On July, 17, 2012, the European Commission’s Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) decided upon the 2012 round of the Erasmus Mundus Action 2 – Strand 1 – Partnership programme, EU’s flagship programme aimed at promoting the attractiveness of the European Higher Education system and third country cooperation and partnerships. The new programmes for mobility activities will start during the academic year 2012–2013. The scholarship programme is open for students on undergraduate, master, doctoral and post-doctoral level as well as for university staff in academic or administrative positions from Asia to Europe only. 

Lot No. 9 (corresponding to Lot 12 in 2011!) is primarily devoted to South Asia, where the proposals should include universities in at least three of the following group A countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh; besides at least two of the following group B countries: Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Thailand, China, and North Korea. Four projects were selected, among them a continuation of the EMEA project, coordinated by Lund University. Read more…
Lot No. 10 (corresponding to Lot 13 in 2011!) on the other hand is primarily devoted to South-East Asian countries, but also also gives the possibility to include Sri Lanka, India and/or Maldives as group B countries. Four projects were selected, out of which one includes Indian universities.  Read more…
Lot No. 11 is devoted to India. Four projects were selected, among them the IBIES project, coordinated by Aarhus University, Denmark. The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm is a partner in two of the other India lots.  Read more…

See the complete list of selected Erasmus Mundus Action 2 projects for 2012.

LOT 9

Lund University coordinates Asia Regional lot No. 9 – SASNET an Associate partner

Lund University was again given the responsibility to coordinate one of the four Asia Regional consortium lots No 9.
Web page: http://www.emeuropeasia.org

The 2012 EMEA consortium consists of a slightly different setup of European and Asian member universities and associates than in the previous (2010 and 2011) Lund University administered EMEA Asia Regional Lot, with no Indian universities involved any longer. The EMEA project received further funding for scholarships for nationals from Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan and Thailand. The next scholarship application will be open between October 15 and December 1, 2012.
The European universities consortium members are: Lund University, Sweden; Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece; University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; University of Antwerp, Belgium; University College Dublin, Ireland; University College London, UK; University of Milan, Italy; University of Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris, France; and University of Warsaw, Poland.
The Asian consortium members are: Peking University (joint coordinator), Fudan University, Tsinghua University, Xiamen University and Zhejiang University – all in China; Mahidol University, Thailand; University of Malaya, Malaysia; and the following universities in South Asia:
     – Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka
     – Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Bangladesh
     – Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
     – University of Karachi, Pakistan

SASNET has joined the consortium as an Associate Partner, along with a number of other universities and institutes. They include: 
     – Shahjalal University of Science & Technology (SUST), Sylhet, Bangladesh
     – Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), Dhaka
     – Hajvery University, Pakistan

The budget for the consortium will be EUR 2.5 m, and the mobility flow (from Asia to Europe only) to at least 100 individual partnerships. The project coordinator is Ms. Elisabeth Axell, International Relations Office, Lund University.

Three other Asia Regional Lot 9 projects

Three other Asia Regional lot 9 projects were selected on 17th July 2012. Two of them were re-selected from last year, namely the EXPERTS III consortium coordinated by Karl August University, Göttingen, Germany; and the EMMA West 2013 consortium coordinated by Universidade de Evora, Portugal. 
Besides them, one new consortium was selected, the cLink consortium, coordinated by University of Northumbria at Newcastle, UK.

EXPERTS III consortium:

EXPERTS is a scholarship project targeted to citizens of Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. 
Web site: http://www.expertsasia.eu/

Uppsala University and University of Turku are Nordic partner universities of this consortium. The local coordinator at Uppsala University is Mr. Jonathan Schalk at the university’s International Office. 
More information about the Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Scholarships at Uppsala University’s Mundus web page.

      The following South Asian universities are members of the EXPERTS consortium:

      – Royal University of Bhutan
      – Kathmandu University, Nepal
      – Tribhuvan University, Nepal
      – Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Pakistan
      – University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
      – Khulna University, Bangladesh
      – University of Pune, India
      – University of Delhi, India
      – Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India, is an associated partner.

EMMA West 2013 consortium:
Coordinated by University of Evora, Portugal.
Web site: http://emmasia.uevora.pt/

Other European consortium partners include Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, France; Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Germany; and University of Warsaw, Poland.

    The following South Asian universities are consortium members:

      – University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
      – Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh
      – BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
      – Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
      – Kathmandu University, Nepal
      – COMSATS Institute of Information and Technology, Pakistan
      – NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan
      – Fatimah Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi
      (The consortium also includes two universities in the Philippines)
The EMMA West 2013 kick-off meeting will happen at Warsaw University on 16–19 October 2012. A call for applications should be made public in the meantime. The programme coordinator is Mr. José Carlos Tiago de Oliveira at Évora University.

cLink consortium
Coordinated by University of Northumbria at Newcastle, UK.
Web page for the cLink project.

Clink aims to foster partnerships of emerging Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, China, India, Malaysia and Thailand) with the EU countries (Germany, Romania, Hungary, France, and UK) to reinforce the existing collaborations developed through the EAST-WEST Asia Link project, eLINK and eTourism. The project is coordinated by Professor Alamgir Hossain, Head of Northumbria University’s Computational Intelligence Group.

The following South Asian universities are consortium members:

     – Royal University of Bhutan, Bhutan
     – Kantipur Engineering College, Nepal
     – Mohammed Ali Jinnah University, Karachi, Pakistan
     – Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
     – United International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

More information about the clink project.

Lot 10 consortium with South Asian partners

Four consortia were also selected for the South-East Asia oriented Lot No 10 (that still may include South Asian partner universities). Only one of the consortia includes South Asian partner universities. This is the GATE consortium, coordinated by Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria.

GATE consortium
Coordinated by Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria.
University of Tampere is a Nordic partner university.
Web page for the GATE project.

The consortium includes 19 partner universities including seven European universities and 12 non-European universities from India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Indonesia, Thailand, China and Malaysia. The total funding for the consortium under the program is 2.5 million Euros. The project duration is from 2012 to 2016. More information.

       The following South Asian universities are consortium members:

       – The Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, India
       – Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai, India

LOT 11 (INDIA)

Aarhus University coordinates and KTH participates in 2012 India programme lots

After a break of two years, decisions have also been taken regarding a separate India lot (nr 11), designed to promote academic collaboration between EU and India. Four consortia have been selected, each involving 20 partner universities in Europe and India. Each project will have a budget of EUR 3 m, and the minimum number of individual mobility flow should be 100 fully funded students/researchers/academic staff. The flow is only from India to Europe, not the other way. At least 25 % of the Indian universities in the lot should be located in what is identified by the Government of India to be less developed districts of the country. One of the lots is coordinated by Aarhus University, Denmark, whereas KTH in Stockholm is a partner in two of the India lots. 
Amazingly, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras in Chennai is the Indian coordinator for two of the lots.

The following four consortia were selected for the India mobility programme:

– Interdisciplinary Bridges in Indo-European Studies (IBIES) project, coordinated by Aarhus University, Denmark

Indian coordinating partner university: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai.
Other European members are Leiden University, Netherlands; University of Milan, Italy; University of Warsaw, Poland; Reutlingen University, Germany; and University of Applied Sciences, Bremen, Germany. 
In India, the partner universities are: 
      – Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai
      – Banasthali University, Tonk District, Rajasthan
      – Bastar University, Jagdalpur
      – Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
      – Mangalore University
      – Manipal University
      – Manomaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli
      – Pondicherry University
      – Sambalpur University
      – Symbiosis International University, Pune
      – University of Calcutta, Kolkata
      – University of Delhi
      – Vinoba Bhave University, Hazaribagh.

– Experience Europe as an Indian (SVAGATA) Project,
coordinated by Ghent University, Belgium

Web page: http://www.cslc.in/files/events/Svagata.pdf
The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm is a partner university in this project.
Other European members include University of Groningen, The Netherlands; Université Montpellier 2 Science et Techniques, France; and University of Tartu, Estonia. 
In India, the partner universities are: 
      – Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
      – M.S. Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore; 
      – National Law School of India University, Bangalore
      – Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, Mangalore
      – Gulbarga University
      – Anna University, Chennai
      – Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai
      – Mahatma Gandhi Mission Trust, Aurangabad
      – Amrita Institute for Medical Sciences and Research, Kochi.
  Associate partners include 
      – University of Delhi
      – Tezpur University
      – Central University of Jharkhand in Ranchi
      – Manipur University in Imphal
      – Karnataka State Law University in Hubli
      – Bengal Engineering and Science University in Shibpur
      – Saurashtra University in Rajkot

– India for EU II project,
coordinated by Politecnico di Torino, Italy
More information: http://www.sasnet.lu.se/indiaforeuii.pdf 
The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm is a partner university also in this project.
Other European members include Aalto University Foundation, Finland; Ecole Centrale de Nantes, France; Universidade do Porto, Portugal; and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany. 
In India, the partner universities are: 
      – Anugrah Narayan College, Patna
      – Anna University, Chennai
      – Centre of Environmental Planning and Technology University, Ahmedabad
      – Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi
      – Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata
      – Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad
      – Jadavpur University, Kolkata
      – Kakatiya University, Warangal
      – University of Pune.

– HERITAGE project,
coordinated by Ecole Centrale de Nantes, France
More information: http://www.sasnet.lu.se/heritage12.pdf
Indian coordinating partner university: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai.
Other European members include Universidad de Sevilla, Spain; Politecnico di Milano, Italy;  Politecnico di Torino, Italy; and Warszaw University of Technology, Poland.
In India, the partner universities are: 
      – Anna University, Chennai
      – Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
      – Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mumbai
      – Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati
      – Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur
      – Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai
      – National Institute of Technology, Warangal
      – National Institute of Technology, Rourkela.
Associate partners include:
      – University of Delhi
      – Vellore Institute of Technology
      – Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Rajasthan.