Step 1: On-line application providing us with all the necessary information about your previous studies and results, your motivation, letters of recommendation, proof of your language skills, personal information,... . You have to upload PDF-copies of official documents (diploma, marks list,...). Keep in mind that if you receive a green light to continue registration you have to provide us with the original documents. If you receive documents from your university under closed envelope (e.g. marks list) please ask for 2 copies; one to be used now for uploading and one to be send in later (unopened).
Step 2: The TROPIMUNDO Selection Committee, the different university authorities and the European Commission will decide soon after the application deadline who can proceed with registration. As we have a limited amount of places available there are four options: (A) you are given permission to be admitted and you obtained a scholarship (conditions may apply), (B) you are given permission to be admitted but you did not obtain a scholarship (C) your file is admissible, but there are no more vacant places and you are put on the waiting list stating clearly your position on the list (1st, 2nd, 3rd,...), (D) you are not given permission to be admitted. If one or more of the students from category (A) decide not to proceed with enrollment they will be replaced by students from (B) and likewise for students from (B) being replaced by students from the waiting list in (C) taking into account the ranking order. By submitting an application, the applicant accepts that decisions of the Selection Committee, the university authorities and the European Commission are final and irrevocable.
Step 3: Enrolment. You will enrol at the three or four EU universities that are part of your Trajectory covering the full 2 year period. You will be asked to send in the necessary administrative documents which underpin your application. These documents will be officially authenticated diploma's (officially translated if necessary), transcripts of academic records, proof of proficiency in English (TOEFL or the like), statement of financial resources, APS Certificate for Chines applicants, etc.. . The exact documents which are required depend on the university where you enrol. It is only after the screening and approval of these documents by the registering university that you are officially accepted to the course.
WHERE WILL I REGISTER?
All applicants who received permission to proceed will be given clear information about the enrolment procedure at each of the participating universities. It will include a contact person for each institution through whom the enrolment procedure will be monitored. Keep also in mind that each university and trajectory has only a limited amount of places available. Throughout your studies you will be student of one to four institutions and you will be exchanged on the basis of International bilateral exchange agreements with the non-EU HEIs (S2). You have to pay your annual tuition fee only once, to the Coordinating Institution (ULB).
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST ME?
We refer to Section 2B for detailed information on the Tuition fees. The amounts charged may be subjected to change by university policies. The tuition fee gives you access to the courses and the facilities & services offered by the participating universities (reduced cost for meals, access to ICT & sports infrastructure, healthcare,...). You will pay only one fee a year to the Coordinating University (ULB) who will in turn take care about the financial flows to the other institutions within the TROPIMUNDO Consortium.
The tuition fess do not cover your travel, housing & subsistence cost, visits, fieldtrips,... We estimate that you will have to spend around 1000 EUR/month on top of the tuition fee, although some students do with less.
WHAT ABOUT HOUSING?
You will get accurate information on how to search for student housing in the different cities once you are accepted to the course. The international relation & housing departments and/or student unions of the different universities will guide you in this as well as the local coordinators of the course. You can also count on the mutual aid by alumni & students in their second year of the programme.
Additional information can already be found on studyinbelgium.be in Belgium, CampusFrance and 2e2f in France, study-in-italy.it in Italy or studentsville.it specifically for Florence, the University of Dschang univ-dschang.org and the Ministry of Higher Education website in Cameroon, Australian Education International / Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, studyinaustralia.gov.au in Australia, amongst others.
WHAT IF I DID NOT FINISH MY STUDIES YET?
No problem, we can give you a conditional green light. You should however be confident that you finish your studies in line with the results you have provided us with. If you do not, the scholarship and even the vacant place may not be attributed to you any more.
HOW MANY PLACES ARE AVAILABLE?
Each year the Selection Committee decides on the quotum, which will largely depend on the carrying capacity of the non-EU HEIs, and more specifically in the filed courses. For the cohort 2013 this is 45 places.
The Academic Board of the TROPIMUNDO programme has the right to change these numbers before and after the deadline.
VISA
If you are a non-EU resident than you most probably need a Visa. Contact us soon after you have been accepted to discuss Visa procedures. You should make your first entry to Belgium, France or Italy on a student visa and not a tourist visa, if you want to avoid long administrative procedures & risking to have to travel back to your home once your tourist visa expires.
Students that are passing through Belgium, please be aware that you need a Certificate of Good Conduct (also referred to as Police Clearance Certificate) covering 5 years prior to your visa application. This means that if you have resided officially in a country which is not your home country you will need it from the country visited for the period in which you lived there. It also means that you will need this certificate from your S2 country if you intend to visit Belgium in S3.
Students from China please keep in mind that you need an APS certificate. We advise you to contact us before contacting the Belgium or any other European embassy.
TENTATIVE TIMETABLE for 2013
Taking into account that the academic years of TROPIMUNDO run from September till September, this is a tentative time table for student intending to start the program in the year 2013:
OCTOBER 2012: opening of the call for applications: JANUARY 2013 (15/01/2013): deadline for submitting applications; FEBRUARY 2013: Selection Committee (SEL) meeting, ranking of candidates and reporting to the European Commission's Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA); APRIL 2013: publication of the results on acceptance, scholarship, waiting lists, etc...; MAY-JULY2013: visa and enrollment procedures; AUGUST 2013: arrival of students; SEPTEMBER 2013: settlement of students and start of first semester classes (S1) at ULB-VUB, UPMC-MNHN or UNIFI; JANUARY 2014: S1 exams; FEBRUARY 2014: start of second semester classes (S2) at UCP, UDsch or UQ; JUNE/JULY 2014: S2 exams; AUGUST 2014: holiday, Masters thesis fieldwork and/or exam resits; SEPTEMBER 2014: settlement of students and start of third semester classes (S3) at ULB-VUB, UPMC-MNHN or UNIFI; JANUARY 2015: S3 exams; FEBRUARY 2015: start of fourth semester including Masters thesis (S4) at at ULB-VUB, UPMC-MNHN or UNIFI; JUNE/JULY 2015: S4 exams and Masters thesis defence; AUGUST 2015: exam resits (incl. Masters thesis defence resit); ACADEMIC YEAR 2015-2016: degree-awarding ceremony, reception of graduation certificates, signing of official diplomas by all Rectors/Directors, reception of official diplomas by the students (this can be as late as August 2016).