Description of the project

• The Erasmus+ Programme
• The MERGING VOICES 2017 Partnership
• Scholarships
• Financial Support

The Erasmus+ Programme

The Erasmus+ programme aims to boost skills and employability, as well as modernising Education, Training, and Youth work. The seven year programme will have a budget of €14.7 billion; a 40% increase compared to current spending levels, reflecting the EU's commitment to investing in these areas.

Erasmus+ will provide opportunities for over 4 million Europeans to study, train, gain work experience and volunteer abroad.

Erasmus+ will support transnational partnerships among Education, Training, and Youth institutions and organisations to foster cooperation and bridge the worlds of Education and work in order to tackle the skills gaps we are facing in Europe.

It will also support national efforts to modernise Education, Training, and Youth systems. In the field of Sport, there will be support for grassroots projects and cross-border challenges such as combating match-fixing, doping, violence and racism.

Erasmus+ brings together seven existing EU programmes in the fields of Education, Training, and Youth; it will for the first time provide support for Sport. As an integrated programme, Erasmus+ offers more opportunities for cooperation across the Education, Training, Youth, and Sport sectors and is easier to access than its predecessors, with simplified funding rules.

The MERGING VOICES 2017 Partnership

The Merging Voices (MV) is composed by four Portuguese Institutions: Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL), Universidade do Porto (UP), Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD) and Universidade do Algarve (UAlg).

The 2^nd edition of the Merging Voices project (2017-2019) aims to continue the guidelines of the first edition, cementing the cooperation with the Partner Institutions and building new cooperation with the newcomers, which will be achieved through mobility.

Through a total of 143 scholarships, it will support mobility of students, academic and administrative staff in Europe and in 26 Partner Countries: Australia, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, East Timor, Cameroon, Japan, Macao, Angola, Cape Verde, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Guyana, Cambodia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mozambique, New Zealand, Seychelles, Tanzania and Uganda.

The 2^nd edition of the Merging Voices project can be divided in two main sections: Merging Voices 2017 (MV 2017) and Merging Voices Africa Caribbean and Pacific (MV ACP).

The MV 2017 aims to proceed the success achieved on the first edition of the Merging Voices Project, continuing to foster the mutual enrichment, the transfer of know-how and best practices, contributing to the development of our global society, economy and culture.

This objectives will be met through mobility of students, professor and administrative staff. Mobility will continue to play a decisive role in the internationalization strategy of the institutions, and the new Merging Voices aims to reinforce it. The MV 2017 has added three Partner Countries to the project, Cambodia, Malaysia and New Zealand, which bring 4 new Higher Education Institutions (HEI). In addition, we also added 3 new HEI from countries that were already MV Partners in the 1^st edition of the project.

On the other hand, the MV ACP is a two week event that will occur in 2018 in the four Universities of the Portuguese Consortium. The Consortium will organize a Staff Training Programme, in Portugal, with members of 12 ACP countries: East Timor, Cameroon, Angola, Cape Verde, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Guyana, Madagascar, Mozambique, Seychelles, Tanzania and Uganda. Therefore, only incoming administrative staff is eligible for the MV ACP.

Scholarships:

MV 2017 Scholarships

The available scholarships for this call:

MV ACP Scholarships (only for incoming Administrative Staff for Training from the following countries and Higher Education Institutions)

The available scholarships are:

The ACP Training will be held at the 4 Portuguese Partner Universities of the Merging Voices Consortium from the 11^th until the 22^nd of March 2019.

Financial Support

Travel

Travel distances	Amount
Between 100 and 499 km	180 EUR per participant
Between 500 and 1999 km	275 EUR per participant
Between 2000 and 2999 km	360 EUR per participant
Between 3000 and 3999 km	530 EUR per participant
Between 4000 and 7999 km	820 EUR per participant
8000 km or more	1100 EUR per participant

Important Information: the "travel distance" represents the linear distance between the city where the university of origin and the city where the host university are located. This is calculated automatically by a website indicated by the European Commission and cannot be subject to any change. The financial support allocated to the "travel distance" is the maximum allowed by the Erasmus+ Programme and is intended to contribute to the round trip back between the home and host institutions. In the event that the assigned value is insufficient to pay for the desired trip, the scholarhip holder must find another sources of funding.

Stay

STUDENTS mobility (Studies - SMS)	Mobility periods: up to 6 months Origin Host Country Monthly allowance Eligible Partner Countries Portugal (Programme Country – Group 2) 800 EUR / month Programme Country Partner Country 650 EUR / month
STAFF mobility (Academic Staff- STA)	Mobility periods: 5 days The per diem amount for Staff: - From the programme countries to the partner countries: 160 EUR - From the partner countries to the programme countries: 120 EUR
STAFF mobility (Administrative Staff - STT)

Insurance

Every selected applicant will receive a health, accident and travel insurance valid during the entire mobility period provided by Universidade Nova de Lisboa.