EXPERTS I and its successors, EXPERTS II, EXPERTS III, EXPERTS4Asia, and EXPERTS - SUSTAIN, are scholarship projects funded by the European Commission targeted at citizens of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The EXPERTS Partnership includes 7 European and 13 South and South-East Asian (SSEA) Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) from 12 Asian countries.
EXPERTS projects are coordinated by the University of Goettingen, Germany
Project Coordinator: Dr.Uwe Muuss
Email: experts@uni-goettingen.de
The projects provide scholarship opportunities for students and staff from South and South-East Asia to European partner universities. The EXPERTS4Asia project also has scholarships for EU students and staff to study and conduct research at the SSEA partner HEIs. The types of mobility which can be funded are:
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Mobility of Undergraduate and Graduate students
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Mobility of PhD students
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Mobility of PostDocs
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Mobility of Academic and Administrative Staff
One of the main goals of the EXPERTS Projects is to give continuity and sustainability to the successful multilateral collaboration created within all of the projects, including new players in the Erasmus Mundus programme. The consortiums are composed of 5 countries from group A (Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan) and 7 countries from group B (China, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Thailand). All together, the consortiums consist of 13 universities from SSEA and 7 universities from the EU, allowing the coverage of as many subject areas as possible.
The projects have multifaceted objectives: they aim on the one hand to focus on excellence in technical fields and on the other to strengthen mobility in a wide range of disciplines such as Agricultural and Environmental Studies; Engineering Technology; Health & Medical Studies; Social Development; Regional Development, Poverty & Growth; and Law. The projects further aim to address the specific country needs in the SSEA region whilst also considering the improvement of gender balance amongst the project's beneficiaries.
Numerous grants will be offered within the projects, from which roughly three quarters are for Asian nationals heading to the EU and roughly one quarter for EU nationals heading to Asia.
Of the 5 projects, EXPERTS - SUSTAIN (2014 - 2018) is the only one currently still offering scholarships for academic and professional mobilities both to Asia and Europe. All other scholarships for EXPERTS II (2011 - 2015), EXPERTS III (2012 - 2016) and EXPERTS4Asia (2013 - 2017) have now been distributed and the corresponding mobilities are either underway or in some cases have already been completed.