🌎 WHAT IS ERASMUS MUNDUS? 🌍

Erasmus Mundus is a joint master´s degree delivered by many higher institutions and run across various European, but not only countries. The prestige and fame of the degree comes from academic excellence, integration, and inclusion, as well as the opportunity for everyone from around the world to apply. In addition, there are 3,000 scholarships each year that fully fund the experience. They are available for the best Master´s students. There is an Erasmus Mundus catalog of all of the available courses which is updated every year. The Erasmus Mundus application is open from October to January. Every course has specific requirements for making an application. In other words, the idea of the Erasmus Mundus is to unite, connect, learn, and most importantly, give the best students from everywhere the opportunity to do it for free.

INTEGRATION AND OPPORTUNITIES 🎓

Nowadays, the world is connected as it has never been before. Moreover, there are different opportunities for young people to travel, work abroad, take on an internship, or volunteer. As a result, youth have the best ever possibilities to develop and grow compared to the previous generations that could only dream about going to work for a year in the USA, studying in the UK, volunteering in Cyprus, spending a summer in Croatia or working in Prague. However, it is still commonly believed that opportunities like these are available only for those who can afford them financially and sponsor yourself the whole experience. In minds of many young people, travelling and exploring are connected with being able to afford it.

I could not disagree more.

Importantly, the projects like the ones mentioned before are for everyone who is curious. Curious about the experience, curious about the education, and curious about new cultures and people. There is, however, still not so much visibility around the projects and possibilities. Are they hidden? Are they directed towards a certain group of people? These are the questions that I am trying to find answers to. But for now, I will not focus on it.

IS IT DIFFICULT TO GET A SCHOLARSHIP?💸

Considering that only 5% of all applicants get it, I feel extremely proud of being selected. I am a proud beneficiary of the scholarship for the ESWOCHY program 2022-2024. The program I will start in September is called: Social work with Children and Youth and aims, quote, “to prepare highly skilled professionals to be leaders in the field of international, intercultural and comparative social work with children and youth.”

The consortium consists of Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania) (coordinator), Riga Stradins University (Latvia), the Catholic University in Ruzomberok (Slovakia), and the ISCTE University Institute of Lisbon (Portugal). I am a member of the second cohort which consists of 18 students. We all will be spending one semester at each partner institution. Our cohort consists of students coming from Ghana, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Uganda, Azerbaijan, Philippines, Russia, Latvia, Spain and Poland. We are all beneficiaries of the scholarship. Personally, it is my biggest dream of mine – to be awarded this scholarship and be able to fully engage in my studies without any financial pressure on my shoulders.

🙋 HOW DO YOU APPLY:

Firstly, go to the website and have a look at the catalog of all the programs you are interested in.
Secondly, read about the program in detail and check the program’s requirements.
Choose a maximum 3! (otherwise your application might be rejected)
Collect and translate (if needed) all the documents from the list. Usually, these are your diploma from the University, your transcript, your CV, your passport, your proof of residence, 2 references from your professors, your English Language Certificate, and most importantly: your motivational statement.
WORK ON YOUR MOTIVATIONAL STATEMENT. Think about it as if it was your ONLY ONE chance to convince the Commission that is you who should study this program and get the scholarship. Contact people who can help you read it. Get advice. Start early.
Work on your CV. It needs to go in line with what you want to study.
If you are not sure, contact Hosting University to clarify all the issues you have.
Submit all of the documents on time!
Wait for the answers 😊 – or in some cases, wait for the decision about the next phase, the interview.

To sum up, it took me a bit over a month to collect all the documents, message my professors, write my CV, write advice on my motivational letter, to get proof of the residency and its translation, etc. It has been a hard month and a half during which I gave my best to make the application. If I could get it, then you can do it, too!

If you have any questions about the scholarship, the application process, or the course, please feel free to contact me and I will be very happy to personally advice you! 😊