5 more years of Erasmus Mundus Journalism

The Erasmus Mundus Journalism Consortium submitted a lengthy proposal to the Erasmus+ programme 2019 call for proposals back in February this year. Submitting such a proposal always requires a huge amount of effort from the entire team and the last time we did so was in February 2016.  It’s always a challenging process, but with the uncertainty presented by Brexit regarding the participation of our London and Swansea partners, this year’s application had its own challenges.

Despite this, the news came in last month that the Erasmus Mundus Journalism Consortium has done it once again, securing a total of 4,460,000 EUR for student-teacher scholarships, admin support and securing “continuity and further collaborations around the world” for the next 5 years!

On finding out about the news, Henrik Bødker, Head of the Board of Studies, said, "given that we worked hard on revising and strengthening the programme, it was a great relief to get the results from the expert committee. Being re-funded enables us to maintain a globally diverse student body, something which is very important for the quality and reach of the programme."

Top marks across the board 

The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency received 91 eligible applications and awarded funding to 41, including ours. Mundus Journalism is still the only Mundus Masters within journalism.

To secure funding, each proposal is reviewed and given a score out of 100 by an Evaluation Committee made up of external experts. Only proposals that receive a score of 80/100 or above are funded. The Erasmus Mundus Journalism programme was awarded 89/100!

Outlining their score for “relevance of the project,” the Evaluation Committee said that “the involvement of the alumni and the strong orientation towards an applicable framework of knowledge transfer as well as the utilisation of best practices are some of the cornerstones that bring positive and long-lasting effects for the participants.”

When it came to the scoring for “quality of the project design and implementation,” the Evaluation Committee said that the “MA programme clearly adopts a methodology towards academic excellence.” They noted that there is “a clear commitment and fulfilment of all partners to offer best possible support for accommodation, language training and administrative formalities.”

And finally, in the “quality of project team and cooperation arrangements” the committee noted that “the core group of joint-degree partners demonstrates long lasting cooperation, furthermore, new partners will join and their expertise enriches the existing partnership.”

The future of Erasmus Mundus Journalism

Just as in previous years, all students will spend their first year jointly between Aarhus University and the Danish School of Media and Journalism. However, in year two, the programme splits into five specialisations, including 3 at our current partners - University of Amsterdam, City, University of London and Swansea University (dependent on the outcome of Brexit) and 2 new ones (Charles University, Prague and Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich). This will allow students to customise their studies in the following areas:

• Politics and Communication (University of Amsterdam)

• Business and Innovation (City, University of London)

• Totalitarianism and Transition (Charles University, Prague)

• War and Security (Swansea University)

• Cultures and Contexts (Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, from 2021)

Furthermore, students who wish to study in 3 different countries have the opportunity to spend their second semester at one of the following universities, and/or can take on internship opportunities at some of the following places:

• University of California at Berkeley (Berkeley)

• Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Santiago)

• University of Technology Sydney (Sydney)

• University of Cape Town (Cape Town)

• Fudan University (Shanghai)

• Lebanese American University (Beirut)

• University of Hamburg (Hamburg)

We look forward to welcoming the next generations of students on board and equipping them with the skills needed to perpetuate the highest standards of global journalism. It’s our aim to ensure that they will leave our programme with new knowledge, perspectives and networks that will contribute to re-establishing the journalism profession as a crucial force for good.

Here’s to 5 more years!