EDUCATION: NON-EU ACADEMICS GET ERASMUS MUNDUS SCHOLARSHIPS.

Of the 803 students, 455 were selected via the general Erasmus Mundus programme, which also provides scholarships for EU nationals studying in non-EU countries. The remaining 353 fall within the programme's country-specific Asian 'windows'. Among the 133 scholars, 112 were selected under the general programme and 21 under the 'China Window'. The 455 'regular' students come from 84 different countries, with Brazil (35), Russia (32), Ukraine (23), United States (20), China (18), Mexico (18) and Nigeria (18) ranking in the first places. The 353 students selected under the Asian windows come mainly from India (133), China (67), Pakistan (31), Thailand (28) and Malaysia (23). The USA (24) and Brazil (12) are the best ranked countries (35 in total) for scholars.

Nearly euro 30 million (euro 17 million under the general programme and euro 13 million under the Asian 'windows') will be used to fund the 803 students, and more than euro 1.5 million (of which euro 270,000 is for the China 'window') have been set aside to fund the scholars. The student grant will vary between euro 21,000 and euro 42,000, depending on the duration of the courses. Scholars' grants will be on average euro 13,000 for a period of three months. The selection process involved participating universities picking out the top candidates from thousands of applicants, with the Commission making the final selection based on a series of eligibility criteria.

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The Erasmus Mundus programme is not to be confused with the Erasmus programme, which permits European students to study for between six months and a year in another European country. First put forward by as 'Erasmus World' in a July 2002 Commission proposal, it was renamed Erasmus Mundus and became operational last year with a budget...