AREAS Erasmus Mundus Action 2 (EMA2) Scholarships, Europe

AREA is an institution-based mobility and scholarship projects organized by the Consortium of some of the most prestigious universities in Europe and Asia. It is developed within the framework of the Erasmus Mundus Action 2 (EMA2) program, which is a cooperation and mobility scheme in the field of higher education funded by the European Commission. EMA2 goal is to promote the exchange of people, knowledge and skills at higher education level.

REGION is one of two EMA2 projects selected by the European Commission for Lot 13 (Regional Asia) in 2011.

The project is aimed at students and scholars from Asian countries targeted (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam) who are willing to spend a mobility period abroad in Europe, for the purpose of learning, teach or conduct training and research. Students and scholars can choose from a variety of academic fields at various levels of study (Bachelor, Master, Doctoral, Post-doctoral and staff) offered by one of the partner universities of Europe. Scholarships will be awarded to applicants selected by the Consortium.

Finance project costs incurred by the mobility, including travel expenses, subsistence allowances, participation and insurance costs.

All mobility in this project must be started before December 31, 2012 with the exception of:

Doctoral mobility 34 months should be started before 1 September 2012.
Staff mobility can be started at any time in the duration of the project and must end in a period of project feasibility.

Partner Universities
Registered higher education institutions in Asia and in Europe who manage projects REGION:

ASIA UNIVERSITY

HCMUT - Ho Chi Minh University of Technology, Vietnam
HUST - Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Vietnam
NUM - National University of Mongolia, Mongolia
NUOL - National University of Laos, Laos
PUC - University Pannasastra Cambodia, Cambodia
PDN - University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
TU - Thammasat University, Thailand
GMU - University of Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia
UNIKL - Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
VSU - Visayas State University, Philippines

EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY

Polito - Politecnico di Torino, Italy
CUL - City University London, England
INP - Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble, France
KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
KUL - Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
MU - University Masarik, Czech Republic
UGOE - Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany
UMINHO - Universidade do Minho, Portugal
UNITN - University of Trento, Italy
UPC - Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya, Spain

Associated Members
Members of the association may include companies, industrial and commercial space, local public entities, regional or national as well as research centers, regional institutions of higher education. REGION Associates contribute to knowledge transfer and innovation processes and outcomes and assist in the promotion, implementation, evaluation and sustainable development of the project:

ASEAN University Network, Thailand
Jesuit Refeugee Services - Asia Pacific, Thailand
Ithaca-Information Technology for Humanitarian Cooperation and Action Aid, Italy
IMS - The National Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office, Thailand

Type of mobility
Various types of individual mobility are as follows:

Scholar
Master
Doctor
Post-doctoral fellowships
Staff

Student mobility
For what concerns students, this project allows for participation as an exchange student or a student's degree as here defined.

Exchange Students
Undergraduate students, master's and doctoral Target Groups can apply for a scholarship as an exchange student.

Exchange students are enrolled at the university (home university) and for a while studying at a partner university (host university). Period of exchange can be one or more semesters. All academic results will be sent to the University Home students and will be recognized by using ECTS tools: learning agreement and trasncript records. Exchange students usually will not get a diploma from the University Host, but it may be possible in certain cases where the Home and the Host University has formed a Double Degree Agreement. Exchange students need approval to participate in mobility programs by both their home and host university.

Degree students
Undergraduate students, master's and doctorate from Asia's Group of Objective 2 and 3 can apply for a full degree program. Degree students enrolled at the University of Europe and not enrolled in any other university in the country of origin. Degree students complete this program will receive a diploma from the host university in the European Union.

Scholarship
Successful applicants will be awarded scholarships which will include a monthly subsistence allowance, travel expenses and insurance. Participants will not be required to pay tuition fees at the host university.

Once candidates have been selected for this program, before they start receiving the scholarship, they will be asked to subscribe to a specific agreement on the tasks and responsibilities.

A monthly subsistence allowance will be paid on account of the beneficiary bank in Europe. Recipients will be asked to provide references in European bank accounts for payment.

This project does not provide support for mobility from Europe to Asia, or among Asian universities.

Applicants can not benefit from more than one scholarship in the project REGION.

Travel expenses and insurance
Travel costs each recipient will be closed by the project within the total limit of 2000-2500 euros. These rates are set by the European Commission on the basis of the linear distance between the receiver and the original locations where the hosting university. Travel expenses may include visa fees paid by participants.

Each recipient will receive full insurance coverage (health, travel, accident) during the period of scholarship. The cost for insurance is covered by the project.

Participation fee
Participants at any level will not be required to pay costs or compensation (such as tuition and registration fees, additional library, student unions, laboratory consumable costs and the cost of language courses) to the host university. Exchange students will continue to pay the registration fee at their home university.

The cost of education for students applying for full degree programs will be borne by the project.

Financing the European Union provides funding for the participation fee that will be used by the Consortium to compensate partially for the host university fees and other costs.

FIELD OF STUDY
This project offers mobility opportunities in the following study areas as defined by the European Commission:

Agricultural Sciences
Architecture, urban and regional planning
Business Studies, Management Science
Education, Teacher Training
Engineering, Technology
Geography, Geology
Law
Hygiene
Natural Sciences
Social sciences
Other Field of Study

A complete list of specific courses or programs available at all levels at each partner university are provided on the project website (http://www.areas.polito.it/application/fields_of_study).

Detailed information provided in there for each course or program includes a description only, a specific language and academic requirements for admission, duration of the program. Links to each university is also provided for further probing.

Only courses or programs listed on the project website is available for applications.

Requirements

Applicants must have the nationality of the countries targeted Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam).
Applicants must not have lived nor do their main activities (studies, work, etc.) for more than a total of 12 months over the last five years in one European country at the time of filing the application.
Applicants must not have already benefited from the scholarship for the same type of mobility in another project under the EMA2-STRAND1.
Applicants must meet the requirements of target groups,
Applicants must have sufficient knowledge of the language programs / activities at the host university.

The minimum academic qualification

Scholar
Applicants are eligible to apply if they hold a high school diploma. For Target Group 1 students are also required to have completed at least 1 year of study at a university undergraduate. Please note that specific course or courses may have additional requirements.

Teacher
Applicants are eligible to apply if they have completed their Bachelor studies or have completed three years of university education.

Doctorate
Applicants are eligible to apply if they have completed a master's program or already have started PhD studies. Please, check the partner university's website regarding the specific requirements of the doctoral program.

Post-Doctoral
Applicants are eligible if they hold a doctorate. Post-doctoral activities abroad may consist in research, training and / or attend a course that is very special.

Staff
Mobility of staff is open to both academic and administrative staff partner universities. Exchange of staff is one-way flow of visitors from Asia. Staff perform a period of teaching, training or research at the University of partners must:

working in or associated with one of the participating institutions;
fully integrated into the Department or Faculty of the host institution with full-time contract.

APPLICATION
All applications must be submitted online through the application system provided on the project website. See the application page at: http://www.areas.polito.it/application

It is possible to transmit up to two applications for different universities. Applicants can not benefit from more than one scholarship in the project REGION.

Calls for applications will be open from 1 November 2011 to January 31, 2012.

All mobility in this project must be started before December 31, 2012 with the exception of:

Doctoral mobility 34 months should be started before 1 September 2012.
Staff mobility can be started at any time in the duration of the project and must end in a period of project feasibility.

While filling out an application, applicants are requested to provide the following information:

Personal data: all fields are mandatory Personal Data. Applicants must provide a valid e-mail address as all communication will be realized through the mail.
The target group and education level.
Academic Data: all data on the levels of education (and diploma) is mandatory. all data on the level of education (and diploma) is mandatory. The following data will be required: Name of University / College, Location, Start Date, End Date, Degree Type, Subject-degree, three main subjects, the average grade. In case the applicant does not hold at the time of application Certification is required because they are still following the course or related academic activities, they must submit a Statement of Commitment stating the current situation and their commitment to obtain the required certification within the time limit set by the registration procedure each host university.
Host institution and of course: students and scholars should only apply to fields of study equivalent to the current course or earlier and that they master the language.
Language Competence: if requested by the host university, applicants must prove their knowledge of the language in which courses are held.

Applications must be submitted online only, and no hard copy of the application or required documents must be sent or delivered. After the selection process, the host university may ask candidates elected to send them a hard copy original of the application including all attachments. If requested, the selected candidate must also present the original for verification at the host university for admission.

Required documents
Applicants, whether student, scholar or staff, must provide certification of their applications with a number of identity documents, feasibility and their academic qualifications. Examples of documents required are: CV, motivation letter, transcript of records, language certification, diplomas or other documents to certify the level of education needed for the selected course or courses at the host university.

The application form will only apply if all required documents have been attached. All documents attached must be in English or English translation certified by your university must be provided. Please note that all certificates / degrees should be certified by the university stamp.

Documents required depending on the type of mobility and the target groups, as well as on the course or program selected by the applicant. Specific information about the academic and language requirements for each program at each university is provided at the project site in the Field of Study section.

SELECTION
Your application will be evaluated as follows:

You have applied for university will verify whether you qualify, ie, if all administrative and academic requirements are met as determined by project and by the University.
If you qualify, your home (for TG1) and the University will host your application classes based on the criteria listed below and taking into account the specific conditions for the program applied for.
All the applications you submitted to different Universities will be evaluated as described above. If all else equal, the order of your application will be deemed as your preference.
The consortium will collect the list of candidates selected from all University Partners and will produce a list of candidates nominated for the overall final.
The proposed list of candidates will be submitted for approval to the Education Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Commission.

Evaluation criteria for selection:

Academic Relevance verified through records transcripts, diplomas, project proposals, or teaching / work experience
Language skills, as defined by the host institution and the course program
Motivation
Letter of recommendation (if any)
Gender balance
Degree of vulnerability and socio-economic status

All applicants will be notified of selection results within three months of the Call to close the application, whether they have been nominated, whether they are on the reserve list or those who are not eligible.

Candidates who have been selected and nominated for the scholarship will be asked to accept the scholarship within 10 calendar days by filling the relevant acceptance form which will be sent to them.

For each candidate nominated will leave or not received within the time limit, the Partnership will nominate the first candidate in the list of reserves for the same target group, level and duration of the scholarship, will inform him / her and ask to be accepted as described above.

All communication with the applicants during the selection process will occur via email.

REGISTRATION
Undergraduate students must be nominated and accepted to participate in this project will be required to meet university admission requirements at the local host and must follow the registration procedures of individual standards in their host institutions.

All mobility in this project must be started before December 31, 2012 with the exception of:

Doctoral mobility 34 months should be started before 1 September 2012.
Staff mobility can be started at any time in the duration of the project and must end in a period of project feasibility.

For the exchange of Bachelor, Master and Doctorate recipients: before the start of the mobility, selected applicants will be asked to prepare an ECTS Learning Agreement, which will be signed by both host and home institutions. Doctoral students will be required to submit the original version of the Proposal Work Plan, have been provided during the phase of the application, signed by both host and home institutions.

After receiving the acceptance of candidates, the host University will be responsible for contacting the applicant and give him / her with all the information required for admission to the University.

Partner universities are bound to admit candidates elected, except in cases of fraud by the applicant in the application process.

All grant holders will be asked to subscribe to a special scholarship contract on the tasks and responsibilities in relation to scholarships. This agreement will need to be signed before the holder can start receiving the scholarship grant.

Host university will provide the following services to the holders of grants entry:

Assistance with visa issues
Help with finding adequate housing
Provides trip ticket to reach the Host university in the early mobility and return to their home countries at the end of the scholarship period.
Provide orientation upon arrival through direct contact with university faculty or qualified personnel
For student exchange, set up by students and the Learning Agreement with the University of the house, before the start of the mobility

For more information, please visit the official site: www.areas.polito.it