Erasmus Mundus Pre-departure Orientation in Russia

The first Erasmus Mundus pre-departure orientation for Russian students took place in Moscow on 31 July 2009 in the office of the EC delegation to the Russian Federation.

This pre-departure orientation was the third and final event of its kind performed in summer 2008 in the framework of the EMA CIS & Mongolia Regional Chapter of Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni Association: the first two took place in Kiev, Ukraine (17 July) and in Chisinau, Moldova (20 July).

This year 65 Russian students received Erasmus Mundus scholarships (since 2004 the total number of 207 Russians took part in the programme) and the event was an opportunity for them to meet the members of the European Commission as well as to get a first-hand advice from current Erasmus Mundus students and alumni from Russia. More than 20 students and alumni were present at the meeting and had an opportunity to interact and communicate.

Nicola Scaramuzzo, Etienne Claeye and Denis Danilidis from the EC delegation congratulated the new students and told them about the programme’s evolution and its place in the EU-Russia relations. Representatives of the EU member-states (France, Germany, UK and Luxembourg) provided general information and practical tips about living and studying in their respective countries and were available during the coffee-break to answer all sorts of questions.

In the second part of the PDO, after a presentation of EMA activities by Anna Butenko, the President of the CIS & Mongolia Regional Chapter EMA, the 'freshmen' got an opportunity to discuss various practical issues with the alumni.

The PDO finished unofficially at a Moscow café where new students could talk to the alumni who had done a similar path and the alumni discussed further activities which could be organised for students from the CIS & Mongolia region.  

An article in Russian about PDO in Moscow is available at: http://euro-pulse.ru/edu/eduerasmus120809/

You can get more information about the CIS & Mongolia Regional Chapter EMA and its activities, as well as become its member by sending an email to the Chapter’s President Anna Butenko at anna.butenko(AT)members.em-a.eu