A webinar was held as a component of the fifth edition of the European Higher Education Virtual Fair India 2020 (EHEVF) starting from 25th to 27th November 2020. The pool of Indian students was witnessed in the webinar despite the ongoing pandemic.

It was noticed that more than 9000 Indian students participated in interactive webinars. They had a good interaction with European universities to explore opportunities and options for higher education in 2021 in the European Union Member States.

European Higher Education Virtual Fair India 2020

The Virtual Fair offered a unique opportunity to interact directly with European universities to know the opportunities for gaining a better higher education at an affordable cost. Total of 21 countries participated in this European Webinar. The following countries participated:
 

Belgium	Bulgaria	Cyprus
Czechia	Denmark	Estonia
Finland	France	Germany
Hungary	Ireland	Italy
Latvia	Lithuania	Netherlands
Poland	Portugal	Slovakia
Slovenia	Spain	Sweden

The colleges and universities addressed inquiries from students identified with visas, scholarships and application occasions to the European colleges and openings for work during and post-graduation.

Highlights of the webinar

The series of webinars in this 3-day programme concentrated on 

• IT and Engineering,
• Business and management, 
• Natural sciences and liberal arts 
• Social sciences. 

The webinar highlighted the many benefits of Europe as a high standard higher education destination, to potential international students, researchers, and academics across India.

Scholarships for Indian students at European Universities

Other than opportunities at the level of the EU Member States, the EU (European Union) offers scholarship programs to Indian students. It allows students to obtain a master’s degree by visiting two or more Member States during the study period. It will help to gain the cultural diversity experience from studying in Europe.

M Adrian Veale, policy officer, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Commission, Brussels cheered up the students by saying that though the current Erasmus+ scholarships programme was coming to an end in December 2020, a new scholarship programme will be introduced for the next seven years in the coming months by the European Union. 

He also assured that there will be a continuation in offering the famous Erasmus Mundus scholarship to Indian students. These scholarship opportunities can help those Indian students who are unable to afford abroad studies.

Benefits of Studying in Europe

In the last 5 years, the number of Indians studying in Europe has consistently increased. It is because of the increased efforts of the European Member States to greet the Indian students, as part of their overall partnership with India. The main reasons to study in Europe is are:

• Europe offers world-class education and research.
• There is a wide range of universities in Europe, offering around tens of thousands of study programmes.
• Compared to the countries like the USA, Canada or Australia, the tuition fees at most of the public universities in Europe are affordable.
• The higher education systems of European nations are well-respected and aligned
• There are several thousand Bachelors and Masters in English that you can choose from.
• The countries in Europe have lots of scholarship opportunities and other options for financial support for international students during their studies.

Conclusion

The students expressed their interest in all areas, valuing the combination of education and research in European higher education and global exposure. The successful completion of the European Higher Education Virtual Fair India is standing evidence of the interest among Indian students to looking forward for gaining advanced education in Europe.