“Why Erasmus Mundus may Matter
to Japan”
Prof.Dr. Harald Fuess
ハラルド・フース
Heidelberg University
Fukuoka, 3 November 2009
Erasmus Mundus Purpose
“Erasmus Mundus (2009-2013) is a cooperation and mobility programme
in the field of higher education that aims to enhance the quality of
European higher education and to promote dialogue and
understanding between people and cultures through cooperation with
Third Countries.”
Action 1:
 Joint MA and PhD programs of European and other universities
Action 2:
 European University Cooperation with non-EU universities
Action 3:
 Higher education Promotion
Action 1 Purpose and Funding
Joint MA programs (joint degrees or double degrees)
 Supports central coordination
 Provides scholarships to students and tuition to universities (different
rates for EU and non-EU students)
Joint PhD programs (joint degrees or double degrees)
 Supports central coordination
 Provides high scholarships to students and tuition to universities
2009 Erasmus Mundus MA Selection
 50 proposals were selected (29% acceptance rate)
 38 programs in the physical and natural sciences; 12
programs in social science and humanities
 Most lead universities are French (10), Belgian (7),
Spanish (6) and Dutch (5)
 Very few non-European partners (US, Canada,
China, India)
 Only two Japanese universities are currently partners
in Erasmus Mundus MA degrees (Tokyo and Osaka)
2009 EM MA Social Science/Humanities Programs
1. Global Studies—European Perspectives
2. Humanitarian Action
3. Economic Development and Growth
4. Tourism management
5. Spanish Multiculturalism and Multiingual Contexts
6. Sport Psychology
7. Knowledge management
8. Migration and Social Cohesion
9. Law and Economics
10. Childhood Education
11. German Literature in the Middle Ages
12. Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management
2009-2010 Student Applicants/Acceptance
1. 22.331 total student applicants for 2009/2010 academic year
2. Most applications from developing countries (Ethiopia 3172,
China 1968, India 1877, Pakistan 1764, Bangladesh 1068,
Nigeria 919, Ghana 902, Indonesia 678, Iran 615, Nepal 599,
Brazil 499)
3. The United States has a very high success rate of 73 out of 297
applicants and 33 Canadians were accepted out of 128
ONLY TWO JAPANESE STUDENTS ACCEPTED
out of 16 Japanese who applied
2009 Erasmus Mundus PhD Selection
 13 programs Selected (10% acceptance rate)
 10 programs are in the sciences. Three others are:
(1) “Globalization, Europe and Multilateralism” and (2) “Forest and
Nature for Society” (3) “Cultural Studies in Literary Interzones”
 Lead University are French (4) or Italian (4) with a
total of 11 French partner universities
 Several successful joint PhD programs also have an
EMMA
 Only two programmes have East Asian partners.
Waseda is the only Japanese partner University
Action 2 and 3 Purpose and Funding
Action 2: European University Cooperation with non-EU universities
 North Africa
 Latin America,
 Russia, Georgia, Armenia etc.
 Middle East
 China, India
 Not a single Japanese university is part of the program
Action 3: Higher education Promotion
 Only for EU organizations that promote the mobility of scholars
CONCLUSION
 Erasmus Mundus encourages the “Bolonga Process“ of
European University Integration with EU Funding
 Increases the International Visibility of selected
Education Programs to Students and provides
reputational spin-offs and advertisement
 Mostly supportive of physical and natural sciences
programs
 Still few non-European partner universities
 EU selection process is time-consuming, bureaucratic,
and non-transparent
 Erasmus Mundus degrees may be cumbersome to run
Thank you!
Further information at
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasm
us_mundus/index_en.php
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