174 Indian students awarded Europe’s Erasmus Mundus scholarships for higher education

NEW DELHI: 174 Indian students including 50% women have been awarded Europe’s Erasmus Mundus scholarships for degree programmes for the academic session 2023-24. While students of 21 Indian states and union territories have been selected, the highest number of students is from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi and Kerala.

The Erasmus Mundus Joint Master (EMJM) programmes are organised by a consortium of universities and selected students will be leaving for Europe for their higher studies soon. The scholarship will cover participation, travel costs and living allowances of students. Under the scholarship, students will get to study and conduct research in at least two universities located in different European countries and will obtain a joint, double or multiple degree.

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The first host countries for the students who will be joining in the current academic year include, France (48), Italy (27), Belgium (20), Finland (11), Spain (10), United Kingdom (5), Portugal (17), The Netherlands (04), Germany (06), Sweden (02), Austria (06), Denmark (04), Ireland (02), Hungary (02), Turkey (02), Czech Republic (04), Estonia (01), Greece (01), Norway (01) and Serbia (01).

Students chose to study social science and science subjects with domains of energy, environmental sciences, medicine and data management being the top choices. While ocean sciences, astrophysics and space science, nano sciences, circular economy and sustainability remained popular in science, gender studies, linguistics, international studies and cultural studies were the top picks among the social science students.

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Congratulating the students, HE Seppo Nurmi, Chargé d' Affaires EU delegation to India and Bhutan, said: “I am pleased to share that 174 Indian students have won the Erasmus scholarship this year, beating the figure of 161 Indian students from last year. Given how competitive the Erasmus programme is, this deserves a big applause. It highlights the growing people-to-people connect between the EU and India, which is an important pillar of our partnership.”

"For me, this scholarship means an opportunity to choose from different universities and cultures, the way they teach with different specifications and areas," said Chitnain Kaur Bagga, who applied for Economic Policies for Global Transition. For me, Europe is a beautiful bouquet in which different countries are the best flowers from around the world, so I am looking forward to the fragrance and giving my Indian accent to it."