FAQs
General information on the project
- What is the Erasmus Mundus Programmne Action 2 - Strand 1?
- Which is my home institution?
- Which is my host institution?
- What is a Target Group?
- What does "force majeure" stand for?
If you are a teacher or a staff member, the home institution is the one where you work (full-time) or where you have any kind of contract, which endows your eligibility to apply for the DREAM Project.
Target Group I - To be enrolled, be associated or work (full time) in one of the partner institutions of the DREAM project at the time of application.
Full Master: Applicants for full master must have a formal link to one of the partner institutions of the Consortium and have its formal support for the application (the letter of support must be included as an annex in section 10).
PhD (mobility): PhD students going to undertake a mobility period in Europe must be enrolled as regular students in a PhD programme in one of the partner institutions of the Consortium in a field of study related to one of the fields of research available in the host institution and have their formal support for the application.
Academic staff: Applicants currently working as professors with a full time contract in one of the partner institutions of the Consortium supporting their application.
Administrative staff: Applicants currently working with a full time contract in one of the partner institutions of the Consortium supporting their application.
Target Group II - To be enrolled in an associate partner institution (or in other institution outside the Consortium) of one of the ACP countries eligible or have a degree awarded by an institution of one of the eligible third countries.
Full Master: Applicants must have finished their undergraduate degree in an institution of the eligible ACP countries for DREAM Consortium and not be enrolled or working in one of the partner institutions of DREAM Consortium.
Target Group III - To be national of one of the eligible acp countries for DREAM Consortium and be in a particularly vulnerable situation for social, economic or political reasons. For example:
1) Have a refugee status or be beneficiary of asylum (international or according to the national legislation of one of the European host countries);
2) Have been object of unjustified expulsion from university on racial, ethnic, religious, political, gender or sexual orientation reasons;
3) Belong to an indigenous population targeted by a specific national policy or be an Internally Displaced Person (IDP);
Full Master: Applicants must have a degree in or have a formal link to an institution of one of the eligible ACP countries for DREAM Consortium and be in a particularly vulnerable situation (abovementioned).
Eligibility
- Can the Erasmus Mundus scholarship holders receive other scholarships from other European programmes?
- Can be a DREAM scholarship holder twice?
- Are the intra-European or intra-ACP mobility flows eligible?
- Are the mobility flows from Europe to ACP countries eligible?
- Are the academic and administrative mobility flows from Europe to ACP countries eligible?
- I am a student from an eligible DREAM ACP country but I do not belong to any institution of the Consortium. Can I still apply?
- I am academic/administrative staff from an eligible DREAM ACP country but I do not belong to any institution of the Consortium. Can I still apply?
- Do I need to speak the teaching language of the host institution?
- Which are the eligibility criteria?
If the scholarship holder is benefiting from an additional support granted by another kind of financing (for example, a scholarship from a national entity of his/her home country and not European), he/she can benefit from both scholarships.
DREAM project foresees 41 places Target Group II students willing to undertake full master mobility flows. There are also 5 places foreseen for Target Group III students willing to undertake full master mobility flows.
All interested applicants must read the Guide for applicants" and follow all the necessary steps to formalize the online applicant (for more information, see question 38).
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There may be other situations in which the offered or activities courses by the host institutions demand the knowledge of another language (for example, French or Portuguese). Consequently, the applicant must follow that condition and include, when required, the document that proves the demanded linguistic knowledge under penalty of considering the application not eligible.
As a result, it is extremely important that the applicant checks attentively all the available information about the institution to which he/she intends to apply to, as well as the specific requirements, namely in what concerns the linguistic knowledge. The applicant can easily access that information through the consultation of the academic offer available at the Consortium website and, more importantly, through the direct contact (preferential) with the contact person of the host institution to which he/she intends to apply to.
The applicant shall never submit an application for a study/work programme if he/she does not have enough knowledge of the teaching/work language of the programme he/she intends to undertake.
o Have not resided, lived or carried out their main activity (work, study, etc.) for more than 12 months (on the date of application) over the last five years in one European Country;
o Have not benefited in the past from an Erasmus Mundus scholarship for the same type of mobility;
o Have sufficient knowledge of the tuition language of the host institution or of one of the languages currently spoken in the hosting country;
o Identify the target group;
o Respect the specific criteria applicable to each type of mobility;
o In the case of master students, have completed a bachelor's degree.
o In the case of PhD students, have to be enrolled in a PhD in one of the ACP partner institutions of the DREAM Consortium.
o In the case of academic and administrative staff, work full time in a partner institution.
It should be noted that, in addition to these criteria, there may be other internally defined by each partner HEI of the Consortium. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that applicants previously articulate their application with the contact person of their institution to learn about the specific eligibility criteria established by their home institution (when applicable) or the host institution they wish to submit their application.
Application
- Is there a minimum or maximum age in order to apply to the DREAM Project?
- Which application form shall I fill in?
- Do I have to necessarily choose three different institutions? After concluded the selection process, can I choose another host institution?
- Can I choose several courses in the same host institution?
- Does it need to exist a cooperation agreement between my home and host institutions in order for me to apply?
- I exclusively want to apply to universities with the same teaching language. Can I attach the required documents exclusively in that language?
- If my home institution does not issue official documents in English, can I attach them in another language (ex. French or Spanish)?
- When filling in the application form, shall I define straight away the subjects/courses I intend to attend?
- By filling in the application form, shall I define straight away the work/research programme which I intend to develop?
- Do I need a support letter from my home/host institution in order to submit my application?
- I will only finish my degree after the deadline for applications. Can I still apply?
- Which are the evaluation criteria?
- Where can I obtain further information about the different steps to be followed in order to officialise my application?
- Can I send my application by mail, fax or e-mail?
- I do not have all the documents required by the application. Can I finish my application?
- How will the applicants be selected?
- I forgot my password. How do I recover it?
- Is it necessary to include in the application period a certification of authenticity of my diploma?
- What does the support by the home institution mean?
It is important to note that all eligibility criteria mentioned in the available information at the consortium's website and in the produced dissemination material (leaflets, posters and guidelines for applicants) are the minimum established by the partnership's coordination. This means that every home institution can define more restrictive criteria, which will be applicable only to their applicants. Being so, it is crucial that the applicant does an attentive reading of the guidelines for applicants and other informative material made available by the coordination and, at the same time, to do a direct contact with the contact people at the home and host institutions, who are responsible for the DREAM Project management.
For security reasons, the applicant' session expires if you spend some time without making any kind of action. Therefore, we advise you to frequently save the application form you are filling in.
Any mistake during this procedure is of the applicant's entire responsibility and will result in his/her immediate exclusion of the application process.
We advise you to contact with the home and host institutions (when applicable) in order to confirm which are the compulsory documents and information. The non inclusion of a required document or information will result in the invalidation of the application.
After concluded the selection process, applicants cannot choose another host institution.
If the applicant wants to apply to more than one university, he/she can also submit the documents in that language, always accompanied by a certified translation by the contact person of a Consortium's partner institution or an authorized entity.
In the case of doctorate mobility flows, further to the prior training, the applicant must take into consideration the course in which he/she is enrolled in, since he/she must be sure that his/her home institution will academically recognize the studies undertook abroad, the academic offer of the host institutions and how they adequate to the research that the applicant is developing. Being so, in order to get a successful application, we strongly advise a previous contact with the Host Institution, particularly with a teacher who is working in the same study area and can receive the applicant in case he/she is selected.
In the case of academic and administrative staff, the applicant needs to define straight away his/her objectives, mentioning the kind of work he/she wants to develop taking into account Consortium's main goals:
o Active participation in teaching/daily life office activities;
o Research activities that may involve joint research projects;
o Implementation of new cooperation activities such as bilateral agreements for mobility implementation, joint co-supervision agreements, joint supervision of master/PhD thesis(...);
o Participation in seminars, workshops on relevant topics for the cooperation of both universities;
o Development of joint curricula (eg. creation of double or joint degrees);
o Expansion/creation of local and regional management and organizational structures, namely IOs, research groups, etc.;
o Implementation of tools to allow a more dynamic academic structure of ACP HEIs benefiting from the Bologna Process and the wide EU experience;
o Create synergies among the EU higher education system and ACP partners through the use of ECTS, Diploma Supplement, among others.
Not submit a letter of support of an institution together with the application will determine failure to comply with the formal requirements of the application and will result in the immediate exclusion of the applicant.
Target Group II or III applicants must also submit letter of support, regardless the institution is member of the Consortium or not. It won't be necessary to submit a letter of support of the host institution.
Full master applicants must have concluded their bachelor degree in an ACP institution in the moment of application, under penalty of exclusion. It is mandatory to submit (upload) the corresponding diploma, course conclusion certificate or an equivalent official document (signed and stamped) issued by the applicant's home ACP university. The non presentation of this document implies the immediate exclusion of the application.
PhD mobility applicants must be mandatorily enrolled in a doctoral programme at their home institution in the moment of application. This enrolment must be confirmed by submitting (upload) an official document (signed and stamped) issued by the applicant's home ACP university. The non presentation of this document implies the immediate exclusion of the application.
Academic and administrative must work (full time) at a home institution of the Consortium in the moment of application. This situation needs to be confirmed through the submission (upload) of an official document (signed and stamped) issued by the applicant's home institution. The non presentation of this document implies the immediate exclusion of the application.
o Very good/excellent academic results in the field of study/research;
o Submitted proposal in the fields of study considered as priority by the ACP countries/partners;
o Applicant's academic potential;
o Mobility proposal impact at individual, institutional and regional levels;
o Level of language proficiency in order to successfully complete the proposed mobility;
o Motivation;
o Recommendations;
o Work/research experience and professional qualification;
o Cross-cutting related issues (gender balance, equal opportunities, being part of a vulnerable group).
These criteria ensure the transparency of the selection process and the same treatment for all the applications.
If the applicant scans a wrong or blank document in a way that the system allows the submission of the application form, the partnership will immediately invalidate the submitted application and it will immediately be excluded of the application process.
For applicants from partner or associate institutions:
1. Validation of applications by the applicants' home institution. This validation implies:
o Careful analysis of all the information given by the applicant in the application form
o Verification that the applicant fulfils the general eligibility requirements defined by the Erasmus Mundus Programme (for further detail, please see question 35)
o Verification that the applicant fulfils the internally established requirements by the home institution for the mobility
o Verification of the host institution required documents andtheir veracity
o Verification that the applicant has not submitted several applications
o Support of the home institution regarding the mobility proposal
In this validation process, if the applicant does not fulfil any of the general or specific home/host institution requirements, his/her application will immediately be invalidated by the home institution and will not be evaluated by the host institution.
If all information and documents included are real and all the requirements were fulfilled, the home institution will validate the applications.
2. Analysis and acceptance, by the host institution, of the validated applications. This process implies:
o Careful analysis of all the information given by the applicant in the application form
o Verification that the applicant fulfils the general eligibility requirements defined by the Erasmus Mundus Programme (for further detail, please see question 35)
o Verification that the applicant fulfils the internally established requirements by the home institution for the mobility
o Verification of the host institution required documents
o Verification that the applicant has not submitted several applications
o Support of the host institution regarding the mobility proposal
For applicants from non partner and non associate institutions:
1. Validation of applications by the applicants' first selected host institution. This validation implies:
o Careful analysis of all the information given by the applicant in the application form
o Verification that the applicant fulfils the general eligibility requirements defined by the Erasmus Mundus Programme (for further detail, please see question 35)
o Verification that the applicant fulfils the internally established requirements by the home institution for the mobility
o Verification of the host institution required documents andtheir veracity
o Verification that the applicant has not submitted several applications
o Support of the proposed mobility by an institution of an eligible ACP country for the DREAM Project
In this validation process, if the applicant does not fulfil any of the general or specific requirements, his/her application will immediately be invalidated by the host institution selected as first option and will not be evaluated by other host institutions.
If all information and documents included are real and all the requirements were fulfilled, the host institution will validate the applications.
2. Analysis and acceptance, by the host institution, of the validated applications. This process implies:
o Careful analysis of all the information given by the applicant in the application form
o Verification that the applicant fulfils the general eligibility requirements defined by the Erasmus Mundus Programme (for further detail, please see question 35)
o Verification that the applicant fulfils the internally established requirements by the host institution for the study/work plan selected by the applicant
o Verification of the host institution required documents
o Verification that the applicant has not submitted several applications
o Support of the host institution regarding the mobility proposal
Target Group III (see definition on question 10):
1. Validation of applications by the co-coordinating institution. This validation implies:
o Careful analysis of all the information given by the applicant in the application form
o Verification that the applicant fulfils the general eligibility requirements defined by the Erasmus Mundus Programme (for further detail, please see question 35)
o Verification that the applicant fulfils the internally established requirements by the home institution for the mobility
o Verification of the host institution required documents andtheir veracity, namely the document that verifies its belonging to TG III
o Verification that the applicant has not submitted several applications
o Support of the proposed mobility by an institution of an eligible ACP country for the DREAM Project
In this validation process, if the applicant does not fulfil any of the general or specific host institution requirements, or he/she doesn't refer that he/she belongs to TG III, his/her application will immediately be invalidated by the coordinating institution and will not be evaluated by other host institutions.
If all information and documents included are real and all the requirements were fulfilled, the host institution will validate the applications.
2. Analysis and acceptance, by the host institution, of the validated applications. This process implies:
o Careful analysis of all the information given by the applicant in the application form
o Verification that the applicant fulfils the general eligibility requirements defined by the Erasmus Mundus Programme (for further detail, please see question 35)
o Verification that the applicant fulfils the internally established requirements by the host institution for the study/work plan selected by the applicant
o Verification of the host institution required documents
o Verification that the applicant has not submitted several applications
o Support of the host institution regarding the mobility proposal
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Academic issues
- Am I going to receive any diploma or a degree from my host institution at the end of my mobility period?
- Which courses and/or activities can I choose to enrol at a host institution?
- I am a sandwich doctorate student. How can I be sure that my mobility flow will be recognized by my home institution?
- I am a sandwich PhD student. Can I propose a co-tutelle?
- Which are the consequences if I do not fulfil the mobility programme goals? Ex. Fail or non-execution of the programmed activities.
Scholarship holders willing to undertake a full master in a European host institution will obtain a master diploma issued by that European host institution - in the same conditions they are issued for national students - after the end of their studies.
PhD scholarship holders undertaking a mobility flow in a European host institution will have this period recognized by their home institution. This home institution will be the only one issuing the diploma, since they will conclude their studies at it.
The Consortium's coordination has determined that a Declaration of Participation will be issued at the end of the mobility flow to be sent to all scholarship holders.
In the same way, the coordination will make available a Participation Diploma in the project's website, so that the Consortium Partner Institutions can print it and deliver it to the scholarship holders who wish to have one at the end of their mobility flow.
It is possible that the host institutions do not have all the eligible study areas. As a result, it is advisable an attentive reading of the information provided in the academic offer of each university, available at the Consortium's website.
Financial support
- What kind of financial support will I receive if I am selected?
- Do I have to pay tuition fees?
- What can happen if the travel costs are higher than the Consortium budget?
- Which is my scholarship amount? Can I receive more money according to the host country?
- How will I receive my scholarship?
- The scholarship payment will be organized as follows:
- 1st transfer corresponding to 1st and 2nd months of mobility: directly paid by the host institution after arrival of the scholarship holder to the host institution and signature of the “Scholarship Contract”.
- 2nd transfer corresponding to the 3rd month of stay: directly paid by the coordinating institution to the scholarship holders’ European bank account.
- From the 3rd month of stay, the coordination will make monthly transfers during the first week of each month to the scholarship holders’ European bank account.
- The host institution will directly pay the only allowance to the academic/administrative staff after the arrival to the host institution.
- The total number of scholarships awarded is directly related to the exact period of the mobility in the host institution.
- To calculate the exact mobility period, the informatics’ system uses the activities dates or, in case the scholarship holder arrives to the host institution after the beginning of activities, the travel dates. The scholarship holders will only be granted a scholarship for their exact period of stay at the host institution and not for the period initially foreseen.
- In cases when the duration of the mobility period does not include a full number of months, the 16-day rule will be applied to fulfil one full month of mobility (e.g.: in case a student undertakes a mobility period of 9 months and 15 days, 9 months will be accounted; if a student undertakes a mobility period of 9 months and 16 days, 10 months will be accounted).
- In all cases, the project will pay the global amount of the monthly scholarship and no fractions.
- The project cannot provide the scholarship holders with any additional funds for instalment upon arrival.
- Am I going to benefit from medical assistance during my mobility period (health insurance)?
Monthly allowance (the amount will depend on the mobility type; for further details on this subject, see question 14).
Plane return ticket between the scholarship holder's home city and his/her host country.
Travel, health and accidents insurance during all the mobility period since the moment of departure and until returning to the home country.
Tuition fees directly paid by the host institution for mobility flows with a 10 month or superior duration and up to EUR3,000 per year (for further details on this subject, see question 12).
In any circumstance shall the host institutions demand the payment of a higher amount of tuition fees than that above indicated or claim to the scholarship holders its payment.
It will be only possible to require the scholarship holders to pay small additional fee also charged to national students, such as library extra funds, student unions, laboratory consumables, etc.
FULL MASTER - EUR1,000
PHD - EUR1,500
ACADEMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF - EUR2,500
In order to ease the integration process at the host country and institution, the coordination has determined that all students and academic and administrative staff receive the first scholarship payment (amount already pre-defined according to the mobility type) after arrival to the host institution and signature of the “Scholarship Contract”. This document is essential to execute the scholarship payment, so we advise all scholarship holders to immediately contact their host institution after their arrival to the host country in order to start the required procedures for the payment of the monthly allowance.
The European Agency responsible for the Erasmus Mundus Programme implementation has defined the following amounts (regardless of the host country) for the scholarships depending on the type:
FULL MASTER – €1,000
PHD – €1,500
ACADEMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF – €2,500
This monthly allowance is designed to cover the expenses with accommodation, subsistence and all costs regarding the stay in the host country.
The payment of the scholarship will be done on a monthly basis, according to the information provided in the “Scholarship Contract”. Scholarship Schedule:
The scholarship holders will have to correctly manage the first transfer as they will not receive more money until the third month of stay.
For the academic and administrative staff mobility flows, the coordination will transfer the scholarship in one time. In case of ACP scholarship holders, once they will stay in Europe for a limited time, they will not need to open a European bank account. Therfore, they can ask for the scholarship to be transferred to their home country bank account (not recommendable) or to directly receive the scholarship in the host institution (check or cash). Each case will be analyzed between the coordination, the scholarship holder and the host institution in order to define the better procedure to follow.
The “Scholarship Contract” signed by the scholarship holders at the beginning of their mobility period states, in a very clear way, the scholarship payment system and the scholarship’s total amounts.
Mobility flows: preparation and implementation
- How and when shall I require for the issuing of my visa?
- Which services and support will I have at my host institution?
- When do I have to undertake my mobility period?
- Which is the procedure and what warranties can I have regarding accommodation in the host city?
- Can I finish my mobility flow before the initially stated date?
Scholarship holders must reunite as soon as possible all the required documents by the Consulate/Embassy, by contacting the responsible institutions which issue those documents, namely the host institution. Any obstacle found in this contact must be immediately reported to the Consortium's coordination, which will support the applicant in all the procedures.
Full master students must possess a valid passport for two or more years in the moment they require the visa issuing so as to avoid any difficulty may arouse in the visa issuing.
Please be aware that the visa can take 2 months or more to be issued, so we strongly advise to the applicants to contact the Embassy immediately after the formal communication of acceptation by the Consortium coordination.
(acrescentar link para os contactos de Embaixadas e Consulados)
o Documents for visa issuing;
o Support in the search of accommodation (hall of residence, shared flats, rooms, family houses, other;
o Language courses;
o Integration activities;
o Monitoring actions and mobility quality assessment;
o Provide the scholarship holders with adequate work/study/ research conditions;
o Inform about the host country's cost of life and culture.
The kind of support provided by each institution regarding every aspect above mentioned may differ, so it is strongly advisable that students do a previous reading of the detailed information concerning this subject. This information is available in each institution's academic offer . Considering the importance that every aspect above mentioned has for the development and success of the mobility flows, it is advisable that the reading is made when the student decides which host institution he/she wants to attend. If there is any doubt regarding the provided information, applicants must directly contact the institution which they are interested to attend.
The mobility flows for full master must initiate with the academic year of each institution. This is a very relevant aspect when it comes to select the host institution, since the beginning of the academic year varies from institution to institution.The foreseen dates for the beginning of the academic year are described in the academic offer of each institution (incluir enlace).
The mobility flows for PhD mobility do not necessarily start with the beginning of the academic. Therefore, this mobility flows can start later on, but never after December 2013 (first cohort) or December 2014 (second cohort) as it exists an agreement between the home and host institutions.
The academic and administrative staff mobility flows may start at any moment from the selection of applicants (whenever all the requirements are met - work programme, visa, travel, insurance...) until the end of December 2014.
All applicants must take this aspect into account in the moment they formalize their application to ensure that, in case they are selected, they will be available to undertake their mobility.
Full master students (24 months) who finish their academic degree, including the thesis defence, in a prior date to the initially foreseen, will immediately stop receiving the payment and they will have to return to their home institution.