The Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni Association was invited to participate in an ERASMUS+ Info Session hosted at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) on the 12th of June, 2024 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The session provided a comprehensive overview of the Erasmus+ program, its benefits, and the opportunities it offers to students, staff, and institutions.
Karolina Garbaliauskaite, Project advisor for Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) and Eero Oinonen, Political Officer in the Delegation of the European Union to Malaysia were present alongside UTM’s Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof. Latif Saleh, YBhg. Datin Noorazah from the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MoHE) and Erasmus+ National Focal Point (ENFP) for Malaysia Dr. Ariffin at this informative and engaging session.
The session included excellent presentations and exchanges of experiences by beneficiaries of Erasmus+ grants and current CBHE projects. EMA's Country Representative Ronald Willie Binati, an alum of the International Master Vintage in Wine, Vine and Terroir Management (VINTAGE) programme and Nabila Norizan, an alum of the Erasmus Mundus European Master in Tourism Management (EMTM) programme shared their personal and professional experiences as recipients of this prestigious scholarship. Ms Norizan shared how her Erasmus Mundus Joint Master (EMJM) experience paved the way for many opportunities, including co-authoring publications for her PhD studies with her previous EMJM universities. Mr Binati shared his top 3 reasons everyone should consider the European Union as an important postgraduate destination.
As the Country Representative for EMA Malaysia, Mr Binati commented that with the appointment of the Erasmus+ National Focal Point (ENFP) for Malaysia, Dr Ariffin, all key actions under the Erasmus+ can be further strengthened, especially the promotion of Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters. This was the second Info Day hosted in person as the first one was done virtually in February this year. Dr. Collins Santhanasamy who serves on EMA’s Management Board as Director of the Partnership Development Unit was also present at the event to further promote the possibility of partnerships with EMA.
The next proposed joint activity under the coordination of Dr. Ariffin would be in September 2024 and EMA Malaysia is looking forward to a more fruitful collaboration.
