Erasmus Mundus Scholarships in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation

Brief description:

The Erasmus Mundus Master of Science in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation is one of the Master Courses selected by the prestigious Erasmus Mundus framework of the European Commission. It is strongly oriented to the fundamental understanding of the structure and function of marine biodiversity, the acquisition of several kinds of tools required for understanding the complexity of biodiversity patterns and processes and finally to the application of this knowledge for nature conservation and restoration.

The study programme is divided into 3 thematic modules: (1) Understanding the structure and function of marine biodiversity, (2) Toolbox for investigating marine biodiversity, (3) Conservation and Restoration of marine biodiversity. More information about the study programme can be found here.

Host Institution(s):

The Erasmus Mundus Master of Science in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation (EMBC) is offered by a University consortium consisting of 6 partners (Group I : Ghent University (Belgium), University of Bremen (Germany), University of the Algarve (Portugal), and group II : University Pierre et Marie Curie – Paris 006 (France), University of Oviedo (Spain) and University of Klaipèda (Lithuania))

Field of study:

Master of Science in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation

Number of Awards:

About 17 Erasmus Mundus scholarship grants are available.

Target group:

Non-EU students from developing/emerging countries as well as EU students. Students from non-EU countries are defined as:

• nationals coming from all countries (for all countries of the world with the exception of the 27 EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein).

• who are not residents of any of the above countries

• who have not carried out their main activities (studies, work, etc.) for more than a total of 12 months over the last five years in any of the above countries

• who apply for three Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses at maximum.

Scholarship value/inclusions:

Students from non-European Union countries are eligible for two-year grants of € 21,000 per year.

Eligibility:

A prerequisite for admission is that applicants have a Bachelor (or Master) degree in biology, ecology, environmental sciences, oceanography, marine sciences, geography, geology, or other equivalent degrees with minimum 180 credits at the latest before Sep 1st 2010. For third country students, preferably before Feb 28th 2010.

We expect a number of students to be attracted to the programme, whose institutions are not always well known and whose coursework is sometimes difficult to benchmark. We therefore have to take institutional reputation (e.g. via post-doctoral researchers) and international league tables into account. More easily measurable admission criteria that will be used are grade point averages, winning of prizes, TOEFL scores and details of course and project work completed.

Knowledge of the English language is a basic requirement:

• A recent TOEFL Certificate: minimum score: 570 points (Paper) or 87 points (Internet)
• A recent IELTS Certificate: minimum score: 6.0
• A recent First Certificate in English of the University of Cambridge
• A recent Certificate of a University Language Centre testifying that the student masters the necessary knowledge of English to function academically (specify CEF-level)

The Management Board might abstain from the above certificates if proof can be given that English was the language of instruction/teaching for at least one year of the previous successful studies or if English is the mother tongue.

Students can apply through a common application form available in English. It contains all elements necessary for further selection (such as full academic background containing a list of courses followed, obtained grades, ranking of the students in their previous studies (best 5%, 10 %, 20 %), language skills, motivation, background on marine sciences and so on). The students should also indicate at which of the partner universities they would like to start their studies. Further two recommendation letters will be asked for each student. The coordinator (technical secretariat) collects all application forms, checks whether students fulfill basic diploma requirements and prepares an overview for the selection by the Management board.

Selection Criteria:

Selection will be based on academic scores, reputation of the school or institute were the student has previously studied, language skills, country of origin (in order to promote geographical balance), interest in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation and background, motivation and other relevant criteria. Further the recommendation letters will be taken into account (with as criteria the names and reputation of the referees, their ranking of the student, their evaluation of the language and other capacities of the student). Scholarship students will be divided over the three ‘Group I’ universities based on student preference, knowledge of languages and research interest.

Application instructions:

Application forms are accessible through the following links:
For non-European students: enter here
For European students: enter here

The next deadline for applications is around January 2011 for non-EU students and around April 2011 for EU students. It is important to visit the official website (link found below) for detailed information on how to apply for this scholarship.

Website:

Official Scholarship Website: http://embc.marbef.org/index.asp?p=251&a=251

Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Program offers scholarship in different categories also. Specific information for each category can be accessed from below.

Erasmus Mundus Scholarships for Developing Countries
 
Erasmus Mundus Scholarships in Agricultural Development and NRM
 
Erasmus Mundus Scholarships in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation
 
Erasmus Mundus Scholarships in International Master in Rural Development
 
Erasmus Mundus Scholarships in Coastal and Marine Engineering and Management
 
Erasmus Mundus Scholarships in Agricultural, Food and Environmental Policy Analysis
 
Erasmus Mundus Scholarships in International Humanitarian Action

If you are interested to submit a scholarship offered by Erasmus MundusProgram in to this list please refer to Student Network Contact Page, also make sure to chek our list for European Union Scholarships for Master and Ph.D and visit our Student Network Home Page for daily scholarship offers