Erasmus+ is an EU Programme in the fields of education, training, youth and sports. It includes a strong international dimension (i.e. international cooperation with Partner Countries) notably in the fields of higher education and youth. Malaysia is one its partner countries.
In the field of higher education, Erasmus+ supports a few main Actions targeting cooperation with Partner Countries. These include the Jean Monnet activities which aim to stimulate teaching, research and reflection in the field of European Union studies worldwide.
In 2017, the Asia-Europe Institute (AEI), University of Malaya became the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (JMCoE). With this designation, the Asia-Europe Institute is now recognised as a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence for three years from 2017.
AEI envisions to enhance the field of EU and comparative regionalism studies in Malaysia through the JM CoE. The project is entitled: “ASEAN-EU in Dialogue: Learning from Each Other”.
The JMCoE work programme for the years 2017-2020 intends to sharpen the focus of AEI on ASEAN-EU Studies and to build domestic capacities both in research and teaching.
The work programme is based on three pillars of the ASEAN Community:
There are various activities planned for the three years and this year focuses on the theme of the economy in relation to both EU and ASEAN. Among the activities planned for this year are post-graduate workshops, ambassador series, roundtable discussions as well as school visits.
This is indeed a great achievement for the AEI as only 5 grants out of the 16 grants given out to institutions of higher learning in 2017 were awarded to those from non-EU countries - 1 each to USA, Switzerland, Turkey, New Zealand and Malaysia.
Last Update: 28/12/2021