AL IDRISI II: A scholarship scheme for exchange and cooperation between Europe and North Africa (approved in 2013) is an Erasmus Mundus Action 2 – Strand 1 partnership for Lot 1 (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia) that will establish an active institution-based mobility network among 19 North African and EU partner universities and 6 associate universities supported by 3 associate institutions and the Ministries of Higher Education in the region. The project will allow undergraduate, master and doctoral students, post-doctoral fellows and academic and administrative staff to gain valuable experience, knowledge and contacts abroad. Some North African students will even have the possibility to return to their home countries holding a relevant master or doctoral degree. The project focuses strongly on regional needs in North Africa and the development of specific and relevant areas that were defined by the partners. Furthermore, the project will provide improved education and training opportunities for vulnerable groups and socio- economically disadvantaged students and promote equal access to higher education for students from less developed areas.

• COORDINATOR: Universidad de Granada, Spain
• Site: http://www.al-idrisi.eu

SILKRoad Universities Towards Europe – project (approved in 2013) aims to deepen the already existing cooperation among some partners of the consortium, creating a new multilateral network among European and Central Asian universities. This will provide a window of opportunities to set up more comprehensive forms of academic cooperation, both between the EU and Central Asia (CA) and within the Central Asian region itself.The general objective of the project is to increase the capacity of both EU and CA HEIs jointly to contribute to the world scientific debate and to create a shared “active citizenship” in a multi-cultural, multi-stakeholder and multi-dimensional perspective. Such an internal objective – to reinforce the HE regional system – is therefore coupled with an external goal, i.e. to increase the role of HEIs in promoting the social and economic development of the region. The partnership includes 6 EU and 14 CA HEIs, plus 19 Associate partners. The multi-dimensional approach (multidisciplinarity, multi-stakeholder approach and integration between research and teaching, between Universities of different sizes and between Universities and society) aims at reinforcing the HE systems at national, regional and interregional level. As a result, CA HEIs will hopefully benefit from an overall enhancement of both their internal activities and procedures (teaching, research, academic organisation) and their relations with the evolving national and regional systems (services to the territory, spin-offs and career management, inclusion strategies, networking capacities). EU partners, in terms of enlargement of their contacts and opportunity to build a constructive exchange with HEIs of such an emerging region. As all EU Partners have wide experience in hosting students, the consortium is able to guarantee high quality services. Beneficiaries will have full access to all university facilities for academic needs as well as to all the cultural and leisure equipments: cultural integration is one of the most significant points in our project, favouring knowledge of both incoming and welcoming countries, in order to build a lasting bridge between European and Central Asian societies. Before arriving and during the whole stay at the hosting institution, incoming students, researchers and staff will find all information they need at the Erasmus Mundus contact point of each partner institution.

• COORDINATOR: University of Padova, Italy