EUPHRATES Call for applications guidelines 1 st Cohort Extension of the deadline to 07 th February 2014 Deadline for applying: From 17 th December 2013 until 30 th January 2014 1. INTRODUCTION... 2 2. GENERAL ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS... 2 3. TARGET GROUPS... 2 4. TYPES OF MOBILITY... 3 5. MOBILITY FLOWS... 4 6. GRANT AMOUNTS... 4 7. MOBILITY DURATIONS... 4 8. APPLICATION PROCEDURE... 5 9. REQUIRED DOCUMENTS... 5 10. SELECTION PROCESS... 8 11. PRE-SELECTION AND SELECTION CRITERIA... 8 12. CRITERIA FOR EXCLUSION... 9 13. CALL FOR APPLICATIONS SCHEDULE... 10 EUPHRATES Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Strand 1 Lot 13 Call for applications guidelines 1 st Cohort 1
1. INTRODUCTION EUPHRATES is a project selected in the framework of the Erasmus Mundus programme, aiming at fostering cooperation in the field of Higher Education between European and Indian Institutions through a mobility scheme addressing student and staff exchanges. The project covers a unilateral mobility from India to Europe (Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Lithuania, Greece, Slovenia) Applicants are kindly requested to carefully read all the information contained in this document before proceeding to fulfil and submit their online application form. Once you have checked that you are eligible for a EUPHRATES grant, please proceed to fill and upload all needed documents in the online application tool available for that purpose. The application will have to be submitted online and no paper versions will be accepted. 2. GENERAL ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS In order to apply for a grant within the framework of EUPHRATES project, candidates must comply with the following general requirements: - They must have Indian nationality. - EUPHRATES does not involve all fields of study. The fields of study are indicated in the Annex of this file. - They must have sufficient knowledge of the language of instruction of the host universities they apply to. Only official certificates will be accepted as proof of knowledge. It may be verified the language of instruction in the academic offer of the Host Institution. - Grants cannot be awarded to those candidates who have lived and carried out their main activities (studies, work etc.) for more than a total of 12 months over the last five years in a European country. This rule is not applicable to Target Group 3 and to Staff candidates. 3. TARGET GROUPS EUPHRATES allows participation of candidates belonging to 3 different target groups accurately defined: Target Group 1 (TG1): Indian Students and Academic/Administrative Staff registered in one of the partner universities belonging to the consortium (*** see the section of EUPHRATES Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Strand 1 Lot 13 Call for applications guidelines 1 st Cohort 2
Our consortium in the webpage in order to know which universities are members of the consortium). Target Group 2 (TG2): students need either to be registered in a HEI (not included in the partnership) of the third-country concerned by the lot or to have obtained a university degree or equivalent from a HEI of these third-countries Target Group 3 (TG3): Nationals of India who are in a particularly vulnerable situation due to social and political reasons. Proof of this vulnerable situation is requested from all candidates alleging this status. The following circumstances will be considered: - Having a refugee status or asylum beneficiaries (international or according to the national legislation of one of the European recipient countries) or - It can be proved that they have been the object of unjustified expulsion from university on racial, ethnic, religious, political, gender or sexual inclination or - They belong to an indigenous population targeted by a specific national policy or IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) To take into account: Mobility for EUPHRATES is only unilateral (from India to Europe) EUPHRATES includes the following fields of study: Agricultural Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Medical Sciences, Natural Sciences Please, make sure you belong to any of these fields of study, otherwise, your application will be excluded. (This is not applicable to Staff mobilities, which are multidisciplar) Academic/Administrative staff can not apply to TG3 4. TYPES OF MOBILITY EUPHRATES includes 5 types of mobility according to the academic level of the candidates: Undergraduate Master Doctorate (PhD) Post-doctorate Academic/Administrative staff Taking into account the above mentioned levels, candidates must meet the following specific requirements: Undergraduate candidates: they must have successfully completed at least one year of studies. Master candidates: they must have obtained a Bachelor diploma. EUPHRATES Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Strand 1 Lot 13 Call for applications guidelines 1 st Cohort 3
PhD candidates: they must have obtained a Master diploma. PhD and Post-doctorate candidates: should contact their respective potential supervisors at the hosting institution before applying in order to get a preadmission letter. In several host institutions pre-admission/acceptance from a supervisor will be the main/priority condition for eligibility of the doctoral and post-doctoral candidates. Academic/Administrative Staff: both academic and administrative staff should contact their respective counterpart at the host university in order to accordingly draw up their teaching/work plan. 5. MOBILITY FLOWS Find at the end of the document a table with the number of available grants with the duration of each one. It must underlined that once the quota for long stays (10 months for undergraduate and 33 months for doctorate) have been allocated, the Selection Committee may award grants of lesser duration to candidates that in any case fulfil the scholarship criteria. Duration of grants of 18 months for Master may also be reduced according to requirements of the host institution s study programmes. 6. GRANT AMOUNTS EUPHRATES will cover travel and insurance costs of the beneficiaries and monthly allowances whose amount will vary depending on their academic level: 1,000 for Undergraduate and Master 1,500 for Doctorate 1,800 for Post-doctorate 2,500 for Academic/Administrative Staff 7. MOBILITY DURATIONS Candidates must take into account that mobility duration will vary depending on their academic level and their origin country: Undergraduate: 6 and 10 months Master: 6, 10, 18 months Doctorate: 6, 22, 33 months Post-doctorate: 6, 10 months Academic/Adm.Staff: 1 month EUPHRATES Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Strand 1 Lot 13 Call for applications guidelines 1 st Cohort 4
8. APPLICATION PROCEDURE Candidates have to apply online through the EUPHRATES online application form (available in the webpage http://www.usc.es/euphrates ), uploading the required supporting documents. Originals of the attached supporting documents may be requested to preselected TG1 candidates for examination by their home universities. Originals of the attached documentation of TG2 and TG3 candidates may be requested for examination once they arrive to the host university. All candidates may apply for a maximum of three host universities. 8.1 Online Application Form The online application form is only available in English. All documents must be submitted in English or translated to English. 8.2. Deadline The online application form will be available from 17 th December 2013 to 30 th January 2014, both days included. We cannot accept late applications after this deadline. 9. REQUIRED DOCUMENTS Candidates must attach to their application the following supporting documents according to their academic level: Candidates applying for BACHELOR: Passport copy 1 Curriculum Vitae (European CV Europass - ) 2 Language certificate(s) 1 Recommendation letter duly signed Motivation Letter (maximum 2 pages) Bachelor Transcript of Records Exact name of the study programme you plan to do in the host university (***Please, check the academic offer of the host university you apply in order to 1 In addition to the Passport copy, any other official document (such as ID Card) giving proof of the candidate s identity will be accepted. 2 The template of the Europass CV can be downloaded here: http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/europass/home/hornav/downloads/europasscv/cvtemplate.csp EUPHRATES Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Strand 1 Lot 13 Call for applications guidelines 1 st Cohort 5
include this information in the online application tool. Any candidature without this information will be automatically excluded) Proof of Target Group 3 status (only if applicable) Candidates applying for MASTER: Passport copy1 Curriculum Vitae (European CV Europass - ) 2 Language certificate(s) 1 Recommendation letter duly signed Motivation Letter (maximum 2 pages) Bachelor Certificate (If the grantee does not have this certificate at the moment of submitting the application, He/She should submit a letter signed by the home University stating that He/She is currently enrolled and that the He/She will get the Diploma by 1 st July 2014) Bachelor Transcript of Records Master Transcript of Records (only if applicable) Exact name of the study programme you plan to do in the host university (***Please, check the academic offer of the host university you apply in order to include this information in the online application tool. Any candidature without this information will be automatically excluded) Proof of Target Group 3 status (only if applicable) Candidates applying for DOCTORATE: Passport copy1 Curriculum Vitae (European CV Europass - ) 2 Language certificate(s) 1 Recommendation letter duly signed Motivation Letter (maximum 2 pages) Bachelor Certificate Bachelor Transcript of Records Master Certificate (If the grantee does not have this certificate at the moment of submitting the application, He/She should submit a letter signed by the home University stating that He/She is currently enrolled and that the He/She will get the Diploma by 1 st July 2014) Master Transcript of Records Research proposal: title and short description (maximum 2 pages) A pre-admission letter is recommended (priority criterion) Proof of Target Group 3 status (only if applicable) If you apply for Doctorate Studies, please, be sure to upload Bachelor and Master transcript of records. Applications without these requirements will be excluded. Candidates applying for POSTDOCTORATE: Passport copy1 EUPHRATES Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Strand 1 Lot 13 Call for applications guidelines 1 st Cohort 6
Curriculum Vitae (European CV Europass - ) 2 Language certificate(s) 1 Recommendation letter duly signed Motivation Letter (maximum 2 pages) PhD Certificate (If the grantee does not have this certificate at the moment of submitting the application, He/She should submit a letter signed by the home University stating that He/She is currently enrolled and that the He/She will get the Diploma by 1 st July 2014) Thesis Summary (maximum 2 pages) Research proposal: title and short description (maximum 2 pages) A pre-admission letter is recommended (priority criterion) Proof of Target Group 3 status (only if applicable) Candidates applying for ACADEMIC/ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF: Passport copy1 Curriculum Vitae (European CV Europass - ) 2 Language certificate(s) 1 Recommendation letter duly signed Motivation Letter (maximum 2 pages) Teaching/Working plan A pre-admission letter is recommended (priority criterion) Proof of staff employment EUPHRATES Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Strand 1 Lot 13 Call for applications guidelines 1 st Cohort 7
10. SELECTION PROCESS Phase 1: Pre-selection by home and host universities Each partner university will set up a pre-selection committee in charge of examining and grading all home and host candidates. As a result, a list of pre-selected candidates will be drawn up according to the pre-selection criteria shown in section below of this document. Phase 2: Final selection A Selection Committee made up of one representative of the coordinating institution (USC), one representative of each partner university and an External Evaluator will examine and grade the ranking of pre-selected candidates according to the selection criteria shown in section below, in order to draw up the final list of beneficiaries as well as the reserve list. The final list of beneficiaries must be validated by all host universities. Phase 3: Notification of selection All selected candidates will be informed of the award decision and they will have one week to accept or reject the grant. Candidates rejected and those in the reserve list will also be duly informed through an e-mail notification. Phase 4: Invitation and visa procedures Beneficiaries will receive an invitation letter from the host institutions in order to start their visa arrangements. It is the responsibility of the selected candidates to provide all necessary documents requested by the Embassies/Consulates of the host universities. Local coordinators from host institutions may provide them with assistance and information about the visa procedure. 11. PRE-SELECTION AND SELECTION CRITERIA Pre-selection criteria (to be applied by home universities during the pre-selection phase): CONCEPT MARK Academic records 55 Academic suitability and relevance of the application 25 Motivation 20 TOTAL 100 EUPHRATES Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Strand 1 Lot 13 Call for applications guidelines 1 st Cohort 8
Pre-selection criteria (to be applied by host universities during the pre-selection phase): CONCEPT MARK Academic records 55 Language skills 30 Academic suitability and relevance of the application 10 Motivation 05 TOTAL 100 The Selection Committee will agree the final list of selected candidates on the basis of the ranking of pre-selected candidates. In case of candidates with the same mark as well as in order to meet the project principles, the following additional criteria can be applied by the Selection Committee: Gender balance Priority of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups Geographical balance Language skills Impact of the project proposal (applicable to Doctorate, Post-doc and Staff) 12. CRITERIA FOR EXCLUSION Candidates that do not meet the general requirements of the call for applications will be automatically excluded. This applies to candidates not submitting the compulsory documents required for applying to each specific academic level and not complying with the specific Target Group requirements. Each host university reserves the right to determine the ineligibility of candidates on the basis of the following reasons: Specific academic programme not available Quality/Inadequacy of academic curriculum Lack of correspondence between home and host studies Insufficient Language skills Additionally, candidates will be excluded if: They apply for an academic level that they have already completed If they apply to different academic levels If they do not indicate the name of the study programme they plan to do at the host university. EUPHRATES Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Strand 1 Lot 13 Call for applications guidelines 1 st Cohort 9
13. CALL FOR APPLICATIONS SCHEDULE Publication of the call for applications 17 th December 2013 Deadline for submission of applications and documentation 07 th February 2014 Pre-selection of candidates February-March 2014 Selection Committee Meeting April-May 2014 Publication of results May 2014 Sending of invitation letters to beneficiaries May-June 2014 Visa applications May August 2014 September 2014 In any case, mobilities for the Start of mobilities 1 st Cohort cannot start later than 31 st December 2014 EUPHRATES Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Strand 1 Lot 13 Call for applications guidelines 1 st Cohort 10
ANNEX (Fields of study, to select from the HOST INSTITUTION) ** Applicants from other fields of study will be automatically excluded (except Staff) List of thematic fields of study. APPLICABLE TO UNDERGRADUATE, MASTER, DOCTORAL AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES 01 Agriculture Sciences 01,1 Agriculture 01,2 Agricultural Economics 01,3 Food Science and Technology 01,4 Horticulture 01,5 Fisheries 01,6 Forestry 01,7 Animal Husbandry 01,8 Tropical/Subtropical Agriculture 01,9 Others Agricultural Sciences 06 Engineering, Technology 06,1 Mechanical Engineering 06,2 Electrical Engineering 06,3 Chemical Engineering 06,4 Civil Engineering 06,5 Electronic Engineering, Telecommunications 06,6 Manufacturing Sciences (including CAD, CAM, CAE) 06,7 Materials Science 06,8 Aeronautical Engineering 06,9 Others Engineering, Technology 12 Medical Sciences 12,1 Medicine 12,2 Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology 12,3 Dentistry 12,4 Veterinary Medicine 12,5 Pharmacy 12,6 Nursing, Midwifery, Physiotherapy 12,7 Public Health 12,8 Medical Technology 12,9 Others Medical Sciences 13 Natural Sciences 13,1 Biology 13,2 Physics 13,3 Chemistry 13,4 Microbiology, Biotechnology 13,5 Nuclear and High Energy Physics 13,6 Biochemistry 13,7 Astronomy, Astrophysics 13,8 Oceanography 13,9 Others Natural Sciences EUPHRATES Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Strand 1 Lot 13 Call for applications guidelines 1 st Cohort 11
Total number of grants for the whole duration of the EUPHRATES Programme: 140 Undergraduate Master PHD Postdoc Staff TG Duration Number TG Duration Number TG Duration Number TG Duration Number TG Duration Number TG 1 6 m 10 m 16 TG 1 6 m 10 m 16 TG 1 22 m 20 TG 1 6 m 6 TG 1 1 month 18 TG 2 NO 0 TG 2 18 m 10 TG 2 12 m 10 TG 2 6 m 10 m 4 TG 2 1 month 10 TG 3 10 m 10 TG 3 10 m 12 TG 3 33 m 6 TG 3 NO 2 TG 3 NO 0 The expected number of scholarships for the 1st Cohort is the following: Undergraduates: 16 Master: 18 Doctoral Studies: 18 Postdoctoral Studies: 6 Staff: 10 EUPHRATES Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Strand 1 Lot 13 Call for applications guidelines 1 st Cohort 12