EU Scholarships and Education Funding Opportunities

Education is a subject under the exclusive auspices of each individual Member State of the EU, however the European Union recognizes education as one of the most important and influential elements of the continent’s future.

The EU supports education through numerous policy actions, funding (scholarships, grants, etc.) and institutional cooperation.

Some of these instruments are available or even specially created for non-EU member states as well.

Erasmus Mundus

Erasmus Mundus is one of the Union’s best known education programmes. The programme aims to enhance quality in higher education by offering financial support to institutions and scholarships to individuals worldwide. Its roots are in the Erasmus Programme (currently comprising 33
participating states) established in 1987.

Whereas the Erasmus Programme is only open to citizens of the 33 participating states, Erasmus Mundus is oriented toward globalizing European education and is open to all other countries including Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Erasmus Mundus works as an umbrella programme, which serves as a platform for other programmes and projects designed and implemented under its guidelines.
Those available in Bosnia and Herzegovina are listed below:

1. The JoinEU-SEE Project

JoinEU-SEE is funded by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Commission (EACEA) in the framework of the Erasmus Mundus 2009-2013 programme, which is a worldwide cooperation and mobility programme in the field of higher education.

The JoinEU-SEE mobility scheme strives to contribute to the achievement of better understanding and mutual enrichment between the European Union and third countries in the field of higher education and society at
large. The JoinEU-SEE activities not only offer scholarship grantees the opportunity to expand their academic competences, their language skills as well as social and intercultural competences, thus improving their employability in an ever faster changing society.

JoinEU-SEE supports mobility at all levels of higher education, including both mobility for students (undergraduate, master, doctoral and post-doctoral) and for staff (academic and administrative).

2. ERAWEB

Erasmus–Western Balkans or ERAWEB is a joint mobility programme offered by six Western Balkan universities – including the University of Sarajevo from Bosnia and Herzegovina –and five EU universities. Students and members of the faculty have the opportunity to study, teach and research abroad, while the participating universities raise teaching capacities, build
research expertise and gain international visibility.

The emphasis of ERAWEB is on the health sciences. Research within ERAWEB is aimed at the factors which influence the population health and the development of possible interventions towards health improvement. The
programme stimulates the development of the Western Balkan countries by raising academic skills of students, researchers and teachers. ERAWEB provides scholarships for undergraduate, Master’s, doctorate and postdoctorate students, and also for academic staff.

3. Basileus

The Basileus project conceived as a pilot project for the Western Balkans to prepare their future participation in the Lifelong Learning Programme. Through exchanging students and setting up procedures, which are very similar to the Erasmus procedures, the Western Balkan partners have the chance to build up expertise in this field. The EU partners share knowledge and good practices through a conference, meetings and trainings in specific topics (ECTS, mobility management, academic recognition).

The project strives for structured long-term cooperation between all partners, resulting in a sustainable network. The project offers the perfect platform to boost the exchange of know-how for curriculum development, new teaching methods, international relations and university
management.

The project aims to build bridges between the EU and the Western Balkans by offering opportunities to young people to come to the EU and build up contacts. Likewise, the project aims to convince EU students and staff
of the potential the less known Western Balkan region has to offer for further cooperation. The core of the project is mobility, but extra attention is given to the transparency and recognition of studies and qualifications – the further
implementation of ECTS and Diploma Supplement.

Other sources of information about scholarships and educational funding opportunities relevant to BiH students

National Erasmus + Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina

European Youth Portal

Study Portals

Stipendije.ba web
portal

Posao.ba web portal

Visegrad Group Fund

IPS Scholarships from the German Bundestag

Scholarships by the Republic of France

Konrad Adenauer Stiftung

DAAD German academic exchange service

COPERNICUS for Central, East and South-East European Students