Celebrating 10 years of Erasmus Mundus participation
The University of Glasgow is proud to have been part of the success and continued growth of the European Commission’s prestigious Erasmus Mundus programme for 10 years.
Launched in 2004, Erasmus Mundus is administered by the European Commission and provides financial support for higher education institutions working in partnership to deliver Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees (EMJMDs) to a cohort of global students. The programme also provides funding for student scholarships. Studying for an EMJMD is a very attractive option for students who enjoy the idea of a degree that spans three or even four countries.
Following 10 years in the programme, we’re now looking forward to offering these unique study experiences for many more years following the news that EU funding, which had already been approved for our existing EMJMD programmes, is now secured for the life of the current funding period. As recently as August 2020, a new EMJMD in International Law of Global Security, Peace and Development (ILGSPD) was launched with funding available for the next four intakes.
In addition to our newest programme, we coordinate eight EMJMDs in areas as diverse as Children's Literature, Media & Culture through to Security, Intelligence & Strategic Studies. We also take part in GLOBED (Education Policies for Global Development), an EMJMD coordinated by the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
As well as European partners, EMJMDs are offered by world-leading universities beyond Europe, further enhancing the global expertise that is central to the delivery of these innovative programmes. Students graduating with these degrees have a truly international qualification that can only improve their employability.
Angela Melley, International Development Manager and project manager for EMJMD bids in our College of Social Sciences, said: “EMJMDs offer students, staff and institutions engagement with internationalisation in a way that very few other activities do in terms of the depth and breadth of experiences available. Students gain a confidence that might otherwise take years, staff find their networks expand exponentially and institutions get their profiles raised around the globe. EMJMDs produce curricula that would be impossible for any single university to deliver and culminate in programmes that are way more than the sum of their parts.”
Our very first Erasmus Mundus Master course in Russian, Central and East European Studies is still a core part of our portfolio following three successful funding bids over the last 10 years and which now includes ‘Eurasian Studies’. Nastassiya Fershtey from Kazakhstan completed the EMJMD in 2018−20: “This Master turned out to be the best experience of my life. I grew academically and mentally. Moving around boosted my planning skills. Even more important I met amazing friends and academics along the way.”
EMJMDs are popular with both staff and students as they offer a unique way for us to connect with partners worldwide and offer an international study experience. We’re proud of our involvement in the development and delivery of EMJMDs and are open to continuing to work with partners around the world in the new ERASMUS MUNDUS funding round (2021−27).
Students at Master's level worldwide can apply for Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees (EMJMDs), which are jointly delivered by an international consortium of higher education institutions.