The MUST Erasmus Programme

MUST Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Romanus Odhiambo, makes his presentation to Van Hall University Management

The Erasmus Programme (European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) is a European Union (EU) student exchange programme established in 1987. Erasmus+, or Erasmus Plus, is the new programme combining all the EU’s current schemes for education, training, youth and sport, which was started in January 2014.

Beside the more popular Student Mobility for Studies (SMS), the Erasmus+ programme promotes the teacher mobility (STA), by which University teachers can spend a short period, for a minimum of 2 teaching days and a maximum of 2 months, teaching at least 8 hours in a foreign partner University. The average and suggested stay is of 5 teaching days.

Through the FORQLAB project, Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST) and Egerton University are beneficiaries of the Erasmus + program for mobility of 5 members of the academic staff each. In June 2023, 5 members of staff from the two institutions visited the Netherlands as guest lecturers for 10 days.  Next year, 5 more members of staff will visit. The FORQLAB project partners with 4 Universities in the Netherlands namely: Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences, Inholland University of Applied Sciences, Aeres University of Applied Sciences, Has Hogeschool and Egerton University in Kenya. Two visiting professors in the Erasmus visit came from Meru University of Science and Technology whereas three came from Egerton University.

The beneficiaries included: Prof. Romanus Odhiambo the Vice-Chancellor of Meru University of Science and Technology, Dr. Beatrice Owiti from MUST, Prof. Alexander Kahi, Dr. Tobias Okeno and Mr. Wilson Munene Karimi all from Egerton University. All the 5 beneficiaries’ expenses were fully funded by Erasmus+. The activities during the visit included: Giving guest lectures, visiting Dairy and Horticulture farms, participation in student presentations, participation in the trade fair at Van Hall Larenstein University and visiting the institutions partnering in the FORQLAB project.

Working on a proposal for a new project