More than 500 Indian students and scholars from all over India have secured admission to a large number of European universities spread all over the 27 EU Member States thanks to the "Erasmus Mundus" (EM) scholarship funded by the European Union, and are leaving or have already left India to join their respective Masters level courses in the academic session 2007 - 08.

The European Commission allocated a sum of ? 33 million in 2005 for the "India Window" within the Erasmus Mundus programme. For the academic year of 2005/2006, 133 scholarships for Indian students under the India Window were approved. In 2006 - 07 this number rose to 288 and in 2007 - 08 to 403. In addition to this, 81 Indian students and 27 scholars received scholarships under the general EM programme in 2007 -08.

On 23rd May 2007 the official decisions were taken regarding the award of scholarships to students and scholars in the framework of Action 2 of the Erasmus Mundus programme for Masters Courses starting in the academic year 2007-2008, including the "Regional Windows". A total number of 1,825 students and 273 scholars from all over the world were selected by the 80 Erasmus Mundus consortia offering an Erasmus Mundus Masters Course. The students' figures include 440 students selected under the Asia Window, 126 students selected under the ACP Window and 63 students selected under the Western Balkans Window.

All selected students have been awarded a scholarship of 21,000 Euro per academic year (the maximum scholarship for 2 years is 42,000 Euro), for attending one of the 80 Masters Courses selected under Action 1 of the programme. Students can study in any of the countries in which the universities belonging to an Erasmus Mundus consortium are located. All students who have been awarded a scholarship are automatically and free of charge covered by an insurance scheme against risks related to health, accidents, death, permanent invalidity and civil responsibility. Cover takes effect two months prior to the start of the "Erasmus Mundus" Masters Course in which the student is enrolled and is valid until three months after the end of the course.

The India Window was operational for applications between 2005 and 2007 and has granted student scholarships to more than 900 Indian graduates.

General information on the Erasmus Mundus programme can be found on the following website:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/mundus/index_en.html