Erasmus Mundus Masters Scholarship-IT4BI for EU and Non EU Students, 2015/2017

Applications are invited for Erasmus Mundus masters scholarships available for European students and Non European students. Scholarship is awarded to pursue two years IT4BI masters program at Free University of Brussels (ULB) in Belgium, University of Tours (UFRT) in France, Ecole Centrale Paris (ECP) in France, Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) in Spain and Technical University of Berlin (TUB) in Germany. Two types of scholarships will be awarded i.e. Category A and Category B scholarship. The Category A scholarships should be considered as “full scholarships” covering all necessary costs of the student during his/her study period in Europe while Category B scholarships have to be considered as a “financial contribution” to the student’s costs while following his/her EMMC studies.
Study Subject(s): Scholarship is awarded in Information Technology for Business Intelligence.
Course Level: Scholarship is available for pursuing Masters Degree program at Free University of Brussels (ULB) (Belgium), University of Tours (UFRT) (France), Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) (Spain), Ecole Centrale Paris (ECP) (France) and Technical University of Berlin (TUB) (Germany).
Scholarship Provider: Erasmus Mundus
Scholarship can be taken at: Belgium, France, Spain and Germany
Eligibility: The eligibility criteria for an Erasmus Mundus scholarship are:
-The applicant has not applied to more than 3 Erasmus Mundus Joint programmes.
-The applicant has not already been granted an Erasmus Mundus Master’s Course scholarship.
To apply to IT4BI, candidates must meet the following eligibility criteria:
-They have been awarded a Bachelor’s degree (i.e., the equivalent of 180 ECTS) with a major in computer science, from an accredited university.
-They must be able to demonstrate proficiency in English by means of an internationally recognized test equivalent to level B2 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The consortium will rely on how certification bodies evaluate their own equivalences against this framework, e.g., Cambridge General English FCE, IELTS (Academic) 5.5, TOEFL (paper based) 570, TOEFL (computer based) 230, TOEFL (internet based) 88, etc.
-Students who are nationals of one of the 27 EU Member States: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, UK, Sweden, Bulgaria, Malta, Poland, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania.
-Students who are nationals of Croatia, since the Accession Treaty of Croatia to the EU should enter in force on July 1st, 2013.
-Students who are nationals of one of the EEA-EFTA states: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
-Students who have resided or carried out their main activities (studies, work, etc.) for more than 12 months over the past five years (counted backward starting from end of February following the official deadline for application to the master) in any of the above listed countries.
-All other students are considered as Non-European students, including candidates from: Switzerland, Turkey and the Western Balkans region (i.e. Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo under UNSC Resolution 1244/99, FYRoM, Montenegro and Serbia).
Scholarship Open for International Students: European students and Non European students can apply for this scholarship.
Scholarship Description: Since its inception 20 years ago, Business Intelligence (BI) has become a huge industrial domain and a major economic driver, however overlooked by academics. It encompasses many scientific and technological fields including data warehouses, data mining, content analytics, business process management, visual analytics, and requires competences in information systems, web science, decision science, software engineering, and innovation and entrepreneurship. The Erasmus Mundus Master’s Programme in Information Technologies for Business Intelligence (IT4BI) is designed to provide understanding, knowledge and skills in this broad scope of fields. Its main objective is to train computer scientists who understand and help develop the strategies of modern enterprise decision makers.
Number of award(s): A main list containing the top 20-25 students will be submitted to the European Commission for scholarship approval. A reserved list is also produced.
Duration of award(s): Duration for masters scholarship is two years.
What does it cover? The Erasmus Mundus programme provides EU-funded scholarships to students who have been selected by the consortia. Two categories of scholarships are available:
-Category A Scholarships: they can be granted by the Consortium to non-European students. Category A scholarship is 24,000 euros per year. For the first edition of the programme (2012-2014), the consortium granted 9 category A scholarships.
-Category B Scholarships: they can be granted by the Consortium to European students. Category B scholarship is 10,000 euros per year plus 3,000 euros for students realizing their Master Thesis in a third country associated partner. For the first edition of the programme (2012-2014), the consortium granted  7 category B scholarships.
It should be noted that, while the Category A scholarships should be considered as “full scholarships” covering all necessary costs of the student during his/her study period in Europe, Category B scholarships have to be considered as a “financial contribution” to the student’s costs while following his/her EMMC studies.
-The scholarship covers tuition fees and includes a monthly allowance and a contribution to installation and mobility costs. The part of the scolarship corrersponding to the tuition fees is directly taken by the consortium. The remainder of the scholarship will be allocated to selected students in twelve monthly instalments of 1000 euros for non-European students and 500 euros for European students  – living allowance –  plus two yearly instalments of 4000 euros destined to cover mobility costs and installation for non-European students. The scholarship will be paid by bank transfer.
Selection Criteria: Applications will be scored according to the following categories:
-Domain of the bachelor : Points will be assigned proportional to the percentage of Computer Science credits in the curriculum.
-Academic results : This will be calculated as the weighted average of the marks in the different subjects.
-Other studies : A second bachelor or master will score depending on the obtained credits in computer science. Extra-curricular courses taken will be scored based on lecturing hours taking.
-Professional experience : Points will be given by year of work on IT or BI position (regarding the position held and the topic).
-Personal project : Points will be assigned based on the following categories: organisation, sequencing, content, vocabulary and word choice, critical thinking, originality and creativity, accuracy of facts.
-Reference letters : Points will be assigned based on the approval, comments and reputation of the referees, as testified by the reference letters and the referees’ H-factor.
-A final ranked list of candidates, based on all obtained points, will thus be produced. A main list containing the top 20-25 students will be submitted to the European Commission for scholarship approval. A reserved list is also produced.
Notification: Preliminary decision of the scholarship will be in end of February 2015. Formal confirmation of the scholarship will be in May 2015.
How to Apply: The mode of applying is online. Importantly, Category B students currently on their last year of Bachelor can submit their application even if they have not yet their diploma. If they are selected they need to submit their diploma and final grades for the last year not later than June 30th, 2015.
Scholarship Application Deadline: The application deadline is December 14th, 2014.
Further Official Scholarship Information and Application