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Report on April Natura Meeting in Catania

Gregory Vaughan [mail: gsvaughan@gmail.com ]

Hello everyone,

I’m back from a beautiful week in Catania. Apart from hiking on Mt. Etna, spending time with the Catania M1 professors and students, and eating great Sicilian food, I participated as the student representative in meetings of the Agris Mundus coordinating committee and Natura, the association that gave birth to the Agris Mundus program. I presented to them the most important concerns I was aware of from the student representatives of each M1, and we talked about future needs and ideas for the students of Agris Mundus. Here are the results (our tasks as students are highlighted in yellow):

· Current Issues
o Visas
o Language Classes
o Thesis
· Possible Future Topics
o Evaluations
o M2 Lodging
o Scholarships
o Representatives
o Health and Insurance



Current Issues

Visa requirements and procedures
Now is the time to start working on getting our visas for the M2 country. Each student should consult with the embassy or a consulate of the M2 country in the M1 country in order to learn the exact requirements for your student visa for next year (for example, if you’re in Cork and will go to Montpellier next year, you should get in touch with the French consulate in Cork, or the French embassy in Dublin). At the same time, we need to send our full name, birthdate, passport number, and nationality to the coordinator of our M2 university as soon as possible so that the university can send us an acceptance letter, which will be one of the requirements for the visa. Each university will send this letter to us by May 15th. If you have an urgent situation and need the letter before then, please say so to the M2 coordinator when you write them. The coordinators are the following:

Catania—Carmelo Rapisarda, rapicar@unict.it
Copenhagen—Henning Jensen, hhj@life.kv.dk
Cork—Eamon Lenihan, elenihan@ucc.ie
Montpellier—Didier Pillot, pillot@cnearc.fr


Language Classes
There will be language classes provided before the start of classes in Catania, Cork, and Montpellier. Courses in Montpellier go from July 2 to the end of July. They are free, but students must provide for lodging on their own, which will cost up to 250€ for the month. Courses in Cork go from July 2 to August 24 and can be taken for either 15 or 21 hours weekly, though I am not sure about whether and how much Agris Mundus students will need to pay for the courses and lodging. More information for Cork is available at http://www.ucc.ie/en/DepartmentsCentresandUnits/LanguageCentre/SummerSchool/. News is not yet available on the Catania classes. Contact the coordinator of your M2 university for more information and to enroll in the classes.


Thesis and Links with the M2 Universities
There have already been visits from the M2 coordinators to some M1 universities, and there will be more this month. These visits are the chance for each student to talk about his or her ideas for the thesis and how to coordinate it with both universities. However, in addition to the visits it’s advisable to get in touch with your M2 coordinator individually by email. There are no previewed visits from the Cork coordination to Madrid, or from the Copenhagen coordination to Cork, so students following those tracks will definitely have to contact the coordinators individually to talk about their thesis ideas.
Another thing that will be useful for the M2 coordinators is for the students of each M1 university to send a summary of the skills they have acquired in their M1 to the M2 coordinator so he can adjust the content of the M2 courses to fit better with the students’ needs and prior knowledge.

Possible Topics for the Future

Evaluations
The idea was proposed that each M1 group do an evaluation of their M1 program at the end of the school year. This evaluation would offer comments and critiques of various aspects of the first year at the M1 university on themes like administration, work load, academic quality, and anything else the group thinks is appropriate. It would be a chance to improve next year’s version of the program. If this seems like a good idea to you and you are willing to take charge of doing a student evaluation at your university, contact me to exchange ideas on methodology and how best to communicate the results to the M1 or Agris Mundus coordination.


Scholarships
There are a number of us who do not have Erasmus Mundus scholarships. If anybody is doing or would like to do a scholarship search, please communicate the results to me so that we can post any possible scholarships on the student website and share them amongst each other.


M2 Lodging
A number of you have contacted me regarding help with lodging for the M2 city. I don’t have any inside knowledge of lodging options, but I would recommend getting in touch with Agris Mundus students who are spending their M1 in the city where you will do your M2 to get any advice. Also, http://www.craigslist.com/ is very useful. It has pages for many major cities in Europe where you can look for apartments.


Representatives
For me an issue this year has been that we never clearly defined the role of the representatives and what their duties are. It is proposed that at the Research Methodology Workshop this August in Montpellier we have a meeting to talk about what we expect from the representatives, as well as to elect new representatives.


Health and Insurance
Another proposal is that we put together a report on how the social security systems work in each country, how the private Agris Mundus insurance works, and possible alternatives to this private insurance. This report would be an investigative project undertaken by one student. Didier and I need to discuss what the general format of this report should be, but once we have decided on that, we will publicize the opportunity and have a call for proposals.

Summary of Agris Mundus technical visit to Morocco

5th – 11th April 2007, Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire (IAV) Hassan II

A technical visit was undertaken to Morocco on the above-mentioned dates. The rationale behind the visit was basically to strengthen the existing partnership and collaboration between Agris Mundus and the IAV Hassan II. These could be obtained through the following ways:
Envisaging the possibility of implementing an Agris Mundus Master thesis in Morocco, considering that as Agris Mundus students we are encouraged to develop our Master thesis in third Countries
Presenting the whole Agris Mundus project to all IAV students
Paying a visit to a number of livestock production systems in Morocco


The two of us (Hajer and Lawrens) used the savings from our scholarships to cater for expenditures incurred during the trip while Valeria, a European student studying without an Agris Mundus bursary, was financially supported by a grant under the framework of the so-called Action 3.

The places we visited during our short stay in Morocco include among others the following:

1) Argan tree farming
We visited the livestock production systems in the south-western regions where the so-called Argania spinosa tree is endemic and predominant. This tree serves as an important and main source of food for livestock and in particular goats, as made possible by their feeding habits and their adaptability to harsh environmental conditions. We were overwhelmed by the importance of this tree in supporting the lives of local people as the only source of food for their goats. Hence, we were keen to conduct a possible research thesis concentrating on the effect of Argan tree on some important production traits.



2) “Coopérative Ajddigue, Tidzi”
We visited the “Coopérative Ajddigue, Tidzi”, a cooperative composed of local women in the Essaouira district. They extract oil from argan fruits. This oil is utilized mainly for the production of cosmetic products. The by-products deriving from the oil extraction process are used as feed for livestock. We were very impressed by the initiative taken by the women in this district since they use some traditional equipment and also some new state-of-the-art technologies to extract oil from the Argan fruit.

3) Dairy farms
We visited a number of dairy farms in Morocco. At these farms, we had the opportunity to see and observe not only the livestock under production but also the design of agricultural buildings and structures. We could also see the use of traditional and locally available material such as clay and straw. The use of this material was important not only because it is economically cheap but also because they have the desired thermal insulation properties.

4) Visit and presentation at IAV Hassan II
Presentations were carried out at IAV Hassan II. We started with the presentation by Prof. Biondi. In her presentation, she focused on the findings of some of the numerous research trials conducted by the Department of Animal Production of the University of Catania. The audience consisted mainly of the 5th year Animal Production students from IVA Hassan II.

Then, we were accorded an opportunity of doing a presentation focusing on the ‘Agris Mundus Master of Science degree in Sustainable Development in Agriculture’ as offered by the various European institutions involved. Approximately 50 students attended this session, coming from a broad spectrum of fields within the agricultural sector.

ERASMUS MUNDUS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

Dear Erasmus Mundus students and graduates,
Today you are receiving the first number of the Erasmus Mundus Alumni Newsletter, a service provided for all Erasmus Mundus students and graduates.
The EMA Newsletter is planned to appear approximately every six weeks, featuring news about the Erasmus Mundus scheme, the Erasmus Mundus Alumni Association (EMA), as well as general news about higher education in Europe.
Please note that this service is still under development. In the future you will have the possibility to define your profile and choose the newsletter categories you are most interested in (you will then only receive the articles corresponding to the categories you have chosen), as well as the possibility to unsubscribe from the newsletter service .
We would like to remind you that you are welcome to register to the EMA website, at www.erasmusmundusalumni.eu.
Those of you who have followed the preparation of the EMA since the beginning will already be familiar with the information contained in some of the newsletter articles. However, we wanted to make sure that this information reaches every one of you, and hence decided to make this first edition as comprehensive as possible.
Enjoy the EMA Newsletter, and please don't forget to answer to our short survey at the end of this issue. Your replies will help us develop and improve this service in conformity with your own needs and preferences!
Kind regards
Mihaela Ostafe

Project Officer
e-mail: mihaela.ostafe(at)aca-secretariat.be

Newsletter N1

Hello everyone--
I wanted to give you a few updates on issues relevant to the Agris Mundus group. First of all, I want to remind you all that if you have any problems, questions, or ideas, please don磘 hesitate to relate these to me or your M1 program representative. Secondly, I want to announce that Claudio will be the representative for questions relating directly to the Erasmus Mundus scholarships. In this capacity, he will at some point have a meeting with people from the larger Erasmus Mundus structure in Brussels, Belgium. This is to say that if you have any ideas or complaints specifically regarding the administration of your scholarships, tell them to Claudio so he can make your concerns heard in Brussels. I also want to tell everyone that we would like to make this page into something more official. Who knows how far in the future this will be, but ideally it would consist of a page with our own domain name and a much more in-depth, accessible setup. Again, if you have any opinions or input regarding this, please email me or Claudio. And lastly, I want to thank everyone for your stories and pictures from the orientation week. As you read this, Michele Issaly is putting together a CD album of the photos, and the Natura newsletter should be coming out shortly with three stories contributed by Agris Mundus students.
I hope everyone is doing well in your new homes, new classes, and new experiences.
Greg

From Claudio Valenzuela, Madrid

After Montpellier, the group from the Madrid M1 had about a month to get settled in or travel a bit, and on October 4th we started classes. First is a few weeks of orientation for the Polytechnic University of Madrid and the School of Projects and Rural Planning to which we belong, then we will join another group of students from the Fundaci髇 Carolina.
On a more personal note, the search for an apartment was not easy for anyone, especially considering that Madrid is one of Europe磗 most expensive capitals. Now that we are settled in, we can start this new adventure which will surely be beneficial for us all.


From Aditi Vidyarthi, Cork

It is a wonderful experience to live in Cork, Ireland. Cork City is Ireland’s third largest city and an important center of industry and trade. It is also a busy seaport. The land area is scenic. The islands in the swamps estuary of the River Lee and the gradual climb up the steep banks on either side make the surroundings beautiful. The river flows through Cork City in two channels, so that you find yourself constantly crossing bridges.

University College Cork is a prominent center of education with a lot of natural beauty. We have eminent persons in the faculty and an excellent support and guidance system for international students

After our orientation in Montpellier, I arrived in Cork on 28th August. Our classes were scheduled to begin from 28th September. Thus we had enough time to settle down comfortably though searching for the accommodation was not an easy job.

We planned a trip to West Coast of Ireland. This was a wonderful trip and we got an opportunity to see Ireland’s magnificent topography.

On 26th September, registration for the Post Graduate diploma course began. This was followed by a series of events like international students orientation, introduction to college, clubs and society. We began our classes from 28th September when we were introduced to our faculty and the course. We have now entered a new phase of life which will be both challenging and rewarding.

Newsletter

Photos from the orientation week:

Student Research

This section could be a opportunty to
publish our work

Themes:

• Agricultural Systems Research and Development
• Horticultural crops management
• Livestock farming systems management
• Tropical rural forestry
• Land and water management
• Human Nutrition and Food Systems
• Rural Local Development
• Food Security
• Territorial Development

Practical Information

Bank account

Bank LCL (Code Agence: 3000)

• Contact LCL, Sophie ARNIHAC, Conseiller Clientele LCL, #0820 823 001

Allocation of the Erasmus Mundus Scholarships

• August 06: 3000 Euros
• Sept 06 -Feb 08: 1000 Euros/Month
• Marsh 08: 3000 Euros
• April 08-June08: 1000 Euros/Month

Erasmus Mundus Insurance Scheme

• Tel 32 2 5419131, Fax 32 2 5337775

Information from M1

Wageningen University, Netherland

• Rent apartments:
• Tourism information:
• Others:
• Contact

Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark

• Rent apartments
• Tourism information
• Others
• Contact

University College Cork, Irland

• Rent apartments
• Tourism information
• Others
• Contact

Universita degli Studi de Catania, Italy

• Rent apartments
• Tourism information
• Others
• Contact

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain

• Rent apartments
• Tourism information
• Others
• Contact

Centre National d´Etudes Agronomiques des Regions Chaude, France

• Rent apartment
• Tourism information
• Others
• Contact

Teachers

Name: ANDRE Giselle
Country:France
Mail: andre@cnearc.fr
Telephone:
Skype:
Personal Blogger:
Institution:Agropolis, CNEARC





Name:BOULIER Fabien
Country:France
Mail: boulier@agropolis.fr
Telephone: 3304670467047564
Skype:
Personal Blogger:
Institution:Agropolis International, CNEARC

Name:DE LOS RIOS Ignacio
Country:Spain
Mail: ignacio.delosrios@upm.es
Telephone: 34 91 336 58 38
Skype:
Personal Blogger:
Institution: Universidad Politecnica de Madrid

Name:FITZGIBBON Mike
Country:Ireland
Mail: csl@ucc.ie
Telephone:
Skype:
Messanger:
Personal Blogger:
Institution: University of Cork

Name: HUIBERS Frans
Country: Netherlands
Mail: frans.huibers@wur.nl
Telephone:
Skype:
Personal Blogger:
Institution: Wageningen University and Reasearch Centre



Name:JENSEN Henning
Country:Denmark
Mail: hhj@kvl.dk
Telephone: 45 35283391
Skype:
Personal Blogger:
Institution: The royal Veterinary and Agricultural University

Name:PILLOT Didier
Country:France
Mail: pillot@cnearc.fr
Telephone: 330 467617069
Skype:
Messanger:
Personal Blogger:
Institution: Agropolis, CNEARC

Name:PRIOLO Alessandro
Country:Italy
Mail: apriolo@unict.it
Telephone:
Skype:
Personal Blogger:
Institution: Universita degli Studi di Catania

Name:RAPISARDA Carmelo
Country:Italy
Mail: rapicar@unict.it
Telephone: 390957147365
Skype:
Personal Blogger:
Institution: Natura President and Universita degli Studi di Catania

Students

Name: ANDRONICO Valeria
Country : Italian
Mail:valeriaandronico@hotmail.com
Telephone :
Skype :
Messanger :
Personal blogger :
M1/M2

Name: ACHEAMPONG Ernest Nti
Country: Ghana
Mail: Ghana
Telephone
Skype
Messanger
Personal Blogger
M1/M2 Wageningen/Montpellier






Name: AZURMENDI Henry
Country : Chilean
Mail:henryazurmendi@gmail.com
Telephone : 34 657259030
Skype : yes (henry azurmendi)
Messanger : henryazurmendi@hotmail.com
Personal Blogger : http://henryazurmendi.spaces.live.com/
M1/M2 : Madrid/Cork

Name: BUDAK Adalet
Country: Turkish
Mail:budakadalet@yahoo.com
Telephone 45 26654046
Skype
Messanger adaletbudak@hotmail.com
Personal Blogger :
M1/M2 Copenhagen/Montpellier

Name: CANTOS Inigo
Country: Spanish
Mail: cantosfiguerola@gmail.com
Telephone
Skype
Messanger
Personal Blogger :
M1/M2

Name: CASTILLO Francisco
Country: Spanish
Mail:francas25@hotmail.com
Telephone
Skype
Messanger
Personal Blogger :
M1/M2


Name: CHONG Wan Kian
Country: Malaysian
Mail: wankian@gmail.com
Telephone
Skype
Messanger chong_wan_kian@hotmail.com
Personal Blogger :
M1/M2: Cork/Montpellier


Name: CHONGTHAM Iman Raj
Country : Indian
Mail:imanraj3@yahoo.com
Telephone:
Skype:
Messanger :
Persnal blogger :
M1/M2 :

Name: GABALDON Araceli
Country: Spanish
Mail: aragamar@yahoo.es
Telephone 34912297284
Skype
Messanger
Personal Blogger :
M1/M2 Madrid/Montpellier

Name:GLORIA Onika
Country:Uganda
Mail:gloriaonika@yahoo.com
Telephone:353879278486
Skype:
Messanger
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2 Irland/Montpellier





Name DIAZ PEREZ Myriam
Country: Spanish
Mail: myriam_pd@hotmail.com
Skype:
Messanger
Personal Blogger
M1/M2: Madrid/Montpellier







Name: GANADALU Harsha Kumar
Country: Indian
Mail: harshagowda_38@yahoo.com
Telephone:
Skype:
Messanger:
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2:


Name:GIOSEFFI Elena
Country: Italian
Mail:elena_gioseffi@yahoo.it
Telephone: 45 30590431
Skype: yes / buzzichecozza
Messanger: buzzicozza@hotmail.com
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2: KVL (Denmark)/Catania (Italy)


Name: HASSANUDDIN Aditiawarman
Country: Indonesian
Mail:adoet_coy@yahoo.com
Telephone:
Skype:
Messanger:
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2:


Name: HUQ Mst Asma
Country: Bangladeshi
Mail:asma7206473@yahoo.com
Telephone:
Skype:
Messanger:
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2:


Name:KARUMENDU Lawrens
Country:Namibian
Mail:lukarumendu@yahoo.com
Telephone:
Skype:
Messanger:
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2:

Name: KHELIL Hager
Country: Tunisian
Mail: khelilhager@yahoo.fr
Telephone:
Skype:
Messanger:
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2:



Name:KRISHNAKUMAR Thulasimani
Country: India
Mail:krishnakumar_meag@yahoo.co.in
Telephone: 003530857752309
Skype:
Messanger: krishnakumar_meag@yahoo.co.in
MI/M2: UCC/KVL



Name: LIN Doudou
Country: Chinese
Mail: potato9192000@yahoo.com.cn
Telephone:
Skype:
Messanger:
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2:



Name: LY Proyuth
Country: Cambodian
Mail:lyproyuth@yahoo.fr
Telephone:
Skype:
Messanger:
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2: Denmark/France

Name: PROMOCHOTE Parichart
Country:Thai
Mail:prpc@dsr.kvl.dk
Telephone: 45 25926810
Skype: yes/ ppnoidk
Messanger:
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2: Denmark/France

Name: RAUTRAY Anil
Country:Indian
Mail:an_routray@yahoo.com
Telephone:
Skype:
Messanger:
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2:

Name: REY Jonathan
Country: France
Mail:reyjona@gmail.com
Telephone: 45 51352045
Skype: jorey04
Messanger: http://correo.uc.cl/mail/src/compose.php?send_to=reyjone%40gmail.com
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2: Denmark/Italy

Name:SONGSRI Wirat
Country:Thai
Mail:doung_w@yahoo.com
Telephone:
Skype:
Messanger: doung_w@yahoo.com
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2: Holland/Denmark

Name: TESFAY Neguse Haile
Country: Ethiopian
Mail:negusehaile1@yahoo.com
Telephone:
Skype: yes negie2006
Messanger:
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2: Wagering/Montpellier (International Land and Water Management: Agricultural Research Systems Development)


Name : TORRES Carolina
Country: Colombian
Mail: sctorresl@yahoo.com
Telephone:
Skype:
Messanger: sctorresl@yahoo.com
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2: Madrid/Cork


Name: TIBU Austin
Country:Malawian
Mail:austintibu@yahoo.com
Telephone:
Skype:
Messanger:
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2:

Name: URBINA Juan Alberto
Country: Nicaraguan
Mail:u.alberto@gmail.com
Telephone:
Skype:
Messanger:
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2:


Name:VALDIVIA Elena
Country:Spanish
Mail:helena.valdivia@gmail.com
Telephone: 34 91 3657722
Skype: yes
Messanger: ribull@hotmail.com
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2: Spain M1/Ireland M2

Name: VAUGHAN Gregory
Country:USA
Mail:gvaughan@email.com
Telephone: 34 678231920
Skype:
Messanger:
Personal Blogger: www.blog.myspace.com/gsav82
M1/M2: Madrid/Montpellier


Name: VALENZUELA CHADWICK Claudio
Country : Chilean
Mail : claudiovalen@puc.cl
Telephone: 34 653235453
Skype: YES
Messanger: claudiovalen77@hotmail.com
Personal Bogger:
M1/M2: Spain/Irland

Name:VIDYARTHI Aditi
Country:India
Mail:aditividyarthi@gmail.com
Telephone:
Skype:
Messanger:
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2:

Name:ZHANG Nan
Country: Chinese
Mail:nannanbuzhi@hotmail.com
Telephone:
Skype:
Messanger:
Personal Blogger:
M1/M2: