Scholarships for two exchange programmes with Russian universities coordinated by the UB have been announced
The UB coordinates two university consortiums of the European Union and Russia, within the programme Erasmus Mundus of the EU, with the aim of establishing and promoting academic ties between Russian universities and the European Higher Education Area: the projects Eranet Mundus and Eranet Plus. The scholarships to participate in these two programmes have been recently announced. The Eranet Mundus scholarship can be applied until 20th December and the Eranet Plus until 18th January. Scholarships are addressed to degree, master or PhD students, post doctors and teaching and administrative staff.
The UB coordinates two university consortiums of the European Union and Russia, within the programme Erasmus Mundus of the EU, with the aim of establishing and promoting academic ties between Russian universities and the European Higher Education Area: the projects Eranet Mundus and Eranet Plus. The scholarships to participate in these two programmes have been recently announced. The Eranet Mundus scholarship can be applied until 20th December and the Eranet Plus until 18th January. Scholarships are addressed to degree, master or PhD students, post doctors and teaching and administrative staff.
Apart from the University of Barcelona and the Technical University of Catalonia, the European universities that participate in the project Eranet Mundus are: the Radboud University Nijmegen, the University of Poitiers, the University of Duisburg-Essen, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the University of Glasgow, the University of Siena, the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra (Slovakia) and the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Most of these universities, the UB too, are members of the International Research Universities Network (IRUN), what means that they work together, they have common research programmes, common degrees, symposiums, summer courses and other activities.
The Russian universities which participate in the project are: the Saint Petersburg State University, the Lomonosov Moscow State University, the Russian State Hydrometeorological University, the Pskov State Pedagogical University, the South Ural State University, the Yaroslavl Demidov State University and the Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod.
Besides the universities which take part in Eranet Mundus, the University of Granada and the Moscow State Linguistic University also participate in the project Eranet Plus. Moreover, the following organizations also participate in both programmes as associates: the Higher Institute of Environmental (Spain), the Committee for Nature Preservation of the Russian Geographical Society, the Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency and the Russian National Accreditation Agency.
The main difference between Eranet Mundus and Eranet Plus is that in the second project students and researchers at any university of the EU, or who hold a certificate of higher education, even if they come from centres which are not part of the consortium, can participate. In the case of Russia, in both projects there are a number of spots reserved for students or graduates from any Russian university.
Eranet Mundus and Eranet Plus aim to establish mobility flows between Russian and European universities, especially among higher education students, and teaching and research staff. These projects are an opportunity to provide Russian universities with European experience to success in their own challenges. Russia is currently in a process of transition from the traditional university system to a more modern model adapted to the European Higher Education Area, the Bologna model. It is important to bear in mind that Russia signed the Bologna Declaration in 2003.
One of the goals of Eranet Mundus and Eranet Plus is to construct a stable and ongoing mobility scheme between Europe and Russia and to establish a solid framework for future collaborations, as well as giving an answer to training necessities of European countries and Russia. Another objective of the projects is to widen and strengthen the international cooperation in civil rights and citizenship, or sustainable development. In order to reach this objective, the collaboration with non-governmental organizations is suggested. Furthermore, they aim at promoting awareness of the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity. Both programmes want to train new generations of teachers and professors, a professional group that is on an ageing process in Russia.
Erasmus Mundus is EU programme that aims to enhance the quality of European higher education and to promote dialogue and understanding between people and cultures through cooperation with Third-Countries. In addition, it contributes to the development of human resources and the international cooperation capacity of Higher education institutions in Third Countries by increasing mobility between the European Union and these countries. The projects Eranet Mundus and Eranet Plus are part of the Erasmus Mundus Action 2 programme, which is focus on the relationship among European and Third Country higher education institutions, including scholarships and fellowships for mobility at all academic levels.
More information on the websites of Eranet Mundus and Eranet Plus.