The European Union is keen on improving India’s participation in EU-funded higher education programmes such as the Erasmus+ and the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) for developing nations.

“There was a very low show of interest last year, particularly from South-East Asia, for our EU-funded programmes, and though India was not bad, it was not good either.

There is a lot more opportunity for India to take part in our programmes because India is our strategic partner now,” said Brian Toll, Senior Policy Adviser, International Cooperation in Education and Youth, European Commission, Brussels.

“The two programmes give India an opportunity to take part in the projects for students, university staff, researchers and institutions. We want to see India very much involved in looking towards progress in higher education, internationalisation, modernisation, quality and transparency of systems,” added Toll.

Indian students

Currently, over 55,000 Indian students are studying in the EU, across 4,000 higher education institutions. Most of them are doing Master’s programmes. India was also the greatest beneficiary of the Erasmus Mundus, the programme that preceded Erasmus+.

In the past 10 years, more than 3,400 Indian students have benefited from the international mobility provided by the Erasmus Mundus programme; and 50 higher education institutions from India have been involved in partnerships.

Fund allocation

The Erasmus+ programme has an overall budget of €14.7 billion, which can be shared by the participating higher education institutions and individuals for 2014-2020, and an extra €1.68 billion is available for international cooperation with countries outside Europe via the EU’s external action budget. The EU programmes have been divided into different actions and the funds are allocated accordingly. These actions include short-term mobility, short-term exchanges, joint degree programmes and capacity-building in higher education.

Short- and long-term courses

“In Asia, for capacity-building, we are looking for 44 projects approximately. Under the current call for applications/proposals that will happen between October this year and February next year, we hope from Asian countries that are eligible, excluding Japan and Singapore, etc., there will be at least 80-100 applications,” Toll said.

The Erasmus+ programme offers students generous scholarships, covering travel and living expenses as well as tuition fees, for approved courses and periods of study, from three-month courses to full Master’s degrees.

There are funded opportunities available for university staff and researchers (including from Europe to India), as well as for partnerships between institutions.

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