BRAINSTORMING on the Future of Erasmus Mundus Meeting of Erasmus Mundus Masters Course 30/11-1/12/2006

Timing of Future Programme Results of external interim evaluation and of impact assessment / ex-ante evaluation known in April / May 2007 New programme proposal in June 2007 Start of codecision procedure in October 2007 Adoption of programme decision in late 2008

Stakeholder Consultations On objectives, design, implementation of future programme Specific meetings/discussions on future of programme with programme participants (students, masters courses, attractiveness projects), National Structures and Committee Public stakeholder consultation as part of ex-ante evaluation

Current Programme Objectives Overall aims: Enhance the quality of European higher education Promote intercultural dialogue Specific objectives: Create high-quality offer in Europe Attract best international students and scholars to Europe Strengthen cooperation with third countries Increase appeal/accessibility of European higher education

Future Programme Objectives (1) QUESTIONS: Is the current needs analysis (recognition of Europe as centre of excellence, attracting best brains to Europe) still valid? Do the objectives fit the needs? Which objectives would fit the needs better? Are the objectives coherent? Should the programme try to respond to further/different needs? Should the programme focus be different? Should other objectives be pursued?

Future Programme Objectives (2) FEEDBACK RECEIVED SO FAR: Main objective/focus: promote and invest in excellence Stronger involvement of third-country institutions and better response to their needs

Current Programme Design EM Masters Courses: select best integrated masters courses on offer in Europe (key features of integrated masters courses are prescribed) EM student and scholar scholarships: give scholarships to best third-country students and scholars EM Partnerships: select partnerships between EM masters courses and universities in third countries (including scholarships for European students and scholars to go to third countries) EM « Attractiveness projects »: select transnational projects aiming at increasing the appeal/ accessibility/ information about European higher education

Future Programme Design (1) QUESTIONS: Are these actions the best possible actions to meet the programme’s objectives? How could they be improved? Are actions too wide / restrictive? Should courses be confined to masters level? Are the disciplines of selected courses satisfactory? Does the integration of courses help increase the quality of courses? Are the key features of integration correctly defined?

Future Programme Design (2) QUESTIONS: Should all scholarships be full study scholarships? What could be done for European students? Are Partnerships an essential element of the programme? What could be done to reinforce them? Are “attractiveness projects” an essential element of the programme? What could be done to focus them? Is the funding level of actions appropriate? Which other actions should be implemented?

Future Programme Design (3) FEEDBACK RECEIVED SO FAR: Programme seems to have been a success so far: model of integrated masters courses as European flagship products plus full study scholarships should be continued Partnerships need reinforcing to be successful: need to respond to needs of third-country institutions in a more cooperative way Programme should cover all levels (undergraduate to post-doc) through partnerships with third-country institutions and mobility scholarships Funding for integrated masters courses should be more substantial Funding for European students should be foreseen “Attractiveness projects” should be more focused

Current Programme Implementation EM Masters Courses, Partnerships and « Attractiveness projects » are selected in Brussels by a group of European academic experts on the basis of quality (for masters courses on the basis of academic quality and quality of integration of the course) These projects are also monitored from Brussels EM Scholarship grants are selected by EM masters courses on the basis of academic quality of applicants Lump sums and unit costs are applied as far as possible

Future Programme Implementation (1) QUESTIONS : Do the selection mechanisms guarantee the selection of excellent courses / partnerships / projects / students / scholars? Are there alternative selection mechanisms achieving better selection results? What is your opinion about the number of beneficiaries selected under the various actions? What do you think should be done to monitor the continuous academic quality of courses? What could be done to simplify programme management?

Future Programme Implementation (2) FEEDBACK RECEIVED SO FAR : Management at central level seems to be appropriate Stronger role of NS including more structured feedback Stronger quality follow-up of selected masters courses through expert panels Stronger dissemination of results/best practice High number of mobility scholarships, lower number of full study scholarships

And finally QUESTIONS: Would you want the EM programme to continue as it is now / in a slightly revised form / in a radically modified form / at all? Which objective/action is the most essential one to you? Which would be the single major change you would introduce into the programme?