EU and Japan select first Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Programmes

Today, the European Commission has announced the results of the call for proposals for Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree Partnerships with Japan launched in October 2018.

Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Tibor Navracsics, said: “In July 2018, I had the pleasure of launching the EU-Japan high-level policy dialogue on higher education, culture and sport, together with my Japanese counterpart, then Minister Hayashi. We stressed the importance of promoting international cooperation in higher education. I am confident that the three Joint Master Programmes we have selected, part of our new EU-Japan cooperation model in higher education, will bring superb results by nurturing students’ talents, fostering excellence and boosting science, technology and innovation. I am looking forward to seeing their positive impact in the months and years to come.”    

The Commission and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology have selected three programmes offered by international consortia involving leading universities:

• Master of Science in Imaging and Light in Extended Reality, University of Eastern Finland (Finland) and Toyohashi University of Technology (Japan). Additional country partners: Belgium and France, as well as associated partners from Finland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Japan.
• Japan-Europe Master on Advanced Robotics, coordinated by École Centrale de Nantes (France) and Keio University (Japan). Additional country partners: Italy and Poland.
• History in the public sphere, Central European University (Hungary) and Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (Japan). Additional country partners: Italy and Portugal, as well as an associated partner from France.

This call for proposals, the first of its kind, is jointly implemented and financed by the Commission, through the Erasmus+ programme, and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (through the Inter-University Exchange project). It will enable high-performing students from around the world to study in at least two of the universities represented in each programme. At least one of these universities will have to be in Japan and at the end of their studies, students will receive a joint, double or multiple Master degree(s). Another element is the inclusion of partners from the business world, in addition to the academic partners.      

Background

The call for proposals for Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree Partnerships with Japan was published on 24 October 2018. Ten applications were received. A budget of €9 million is available for the three top-ranked programmes chosen today, covered equally by the EU and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology. As part of this funding, for each of the three programmes a maximum of 64 scholarships will be made available for the best students.