

Study in Multiple Countries

Besides that, most Erasmus Mundus programs imply studying only in English, and what is important, all programs are organized on the principle of «High mobility». This means that each of the programs is organized with the support of at least two universities, which means that you have to study in at least two countries. It was an important factor for me because I knew that if I did not like the education in a particular university or life in a particular country, I would have the opportunity to change this experience in the next semester (the consortium of my program consisted of six universities and I spent two years in five European countries).

No commitment

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In addition, Erasmus Mundus programs, unlike many other scholarship programs, do not impose any obligations after graduation. You do not subscribe to the obligation to return to your native country and work there for several years or work only in budget organizations, and otherwise compensate the entire cost of training. You have the right to work in any organization and country in the world where you want to work or continue your Ph.D. studies. The only thing is that some programs include compulsory internships during the training, but you are likely to positively evaluate the opportunity to gain practical experience abroad.

Admission process

The application process for most programs is similar (check the website for the specific program for the exact list of documents and deadlines). The list of current programs is posted on the site of the European Commission about a year before the beginning of the training (in October-November), it is usually necessary to submit documents until December-January. If the rules have not changed, you have the right to apply for three Erasmus Mundus programs every year.

If the rules have not changed, then you have the right to apply for three Erasmus Mundus programs every year.

List of required documents:

• I suggest you prepare in advance and already have the IELTS/TOEFL certificate in hand, you will need it in almost all programs,

• You will also be asked for 2-3 letters of recommendation (sometimes you are asked to send the original to the coordinating university),

• Copy of your previous diploma in English (if you have the original in Russian, you can always get a certified translation),

• Document of registration (I made a notarized translation of the first pages of the Russian passport and page with registration)

• Resume showing your education, work experience, and skills

• Writing a letter of motivation is one of the most important selection criteria. On one page of your letter, you need to tell about yourself, your achievements and your goals.

• A motivational letter is one of the most important criteria for selection.

As far as I know, there is no requirement to take the GMAT, but again, each program can change the list of documents at its discretion. On some programs you have to pay a fee when applying to prove the seriousness of your intentions (usually 50-150 euros) to reduce the number of applications &lquo;luck».

In the second round, you will have an interview. To prepare for it, I asked acquaintances who applied to foreign universities about the most frequent questions, and I thought through my answers to each one beforehand. In general, the interview is similar to a normal job interview: they ask about your experience and previous education, your potential contribution to the program, and how studying in a particular program can help you and the community in the future. Also, European universities are very appreciative of volunteer experience and your willingness to volunteer to contribute to the community. I was a sports volunteer at the Sochi Paralympics, which was very relevant to my program, but as far as I know, any social assistance to the homeless, the elderly, animals, etc. will be a plus for you.

Mates from different parts of the world

One of the goals of the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Fund – higher education for developing countries, so there is usually a limit on the number of scholarships for EU representatives, for example in my program out of 20 scholarships only 3 were available to Europeans, and two got it. In addition, Erasmus Mundus encourages diversity and allows receiving scholarship representatives from any country. In our case, it was possible to get a scholarship to a maximum of three citizens of one country, that is, a big role still plays how much more motivated/experienced you are than your compatriots. My group included 20 students from 16 countries of the world, so now I can write in my resume that I have been exposed to a multicultural environment - an experience that is very valuable in most international companies.

What I noticed is that in contrast to our country many foreigners enter graduate school after they have already worked and realized in what particular area they lack knowledge and skills. Therefore, the average age of our group was about 30 years, but some were about 40, some already had families and children. The oldest classmate of 52-year-old English lawyer Robert left after the first year of training but showed that it is never too late to learn. And in general, there was a lot to learn not only from the teachers but also from my classmates. Many of them already had sufficient work experience in the industry, shared cases and insights, cited various examples from the experience of different countries and organizations. All of this made my education even more different from my undergraduate and graduate studies in Russia.

There are challenges of my own

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Of course, it all sounds rosy enough, but there are difficulties of their own. Moving to a new country every semester is not always as exciting as it sounds. Yes, I am now well-versed in rental housing sites, local municipality registration procedures, banks, mobile operators, and logistics companies in various countries, but every move has always come with stress. Moving to Wales and Germany, I was going to «anywhere» Because I still had not found a place to live (the search for housing in Germany resulted in 2 months and no less than 7 interviews with potential landlords and neighbors), immediately after moving to Belgium, the local bank lost the bank check with 2000 euros of my scholarship and it took me over a month of investigation and austerity, I moved to Spain, and my things are stuck in Germany and had to ask a friend, who fortunately happened to be there, to get them out. Also, going to a two-year master's program in one country gives you a great opportunity to integrate into the country, make friends there, and learn the local language. The chances are much lower if you only move for 5-6 months. I had two attempts at language courses (free language courses for Erasmus Mundus students were in each country) in Belgium and Germany, but after 3-4 months of learning the language for 5 hours a week, I moved to a new country with a different language and now I can hardly remember anything in Dutch and German. Also, being a foreigner does not exempt you from knowing the local laws and regulations in each country. In Belgium, my student pass was not valid for the trip to the airport even though the bus driver said it was valid. A controller who came in later fined me 150 euros, and my classmate was fined 800 euros for watching a TV series on a pirate site in Germany.

More about my program

I studied in the Sports ethics and integrity (MAiSI) program, which is now in its fourth consecutive open enrollment. Our program focuses on ethical issues in sports – how we should fight doping (and should we even?), how to prevent corruption in sports and match-fixing, how to address gender inequalit, and many others. For two years, we were trained to work in international and national sports organizations. They took networking very seriously: we were invited to various core conferences, professors from Norway, Australia, Canada, and Brazil, and representatives of international sports organizations (IOC, FIFA, UEFA, WADA, etc.) came to visit us, and in the evenings our professors invited our guests and us to sit together in a pub, so we could ask questions in a more informal atmosphere, which again is very uncharacteristic of higher education in Russia.

Our coordinating university was Swansea (UK), we spent our second semester at KU Leuven (Belgium), our third semester at JGU Mainz (Germany), and our last semester was our dissertation choice. I chose the partner university of our program UPF Pampeu Fabra in Barcelona. Both summers we traveled to the home of the Olympics in Olympia, Greece, the first time for summer school and the second time for our dissertations. Graduation took place in September in Belgium, with a very beautiful ceremony and reception, especially for our program.

With my example, I want to inspire and show that education in Europe is not only available to those who can afford it, but also to those who are not afraid of trying. You should try it, it's worth it.

Anna Burganova

Master of Program Sports ethics and integrity (MAiSI)

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