WHAT I WANT TO KNOW BEFORE APPLYING TO THE EMMC IN ECOHYDROLOGY
1- What is an Erasmus Mundus Master course (EMMC)
2- There are several EMMC courses..why should I choose EMMC in Ecohydrology?
4 - How can I attend to this course?
5 - How much does it costs to attend to the course and what financial support I will get?
6 - Scholarships and other funds
8- Is my background adequate for applying?
9 - In which Universities I will study during the programme?
1 - What is an Erasmus Mundus Master course (EMMC)
EMMC are courses that were approved by the European Union EACEA after a peer review process.
Only 10% of Master Courses proposed are approved. This means that this is a highly demanding and high quality programme.
Erasmus Mundus Programmes aim to promote the cooperation between Europe and non-Europe regions in education.
More info: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus_mundus/
2 - There are several EMMC courses..why should I choose EMMC in Ecohydrology?
Ecohydrology is a new approach to the sustainability and management of aquatic ecosystems that has been developed within the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP), since approximately 10 years. However, only recently in the IHP Program for the 7th Phase (2007-2013), Ecohydrology appears as one of the five major pillars of the entire programme, and as such it was approved by 196 countries at the UNESCO General Conference.
This means that there is a worldwide recognition of the importance of this approach and the need for experts in this emerging scientific area.
Ecohydrology (EH) is a simple theoretical approach that recognizes that the hydrological cycle is dependent on a dual regulation between hydrology (water characteristics) and the biota (animals and plants). Water properties determine the suitability of aquatic environments to be colonized by organisms. Organisms, by absorbing, filtrating, excreting, play a crucial role in water quality and hydrologic cycle. Understanding and quantifying the relations between water and biota will allow to evaluate disruption in the ecosystem functioning that may trigger aquatic ecosystems degradation and also how, by managing the ecosystem natural hydrologic and biological properties will be possible to restore degraded aquatic ecosystems.
4 - How can I attend to this course?
There are two ways of attending to this Erasmus Mundus Master Course:
1 – getting an EU scholarship (please check the ecohyd web page)
If you want to apply to receive a scholarship you need to send all the documents required (see webpage) and fulfill the application conditions. There is a deadline for this application to be evaluated, that is established by the EACEA from Brussels and is the same for all EMMCs. However you can send your application wherever you want.
All applications will be evaluated by the ECOHYD consortium members and a ranking list will be produced based on the selection criteria that are published. The top selected students will receive a grant from the European Union. The number of grants is decided each year by the European Union
2 – applying as a self supported student
As a self supported student your acceptance process is independent of the students applying to a scholarship and if you comply with the academic requirements you will get a place at our course.
5 - How much does it costs to attend to the course and what financial support I will get?
Studying at an Erasmus Mundus course is relatively expensive. There are costs with fees at the different universities where classes will be held (pls check point about course structure and mobilities). If you receive a grant, all costs are supported by the scholarship and you do not have to worry. Also, an insurance will be provided and you will be covered since you leave your home until you return, 24 months later.
If you are a self supported student you will have to support the costs of university fees. However, the Consortium considered an option with reduced fees for your case. As different universities of the consortium have different fees, the costs with the different mobility schemes are presented in the following table:
|
|
Univ. Algarve |
Univ. Lodz |
Univ. La Plata |
CAU-Kiel |
UNESCO-IHE |
|
1st mobility |
3000 |
3000 |
|
|
|
|
2nd mobility |
|
|
500 |
|
|
|
3rd mobility |
|
|
|
300 |
5800 |
|
4th mobility (Thesis) |
1500 |
1500 |
|
300 |
5800 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Please consider this values as approximated as slight changes may occur due to changes in internal universities policies.
6 - Scholarships and other funds
The scholarship you will receive includes a monthly allowance, funds for travelling and installment support money for when you arrive at the universities where you will have your mobility.
If you apply for a scholarship the value of the scholarship and the funds for mobility and installment will depends if you are an European (category B) and non-European (category A) student.
European Union will provide you a grant of 24.000 Euros if you are a category A students and 12.000 Euros, if you are a category B student, for the entire 24 months of the programme. This means that a cat A (non-European student) will receive 1.000 euros of monthly allowance, while a category B (European student) will receive 500 Euros of monthly allowance.
Apart from that you will receive a financial support for the travelling between your home countries and the universities where you will have the courses – and back – and also funds for the travelling costs between Europe and Argentina (for the Summer Course) and also for the travel expenses with flights within Europe (for the mobility between European Universities).
You need to have a bachelor degree or to obtain your degree at the end of your academic year. This means that you can apply even if you still have no finished your course and therefore you don’t need to wait one year after finishing you degree to apply to this course.
You also will need to send all the required documents and certificates. However there is no need to send, for the application phase, already all documents certified. Certification of documents is expensive and we only will ask you for that in case you will be selected for the scholarship or as a self supported student.
8 - Is my background adequate for applying?
Ecohydrology deals with all aspects involving water and aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, backgrounds dealing with hydrology, ecology, biology, management, sociology, economy, environmental engineering and engineering are welcome. Of course several others expertise and thematic areas can also be very much relevant.
9 - In which Universities I will study during the programme?
You will have several mobility’s during your course. With this course we aim to provide you the best possible knowledge in this area, and you will go studying where this knowledge exists.
You will start by attending to courses at the University of Algarve, in Faro, Portugal, or at the University of Lodz, in Poland. This first year is dedicated to improve your basic concepts and to already give you some more detailed courses on ecology, hydrology and the basic aspects of ecohydrology.
After that first part of your studies, in Portugal or Poland, we will travel to Argentina for a summer course, organized by the University of La Plata. Argentina presents wonderful conditions to study different aquatic ecosystems, from coastal to continental, and with a multitude of climatic variability.
After returning from Argentina, you will be going to study the 3rd semester in Christian Albrecht University in Kiel, Germany, or at the UNESCO-IHE (Institute for water education), in Delft, Netherland. In Kiel you will learn about Integrated Water Management and at UNESCO-IHE a more focus is put on hydrodynamics and engineering.
Still, after that you will have the chance to do your thesis in one of the consortium institutions at your choice.
Please look at our Course handbook and more information at www.Ecohyd.org