About EMA
Legal & Internal
Affairs Unit
The Legal & Internal Affairs (LIA) Unit aims to ensure the lawfulness of EMA's operation and activities, to create and comply with all internal and external legal requirements, and to safeguard the Association's interest in relation to all parties, whether within or outside, by guaranteeing conformity with all laws and regulations.
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Nicky C. Cardenas, Lead Legal & Internal Affairs Unit
Nicky C. Cardenas serves as the Lead of the Legal and Internal Affairs Unit of the Erasmus Mundus Association. He holds an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's Degree in International Humanitarian Action (cum laude), completed across Ruhr University Bochum, the University of Groningen, the University of Warsaw, and Fordham University, and is an active member of the Network on Humanitarian Action (NOHA).
A recipient of multiple international research grants, including the EU Scholarship Grant, ESAA Activity Grant, DAAD, and U.S.-funded programs at Georgetown University and the University of Maryland, Nicky brings a strong research background in international humanitarian law and international relations. He also held a Graduate Research Fellowship at Fordham University.
With ten years of experience in higher education, he currently serves as an Assistant Professor, a research consultant for a New York City-based project, and a research reviewer for Cambridge University Press. He has published in peer-reviewed journals and contributed as a resource speaker for the Erasmus+ Caravan.
As Country Representative for the Philippines, Nicky has served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the European Higher Education Fair 2025 under the EU Delegation to the Philippines, championing Erasmus+ mobility and European higher education across the region.
The LIA Unit deals with both internal and external stakeholders, such as but not limited to: the Management Board, EMA members and volunteers, the European Commission, the Service Provider, and any external partners with whom EMA enters into a strategic partnership or Memorandums of Understanding, Partnerships or any other cooperative working arrangement.
Currently, the LIA Director position is lying vacant. For any legal and internal affairs matters, Lead, Legal & Internal Affairs Unit can be reached at legal@em-a.eu
The LIA sub-units are Internal Affairs, Partnerships & Project Assistance, and General Assistance (administrative and documentation). The other members of the unit are as follows:
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Zara Kaushik, Legal Affairs Coordinator: legal.affairs@em-a.eu
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Internal Affairs Coordinator: internal.affairs@em-a.eu
The LIA Unit works closely with all other concerned Units in terms of advisory, support, review of important documents, guidance on the legality or procedural regularity of various actions, and various other topics.