Memorandum of Understanding HERITAGE Partnership
ERASMUS MUNDUS PARTNERSHIP Action 2 Strand 1
Based on a shared understanding of mutual benefits and potential contribution to the overall aims of the Erasmus Mundus Action 2, HERITAGE Project
European Higher Education Institutions
Ecole Centrale de Nantes, (ECN), 1 rue de la Noe - BP 92101, F- 44321 Nantes, FRANCE, represented by its Director Prof. Arnaud POITOU
Technische Universität München, (TUM), Arcisstr. 21, D- 80333 München, GERMANY represented by its Vice-President Prof. Dr.-Ing. Liqiu MENG
Universidad de Sevilla, (US), C/San Fernando, 4 , 41004 Sevilla, SPAIN, represented by its Rector Prof. Antonio Ramírez de Arellano López
Tallinna Tehnikaülikool, Ehitajate tee 5, 19086 Tallinn, ESTONIA, represented by its Rector Prof. Andres Keevallik.
Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, 20133 Milan, ITALY, represented by its Rector Prof. Giovanni Azzone
Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, ITALY, represented by its Rector Prof. Marco Gilli
Warsaw University of Technology, Pl. Politechniki 1, 00-661 Warszaw, POLAND, represented by its Rector Prof. Dr hab. Inż. Jan Szmidt
Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, PORTUGAL, represented by its President Prof. Arlindo Oliveira
České vysoké učení technické v Praze/Czech Technical University, Zikova 1903/4, 166 36 Praha 6, Česká republika/Czech Republic, represented by its Rector Prof. Ing. Václav Havlíček, CSc
Cardiff Metropolitan University, 200 Western Avenue, Llandaff Campus, Cardiff CF5 2YB, UNITED KINGDOM, represented by its Vice Chancellor - Prof. Antony J. Chapman
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Indian Higher Education Institutions
Indian Institute of Technology Madras,(IITM) 600 036 Chennai, INDIA, represented by its Dean Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi
Anna University, Sardar Patel road, Guindy, Chennai 600 025, INDIA, represented by its Registrar Dr. S. Shanmugavel Sethu
Indian Institute of Science (IISc), 560012 Bangalore, INDIA, represented by its Registrar Dr. N. Mohan Das
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB), IIT Bombay, Powai, 400 076 Mumbai, INDIA, represented by its Director Prof. Devang V Khakhar
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG), 781039 Guwahati, INDIA, represented by its Director Prof. Gautam Barua
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK), 270 Faculty Building, 208016 Kanpur, INDIA represented by its Director Prof. Indranil Manna
National Institute of Technology Warangal (NITW), Warangal, 506004, Andhra Pradesh, INDIA, represented by its Director Prof. T. Srinivasa Rao
National Institute of Technology Rourkela (NITR), 769008 Rourkela, INDIA, represented by its Director Prof. Sunil Kumar Sarangi
Hereinafter, individually or collectively referred to as a “Party” or the “Parties”, each represented by their legal representative or delegate for this Memorandum of Understanding, Hereby agreed as follows:
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Considering that:
- The European Commission wishes to enhance and develop international Higher Education Institution [HEI] cooperation and recognition and, to fulfil this objective, has launched, though the Executive Agency the call for proposals EACEA/42/11 — Erasmus Mundus 2009-2013 action programme.
- The Erasmus Mundus Partnership Action 2, Strand 1 (EMP) is the Erasmus Mundus Action aims at fostering structured cooperation between European and third-country higher education institutions through the promotion of mobility at all levels of studies for students (undergraduate and masters), doctoral candidates, researchers, academic and administrative staff.
Considering the specific objectives of the Erasmus Mundus Partnership Action 2 Strand 1:
- To contribute to the mutual enrichment of societies by developing the qualifications of men and women so that they possess appropriate skills, particularly as regards the labour market, and are open-minded and internationally experienced;
- To promote mobility both for students, researchers, academics and administrative staff from third countries, especially from vulnerable groups, selected on the basis of academic excellence, to obtain qualifications and/or experience in the European Union;
- To contribute towards the development of human resources and the international co-operation capacity of higher education institutions in third-countries through increased mobility streams between the EU and third-countries in accordance with the principles of equal opportunities and non-discrimination;
- To contribute fully to promoting the horizontal policies of the European Union. Considering that:
- The Ecole Centrale de Nantes (as The Applicant), on behalf of the Partnership has submitted a grant application for The project denominated HERITAGE in the framework of the Call for Proposals EACEA/42/11 of the European Commission, in particularly, Lot 11 India, corresponding to the implementation of Erasmus Mundus Partnership Action2 Strand 1 programme;
- After the review of the grant application, the HERITAGE project has been selected for funding by the EACEA. Since the grant application is selected, the applicant Ecole Centrale de Nantes becomes the beneficiary.
- The Ecole Centrale de Nantes referred to as the Coordinating institution / beneficiary, on behalf of the Partnership has signed on {August 29th 2012} the Grant Agreement – referred to as the Grant Agreement number {2012-2649 /001-001 EM Action 2 Partnership} with the EACEA. The Grant Agreement and its annexes shall form an integral part of the present agreement, referred to as the Memorandum of Understanding.
- The HERITAGE Partnership is composed by - The coordinating Institution: Ecole Centrale de Nantes - The Co-coordinating institution: IIT Madras - 16 Partners European and Indian HEI: - Partners from Europe: Technische Universität München (Germany), Universidad de Sevilla (Spain), Tallinna Tehnikaülikool (Estonia), Politecnico di Milano (Italy), Politecnico di Torino (Italy), Warszaw University of Technology (Poland), Instituto Superior Técnico (Portugal), České vysoké učení technické v Praze (Czech Republic), Cardiff Met (United Kingdom)
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Partners from India: Anna university, Indian Institute of Science of Bangalore, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, National Institute of Technology Warangal, National Institute of Technology Rourkela.
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6 associate members: from Europe: T.I.M.E. (Top Industrial Managers for Europe) Association; CAMPUSFRANCE; DCNS; From India: University of Delhi; VIT Vellore; IIT Rajasthan.
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PREAMBLE Article 1 The Parties desire, as stated in Project Summary, to create a research and education network focused on sciences and technology, comprising HEIs from European Union and India to facilitate the systematic mobility between partner HEIs, within HERITAGE Project, which resulted from the Grant Agreement number {2012-2649/001-001 EM Action 2 Partnership} between The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EU Commission) and Ecole Centrale de Nantes. Article 2 HERITAGE project is intended to be the starting point for a long and fruitful cooperation between the partners from EU and INDIA. Within the project, the Parties will seek to develop activities that will lead to future new or enhanced exchange agreements and other joint study and research projects; Article 3 By the present MoU, the Parties define the rules of procedure for the work to be carried out and the relations that will govern them within this partnership set up in order to complete the above-mentioned Project. The common role and procedure will be in in accordance with Erasmus Mundus Programme Action2 Guide and the Guidelines to the Call for Proposals and Project application requirements.
ROLES OF THE COORDINATING INSTITUTION Article 4 Have full responsibility for ensuring that the action is implemented in accordance with the Grant Agreement; Article 5 Be the intermediary for all communication between the partners and the Agency. Any claims that the Agency might have in respect to the Grant Agreement shall be addressed to and answered by the Beneficiary, except where specifically stated otherwise in the Agreement; Article 6 Be responsible for supplying all documents and information to the Agency, which may be required under the Agreement, in particular in relation to the requests for payment. The Beneficiary shall not delegate any part of this task to the partners or to any other party. Where information from partners is required, the Beneficiary shall be responsible for obtaining and verifying this information and for passing it on to the Agency; Article 7 Inform the partners of any event of which the Beneficiary is aware that is liable to substantially affect the implementation of the action; Article 8 Request and receive, on behalf of the partners, all payments made by the Agency to the bank account referred to in Article I.6 of the Grant Agreement and distribute the EU grant between partners in accordance with this Agreement. Article 9 Be responsible, in the event of audits, checks or evaluations, as described in Articles II.6 and II.18 of the Grant Agreement, for providing all the necessary documents, including the accounts of the partners, the original accounting documents and signed copies of subcontracts, if any have been concluded by the Beneficiary institutions in accordance with Article II.9. Article 10 Be solely responsible for the relations between Partners, in particular including the dividing up of the grant between the Beneficiary and the other Partners institutions.
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ROLE OF THE INDIAN CO-COORDINATING INSTITUTION Article 12 The Joint coordination is considered to help capacity building in the Indian partner institutions and to enable better efficiency, feasibility and sustainability of the partnership. Joint coordination activities are proposed by the Coordinator and validated by the PMB. Article 13 The Indian co-coordinating institution must be actively involved in co-ordination and management tasks of the partnership, and - together with the European coordinator - is responsible for the day-to-day coordination and management of the partnership. However, the financial management and primary legal responsibility for the proper execution of the agreement remains the responsibility of the project coordinator (Ecole Centrale de Nantes). Article 14 The Co-Coordinator is a facilitator, a cultural and academic referent, the local expert securing the efficiency of the process, the advisor on and for TG2 & TG3 students. The Co-Coordinator may be consulted by the Indian & European partners and the CMO on the functioning of the local academic systems. Article 15 IIT Madras as the Co-coordinating institution is eager to promote the project in India and to inform and advise Indian applicants and Local Offices (LO) in India. The Co-Coordinator supports the Coordination & Management Office (CMO), calling for local meetings in order to provide and gather information and evaluate the successive actions. The Co-Coordinator is an implementer and a cross-cultural agent supporting communication and marketing actions. He helps the CMO activate Indian networks (HEIs, governmental and non-governmental institutions, companies and corporations) in order to enable the HERITAGE project actions to be heard, understood and implemented. Article 16 The joint coordination include visits to the Indian partners for orientation and preparation of applicants (plus promotion, dissemination and recognition of credits support) and visits to the European partners in order to meet the follows and secure the success of the motilities and disseminate the Good practises among the partnership.
ROLE OF THE PARTNERS INSTITUTIONS Article 17 Forward to the Coordinator the data needed to draw up the reports, financial statements and other documents provided for in the Agreement, including its Annexes. Each Partner will be responsible for the financial reporting of the amounts received from the Partnership Coordinator, according to the reporting rules set in the Grant Agreement. Article 18 Ensure that all information to be provided to the Agency is sent via the Coordinator, except where the Agreement specifically stipulates otherwise; Article 19 Inform the Coordinator immediately of any event affecting of delaying substantially the implementation of the action; Article 20 Provide the Coordinator with all the necessary documents in the event of audits, checks of evaluations, as described in Articles II.6 and II.18 of the Agreement. The documents which have to be sent to the coordinator by the partners should ensure:
- a) traceability of payments (payment orders, bank statements, acknowledgements of receipt signed by the students etc.
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- b) the possibility to check the implementation of mobility (Learning Agreement between the home and host institutions, student agreement signed by the scholarship holder and the host institution, arrival certificate, boarding passes of both arrival and departure dates ; in case of loss, the entry stamp in passport will be acceptable instead, etc.).
ROLE OF THE COORDINATOR AND PARTNERS INSTITUTIONS Article 21 Respect the common general objectives that formed the basis for establishing the partnership; Article 22 Fulfil the actions set out in the application, together with the work programme jointly agreed between the parties; Article 23 Make every effort to achieve in practice the common general objectives of action 2 strand 1 for which the EU grant is awarded; Article 24 Refrain from any action that could contribute to favouring brain drain from India; Article 25 Encourage Indian participants in mobility activities to use the knowledge and skills acquired in benefit of the social, human, economical and political development of their countries; Article 26 Encourage all participants in the mobility activities to become ambassadors for the better understanding between the peoples; Article 27 Maintain relations of mutual co-operation and regular exchanges of information with the Agency on matters of common interest; Article 28 Display a transparent attitude with regard to managing and reporting on the actions for which the EU grant is awarded and co-operate fully with annual or occasional checks on the implementation of the Agreement. Article 29 Clearly acknowledge the European Union's contribution in all publications or in conjunction with activities for which the grant is used.
ROLE OF THE PARNERSHIP MANAGEMENT BOARD (PMB) Article 30 Project Management Board (PMB) is in charge of the supervision of the project. It is composed of one representative of each Partner. Article 31 Decisions of the PMB are taken by consensus. If a consensus cannot be reached, the Parties will agree on a way to resolve the problem. Article 32 The PMB is chaired by the coordinator and Co-chaired by the representative from the Cocoordinating institution. Article 33 The Associate members are not member of the PMB but may attend, under invitation, any assembly without the right to vote. Article 34 All Parties commit to plan and organize their respective activities within the programme and specifically the individual mobility at their HEIs according to the general principles decided by the Partnership Management Board. Memorandum of Understanding: HERITAGE Partnership
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Article 35 The coordinating institution of the consortium is the Ecole Centrale de Nantes. It mainly hosts the Coordination Management Office (CMO), which is responsible for the current management and administration of the Project. The co-coordinating part of the CMO is hosted in IIT Madras. Article 36 Each Party is also responsible for implementing the Project in his/her HEI, with the local structures and offices and for making decisions regarding the local procedures needed. The HERITAGE local Office (project management structure of each Party) is defined by the respective HEI itself. Article 37 The PMB appoints and relies on the support of the Evaluation Committee (EC), the Selection Committee and four Collaborative Committees (CCs). Article 38 The Evaluation Committee, composed of representatives (Two from associate members, Coordinator, Joint Coordinator and one external quality expert) will meet during the action period as and when required to ensure smooth functioning of the Heritage project. The associate members in this committee are representatives from the T.I.M.E. network and DCNS. Article 39 The Selection Committee is composed of the Coordinator, the Co-coordinator plus two Indian and two European representatives nominated by the coordinator and it is responsible for the selection process. It will organize and readjust the mobility flows so as to fulfil the objectives of the call and the Minimum Requirements for the Selection Procedure. The Selection Committee will guarantee an impartial and transparent selection process based on merit, providing equal opportunities, gender-balance and participation of disadvantaged people. The results of the selection will be presented to all the partners for approval. Article 40 The role of the four Collaborative Committees is to manage a common base dedicated to discussion and exchanges between partners on several key mobility concepts, identified as the cornerstones of a successful, well-managed and sustainable Erasmus Mundus Action 2 project. The Coordinator and Cocoordinator takes part to all collaborative committees. The CMO support the CCs by defining the tasks and objectives to be completed by the CCs. The CCs report deliverable results to the CMO according to their specific agendas. Whenever necessary, the CCs propose corrective actions. The four Collaborative Committees topics are:
- a) Quality - b) Dissemination and attractiveness / Employability - c) Credit transfer and orientation - d) Sustainability & Community management
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BUDGET MANAGEMENT Article 41 The overall approved project budget is set in the Grant Agreement and includes amounts for the following cost items:
Travel costs ( 9%) 263 000 €
Subsistence allowances (69 %) 2 081 500 €
HERITAGE 2 999 875 EUROS
Participation costs (12%) 345 000 € Organization of the mobility Joint coordination (7%) 190 000 €; Insurance (4%) 120 375 €
Article 42 The Coordinating institution manages the overall project budget. Article 43 The amounts awarded in the Community Grant are maximum amounts allocated to the project in order to cover the costs of the activities they correspond to. As a result, any expenditure incurred by the partnership beyond these unit costs/lump sums may not be covered by Community grant. Article 44 Within the budget, each Partner will be assigned a lump-sum of 2.500 Euro, which can be used in the frame of the project for staff costs, travel costs, publications, meetings, promotion and administrative costs. The partners will keep accounting documents to justify this amount. Article 45 Coordinator will transfer funds to the Parties for organization of the mobility (lump sum) after the first meeting of the PMB and signing this MoU by all Parties and after the Partner has provided any required reporting. Article 46 The Coordinator will transfer funds for subsistence allowances and participations cost, if applicable, to hosting HEI, after the progress meeting of the PMB and selection Committee every 6 months. Article 47 In case of bank fees on the funds transferred by the Coordinator, ECN will bear all the charges and commissions of the bank of origin. According to the national legislation, each Partner will bear the charges and commissions of the bank receiving the funds, if any. Article 48 The Parties must set up an adequate accounting system, which must make it possible to identify the payment made to the students and academic staff.
ORGANISATION OF THE MOBILITIES Article 49 According to the EMA2 regulations and to the Grant Agreement, scholarships are made available to the selected follows belonging to three Target Groups (TGI TGII and TGIII)
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Article 50 The CMO will set up an online application system through which candidates will submit their applications for individual mobility flows. Every Partner will provide clear and complete information on the available fields of study and the minimum requirement for the specific offer. Article 51 Applicant will have the possibility to submit one application per university for a maximum of three universities. Article 52 The Selection committee will have access to all the applications. Every European Partner Local Coordinator will have access to the applications to their own institution. Every Indian Partners Local Coordinator will have access to the applications of the candidates from their own institution. Article 53 For Exchange Students (non-degree seeking) undergraduates, masters and doctorates, the period of mobility in the hosting HEI is recognized by the Home HEI as part of the student curriculum in his home HEI. All academic results, wherever applicable, will be sent to the students' home HEI by the host HEI using the ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) system of grades, the learning agreement and the transcript of records. The Partners commit to convert these grades into the local grades and credits in order to facilitate the academic recognition for each participating student. Article 54 For TGII and TGIII Exchange Students (non-degree seeking) undergraduates, masters and doctorates, the period of mobility in the hosting HEI must be recognized by the Home HEI as part of the student curriculum in his home HEI and may be subject to bilateral agreement. Article 55 For degree seeking students, the period of mobility shall correspond to the full curriculum at the hosting HEI, or, if not, may be subject to bilateral agreement. Article 56 The Parties are responsible for screening and selecting students/ academic staff for participation in the Project. Article 57 As established by the EACEA Minimum Requirements for the Selection Procedure, the Partnership is responsible for managing appeals that candidates may present in relation to the results of their application. Appeals of the candidates must be sent by email to the Coordinator using the Heritage project official email address within 8 days after the publication of the results. The Partner HEIs and the Selection Committee are responsible for providing the coordinator with the relevant motivations of the evaluation and selection performed. The coordinator may ask these justification proofs in case of applicant appeals. Article 58 Every single grantee after receiving the award letter from the CMO would positively confirm the acceptance of the award within two weeks of receiving the award letter. Article 59 Partner HEIs are bound to admit the selected candidates, except in case of fraud by the applicant in the application process. Article 60 The academic performance will be evaluated according to the rules of the hosting HEI. Article 61 The Hosting HEIs are responsible for guaranteeing that Intellectual Property (IPR) agreements are signed whenever IPR issues related to the mobility arise. Such agreement must comply with the rights of the researcher as stated in The European Charter for Researchers.
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Article 62 Grantees arriving at any particular hosting HEI will not be allowed to change to another Partner HEI, without obtaining the proper clearance from the Coordinator and clear acceptance from the alternate hosting HEI which is of their preference. Article 63 All hosting HEIs will constantly monitor the attendance and the continuation of the studies/research carried out by the grantee and shall report to CMO about any irregularities. Article 64 Parties will make every effort to promote the HERITAGE Project among potential candidates. Each Party will widely publish and announce the details and prospects of the mobility schemes to all potential candidates through a specific website dedicated to the HERITAGE Project and through their institutional website and by organising information events.
GRANT Article 65 Each grantee from India participating in the Project will receive grant, which is intended to cover his/her subsistence allowances (from the hosting HEI), travel costs and insurance (from Coordinator). Article 66 Coordinator will transfer the fund for subsistence allowance and Participation costs to each European partner according to the list of incoming grant holders in their institution. Each European Partner will be responsible of paying the entire subsistence allowance specified in the Grant Agreement to their Incoming grant holders. Grant holders shall receive a larger sum at the beginning of the mobility period. The remaining grant will be paid in equal monthly instalments during the mobility period. Article 67 Monthly subsistence allowance will be paid by the EU Partners as from the month of arrival of the incoming beneficiaries and covers each full month of the mobility, based on academic grounds. If a portion of a month is more than 15 days a full month allowance is to be paid. Article 68 The Partners must apply a fee waiver policy for mobility less than 10 months. European partners will receive Participation costs of 3000€ per incoming grant holder per year (from 10 to 18 months: 3000€, from 18 to 27 months: 6000€ and more than 27 months: 18000€). Students must not pay registration or tuition fees at the hosting HEI. Article 69 Exchange Students are required to pay registration or tuition fees to the respective home HEI (when applicable). Article 70 Grantees will be responsible for their own personal expenses, accommodation, meals and general living costs. The use of non-academic or non-obligatory facilities, services, and functions at the hosting HEI may require the payment of fees by the grantees. Article 71 The hosting HEI will assist grantees in finding appropriate housing, and with other matters of hospitality and orientation. The use of non-academic or non-obligatory facilities, services, and functions at the hosting HEI may require the payment of fees by the grantees. Article 72 Grantees will be responsible for obtaining their own visas and completing the required immigration formalities, as well as travel and other related documents needed for their stay at the hosting HEI. Article 73 The obligations of the Parties under this Memorandum are limited to the grantees, and do not extend to their spouses and dependants, if any.
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Article 74 The validity of this Memorandum of Understanding expires 12 months after the support from the European Commission is terminated and the end of all the activities engaged by Heritage project. Article 75 This MoU shall come into force on the day when it has been signed by each of the parties but shall have retroactive validity as of the same date as the Grant Agreement. Article 76 The Partners acknowledge receipt of a copy of the Grant Agreement number {2012-2649 /001-001 EM Action 2 Partnership} between the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Commission and Ecole Centrale de Nantes as the beneficiary. Article 77 This Agreement has been signed in 3 originals, one original for the Coordinator, one other for the cocoordinator, plus one original for EACEA.
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DEFINITIONS AND GLOSSARY Associated Member: any organization that can contribute to the promotion, implementation, evaluation and sustainable development of the mobility scheme can be considered as an associated member of the Partnership. The associated members are not entitled to benefit financially from the grant. Bachelor student / undergraduate (student in first cycle): a person enrolled in a first cycle higher education programme and who will obtain after the completion of the programme a first higher education degree. Beneficiary: also referred to as “Coordinating institution”: is the institution that, on behalf of the Partnership of participating institutions, has signed a Grant Agreement with the Agency. The Beneficiary has the primary legal responsibility towards the Agency for the proper execution of the agreement. It is solely responsible for the use of the European Union (EU) funds allocated to the project, in particular including the dividing up of the grant between the Beneficiary and the other Partners institutions. It is also responsible for the relations between Partners as well as the day-to-day coordination and management of the Partnership. Coordinator / Coordinating Organization (CO): the coordinator is the project leader in the coordinating organization, the person responsible for the necessary co-ordination and day-to-day management tasks at the implementation stage. He acts as contact person for the Agency in all aspects related to the management of the project. The co-ordinator is also the focal point for the Agency on any matters related to the project implementation. The coordinating organization acts as beneficiary in the contractual and financial relations between the partnership and the Agency. The Coordinator has full responsibility for ensuring that the action is implemented, in accordance with the guidelines objectives of the project as set out in the Grant Agreement; Committee: a group of people officially delegated to perform a function, such as investigating, considering, reporting, or acting on a matter. Dissemination: a planned process of disseminating information on the activities, outputs and results of programmes and projects to key actors and target groups. It occurs as and when the results of programmes and initiatives become available. Erasmus Mundus Programme Guide: applies to the entire duration of the Programme and gives guidelines for the implementation of cooperation activities or receiving individual scholarships within the Erasmus Mundus Programme (2009-2013). It provides explanations to understand the objectives and the different programme actions, the types of activities that can (or cannot) be supported as well as the conditions under which this support can be granted and the grant awarded used. The Guide and all its revisions (apart from exceptional and duly justified cases and accepted by the Agency) is a contractually binding document. Education, Culture and Audiovisual Executive Agency (hereinafter “the Agency” or “EACEA"): the European Commission (hereinafter "the Commission") has entrusted the implementation of the Erasmus Mundus Programme 2009-2013 to the Education, Culture and Audiovisual Executive Agency. As a result, the Agency is responsible for the management of this programme - including drawing up Calls for Proposals, selecting projects and signing project agreements, financial management, monitoring of projects (assessment of intermediate and final reports), communication with beneficiaries. EACEA Mobility Tool (MT): specific tool developed to allow the monitoring of the implemented individual mobility. Username and password are given by the Agency for access. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS): a student-centered system aimed at facilitating students' mobility between different HEIs and based on the student workload required to achieve the objectives of a programme, objectives preferably specified in terms of the learning outcomes and competences to be acquired. More information is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc48_en.htm. Exchange students: an exchange student is registered at a HEI (home HEI) and temporarily studies at a partner HEI (hosting HEI). Exchange students do not obtain a diploma from the hosting institution. Memorandum of Understanding: HERITAGE Partnership
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Full members (of the Partnership): The coordinating institution/Beneficiary (coordinator), the Indian Joint Coordinating Institution “co-coordinator”, all the others European and Indian full Partner institutions (i.e. all the members of the Partnership except the associate). Grant Agreement for an Action (GAA): the Agency concludes a Grant Agreement with the applicant of each Partnership selected under the Erasmus Mundus Action 2 programme. The duration of the Grant Agreement corresponds to the length of the activities foreseen and the period of eligibility is maximum 48 months. Joint-Coordinating Institution: the Indian co-coordinating institution should take responsibilities related to day-to-day coordination and management of the partnership, e.g. mobility management at local level (in the region). However, the financial management and primary legal responsibility for the proper execution of the agreement remains the responsibility of the project coordinator (a European HEI). The related budget cover the costs related to these joint coordination activities. Joint Coordination: Joint Coordination of partnerships between European and third-country HEIs is considered to be a suitable mechanism that will enable better efficiency, feasibility and sustainability of the partnership. The joint coordination facilitates know-how transfer from more experienced entities to those in a vulnerable situation. Thus, it helps to ensure the involvement and participation of partners in unfavorable conditions. Joint coordination is considered to help capacity building in the third-country partner institutions and to enable better efficiency, feasibility and sustainability of the partnership. Guidelines to the Call for Proposals: provides specific information on the individual geographical windows/ lot covered by the annual Call for Proposals. It contains essential information such as the available EU budget, partnership composition, type of mobility and distribution, thematic field of study and project duration for each of the third country lots covered by the Call for proposals. Higher education: all types of courses of study or sets of courses of study, training or training for research at the post-secondary level which are recognized by the relevant national authorities of a participating country as belonging to its higher education system. Higher Education Institution (HEI): an establishment providing higher education and recognized by the competent national authority of a participating country as belonging to its system of higher education. Irregularity: means an infringement of a provision of EU law or a breach of a contractual obligation resulting from an act or omission which has or would have the effect of prejudicing the general budget of the European Union or budgets managed by it through unjustified expenditure. Learning Agreement (LA): is an agreement developed for mobile students in order to provide a binding commitment among the three parties involved: the home institution, the hosting institution and the student before the start of the mobility. Learning Agreements contain the list of course units or modules or other educational components the student is planning to take at the other institution, together with the code numbers and the ECTS credits or similar allocated to the components. The Learning Agreement, together with the Transcript of Records, is designed to guarantee full recognition of the programme of study undertaken at the hosting institution. By registering the student, the higher education institution enters into an agreement to deliver the courses and to grant credits for the achievement of the expected learning outcomes. Home institution will integrate the mobility and the granted credits to the study programme of the student after his/her return. Legal Representative (LR): the person authorized to enter into legal and financial commitments on behalf of the Beneficiary. Master’s programme (second cycle): a second cycle higher education programme that follows a first degree or equivalent level of learning and that leads to a masters degree offered by a higher education institution and recognized as such by the relevant authorities of the country where the master degree is delivered. Master’s student (student in second cycle): a person enrolled in a second cycle higher education programme and who has already obtained a first higher education degree or has a recognized equivalent level of learning according to national legislation and practices. Memorandum of Understanding: HERITAGE Partnership
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Memorandum of Understanding (MoU): document that describes all the agreements reached between the partners with regards to all aspects related to the management of the partnerships and organization of the mobility. It outlines the role and responsibility of the partners within the organization of mobility activities, the procedure and criteria for the selection of candidates as well as the foreseen measures to tackle specific programme objectives such as recognition, quality assurance, prevention of brain drain and sustainability. It must also contain specific provisions in terms of financial management of the grant. Minimum requirements for the selection procedures: document presenting a set of minimum requirements to be followed during the selection procedure of students and staff, focusing on the process of the scholarship attribution to Indians candidates and to be signed by the coordinator on behalf of the partnership: transparency and equitable treatment of individual applications must be guaranteed. Mobility: moving physically to another country, in order to undertake study, work experience, research, other learning or teaching or research activity or related administrative activity, supported as appropriate by preparation in the host language. Partner (Full Partner): any Higher Education Institution, other than the Beneficiary, and the co-coordination institution eligible according to the Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Call for proposals, which has signed a letter by which it undertakes, according to the agreed arrangements with the Applicant/Beneficiary, to contribute to the implementation of the action (i.e. organization of the mobility and mobility flows of students and staff). In contrast with "associated members" the partners can benefit from the EU grant and – in close cooperation with the beneficiary – play a decisive role in the management and implementation of the project cooperation activities. Partnership: is the consortium, or network of participating organizations. The partnership is composed of the Full members and associate members. Post-doctoral Researcher: an experienced researcher who is in possession of a doctoral degree or who has at least three years of full-time equivalent research experience, including the period of research training, at a research organization established in accordance with national legislation and practice after obtaining the degree which formally allowed him/her to embark on a doctoral programme offered by higher education institution. Project: plan for implementing activities in accordance with the objectives of the Erasmus Mundus Action 2. The project has a starting date, specific goals and conditions, defined responsibilities, a budget, a fixed end date and multiple partners involved. Scholar / academic: a person with outstanding academic and/or professional experience who lectures or conducts research in a higher education institution or a research organization established in accordance with national legislation and practice. Student / Fellow Agreement (FA): agreement signed between the Partnership and each student selected for an Erasmus Mundus Action 2 scholarship, explicitly indicating any academic, financial and administrative modalities related to the student's scholarship at the hosting institution and the award and usage of the scholarship. Staff / Higher education staff: persons who, through their duties, are involved directly in the educational and/or administrative process related to higher education (academic and administrative staff). Student: undergraduate and master students as well as doctoral and post-doctoral. Target Group 1 (TGI): TGI student and staff must be Indian nationality. TGI Students need to be registered at one of the Indian Full member HEIs of the partnership at the time of submitting their application to the partnership. TGI Indian staff must work in or be associated to one of the Indian HEIs Full member of the partnership. Undergraduate students must have successfully completed at least one year of studies in their home institution. TGI students must have not resided nor have carried out their main activity (studies, work, etc.) for more than a total of 12 months over the last five years in any of the eligible European countries at the Memorandum of Understanding: HERITAGE Partnership
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time of submitting their application to the partnership. TGI must have sufficient knowledge of the language of the courses or of one of the languages currently spoken in the hosting countries. Target Group 2 (TGII): TGII student and staff must be Indian nationality. TGII Students need either to be registered in Indian HEI (not included in the Full member HEIs of partnership) or to have obtained a university degree or equivalent from Indian HEI. TGII Indian staff must work in or be associated to Indian HEI (not included in the Full member HEIs of partnership). TGII students must have not resided nor have carried out their main activity (studies, work, etc.) for more than a total of 12 months over the last five years in any of the eligible European countries at the time of submitting their application to the partnership. TGII must have sufficient knowledge of the language of the courses or of one of the languages currently spoken in the hosting countries. Target Group 3 (TGIII): Indian nationality student who are in particularly vulnerable situations, for social and political reasons and/or part of minority groups (this is in line with the Government of India's policies towards the relevant vulnerable and/or minority groups). For example: 1) having a refugee status or asylum beneficiaries (international or according to the national legislation of one of the European recipient countries) or 2) it can be proved that they have been the object of unjustified expulsion from HEI on racial, ethnic, religious, political, gender or sexual inclination or 3) they belong to an indigenous population targeted by a specific national policy or IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons). TGIII must have sufficient knowledge of the language of the courses or of one of the languages currently spoken in the hosting countries.
Memorandum of Understanding: HERITAGE Partnership
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