In Rabat, Morocco and the European Union signed a significant support program for higher education, research, innovation, and mobility worth 490 million dirhams.
The program aims to accelerate Morocco’s Higher Education System Transformation Plan (2030), focusing on enhancing Moroccan universities’ international stature in education, research, and innovation.
The program, signed by Moroccan Minister of Higher Education Abdellatif Miraoui and EU Ambassador to Morocco Patricia Llombart Cussac, includes a grant of 50.42 million dirhams to facilitate PhD students’ mobility to European universities.
This initiative aims to strengthen academic, scientific, and human connections between Moroccans and Europeans.
The signing ceremony took place alongside a reception for 27 new Moroccan recipients of Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree scholarships, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the program.
Ambassador Llombart Cussac highlighted the EU’s commitment to supporting Morocco’s ambitious plan to globalize higher education and advance research and innovation.
The program provides mobility opportunities for students, degree holders, researchers, and professors pursuing PhD theses, aligning with the Moroccan government’s vision for the higher education sector’s transformation by 2030.
The Erasmus Mundus program, now in its 20th year, has benefitted over 9 million participants worldwide. The new Moroccan scholarship recipients, comprising 27 students, including 20 women, will receive scholarships to pursue their master’s degrees at various European universities over the next two years.
Morocco stands as the second-largest partner country in the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree program in the Southern Mediterranean region.
A total of 181 Moroccan students have participated in 90 master’s courses across 30 European countries, supported by 20 Moroccan universities collaborating within the program.