Accommodation

The sooner the better! We recommend beginning to look for accommodation for your second mobility period shortly after beginning the programme in Glasgow.

As the University is located in Glasgow’s West End, you may wish to look for accommodation in this area. Alternatively, you may wish to stay in the City Centre, which is just a short Subway ride from the University. The city has lots of other nice areas; however, transport to the University may be more difficult from some of these, so please check transport links before confirming your accommodation.

You should book accommodation during the summer before arriving in Glasgow.

No, the accommodation owned by University of Glasgow is only available to students who will be in Glasgow for the entire academic year.

Admissions

There are no Erasmus Mundus Scholarships this year – you can find self-funding opportunities here.

For applications received from 1st Oct 2023 – 31st Jan 2024: Applicants will be informed of outcome by 29th March 2024

For applications received after 31st Jan 2024: Applicants will be informed of outcome on a rolling basis.

After your application is submitted, it is reviewed by the University of Glasgow Admissions team, who assess it against the entry requirements. At this stage, GLOCAL consortium has no access to students applications and is unable to advise on issues regarding references, entry requirements, academic requirements, documents or other application errors. Therefore, please get in touch directly with the Postgraduate Admissions team at pgadmissions@glasgow.ac.uk

No, there is not.

The GLOCAL programme is dedicated to equality in all its activities.  We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and seek to create a learning environment that is free from discrimination and unfair treatment.  We fully engage with and subscribe to the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion principles and policies of the University of Glasgow, which can be found here.

No, you are not required to provide any hard copies of application documents to the University of Glasgow. All applications are made online and all supporting documents must be uploaded to your online application. Please note that we do not accept any applications or supporting documents via email.

You must provide any documents which are a condition of any conditional offer you hold. All documents must be uploaded to your online application. Please note that we do not accept any applications or supporting documents via email.

Please see our How to Apply page and our Step-by-Step Application Guide.

Please note that we cannot accept any applications by email, nor can we accept any application documents via email. All applications and all supporting documents must be submitted via the University of Glasgow’s online application portal.

There are two parts to how your application for GLOCAL is handled.

a. Your application for entry onto the programme is handled by the University of Glasgow’s Admissions office. The Admissions office will examine your application and decide whether to make an offer of entry to the programme.

b. Your application for the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship is handled separately, by the GLOCAL Consortium partners. All applications which are deemed by the University of Glasgow’s Admissions Office to have met the requirements to be awarded a conditional or unconditional offer of entry to the programme are reviewed and scored by GLOCAL staff at University of Glasgow and at the Consortium partner universities, according to the published selection criteria. This is a very thorough process in which all applications are scored by two academic members of staff in a first round of reviews, followed by the top scoring applicants being reviewed by all seven GLOCAL partner institutions and discussed at a final scholarship selection meeting. This results in a ranked list, from which the Erasmus Mundus scholarships are awarded.

Please note that no scholarship application results will be released until the official results release date specified in the selection timeline here and we are unable to provide detailed feedback or ranking positions.

You make your application to both the programme and the Erasmus Mundus scholarship as one application through the University of Glasgow’s online application system. You do not have to make separate applications for the programme and the scholarship.

The GLOCAL programme is open to a large variety of academic backgrounds.

The academic background requirements vary across study tracks. Please refer to our Entry Requirements page and Acceptable Academic Backgrounds document for further information.

You should read this information carefully before deciding to apply. It is then up to you to make the case in the Personal Statement section of the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship application form that your knowledge and experience fit with what we do.

Please note we cannot give individual advice on which study track you should choose.

Consultancy projects and internships

Yes, and we would encourage that.

These credit-bearing research internships are usually located in museums, research institutes or other universities. Students focus on particular projects and work with colleagues in those institutions. They may be aligned with the thesis workshop in which the student is enrolled. More details and examples of the previous Consultancy Projects can be found here.

hese consultancy projects have groups of three or four students working together on particular issues or research projects with mostly small-scale, third sector or public organisations in Barcelona. They take place either in January (before the second semester) or in June (at the end of the second semester). We strongly advise that at least one person in each group can speak Spanish. More details and examples of the previous Consultancy Projects can be found here.

All of our universities have internship support offices that you can access. Please refer to a dedicated part of our website for details on some of the opportunities. We do not advise that you undertake any internships in the first semester.

Dissertations

We expect you to have an idea of a topic or an area you would like to research for your dissertation. You should briefly identify it on your personal statement. However, we also expect that your dissertation idea will change and evolve throughout the programme, so do not worry about the specifics of your dissertation and dissertation supervisors at the time of application.

Some previous dissertation topics can be found here.

This depends on a number of factors, including whether you have a scholarship and whether you are a Partner-country or Programme-country student. In most cases, we expect students on tracks C and G to return to Glasgow for their fourth semester and to complete the dissertation there.

There may be slight variations and flexibility depending on your study track, but 15th January of your second year of study is the established deadline for notification of your dissertation topic.

The primary supervisor takes the lead and will be your first and closest advisor. They will usually be located in the university at which you spend your third and (if applicable) fourth semesters. The second and third supervisors will play smaller roles. We have this structure to maintain cross-university input and to ensure that you receive a range of advice and guidance. Where your supervisors are based will depend on which pathway you are on, please check our website for more information.

We try to match your interests with particular expertise as much as possible. This is not always possible, of course, but all supervisors are able to provide the required level of support and guidance to a broad range of topics.

Extracurricular activities and events

Yes. You will work hard, but living in and getting to know the various universities and cities in which you study is one of the important benefits of the GLOCAL programme.

The University of Glasgow has many sports and other opportunities to engage in student life. Further details of the sports activities, including membership costs, can be found here. Further information on life as a student in Glasgow is available here.

There are many opportunities to engage in the broader life of the universities and cities in which you will be studying. Sports, volunteering, internships, part-time jobs are all possible. One of the significant benefits of the GLOCAL programme is that you will live and study in (at least) three countries and that is central to the entire experience. We very much encourage you to immerse yourself in the life of the city in which you are living.

Financial issues

Depending on the regulations of your visa this may be permitted; however, given the demands of the programme, we do not recommend working alongside your studies if this is an option for you financially.

For Scholarship holders on track C and G:

You will receive scholarship payments for the first three months that you spend studying in Bogotá. We would recommend that you then return to Glasgow to complete your dissertation, as you would then be eligible to continue receiving your payments while in Glasgow.

For Scholarship holders on track D:

For Track D students who hold an Erasmus Mundus Partner country scholarship, the EACEA rules are that you may only receive stipend payments for three months. Japan is a Partner country, and Kyoto University rules mean that track D students must spend at least ten months in Japan to be awarded a degree.  In previous years, Kyoto University have agreed to provide a stipend for the remainder of the period of study and, while we cannot currently make that commitment, we expect this arrangement to continue.

Graduate opportunities

We have three graduating classes so far, who are engaged in a variety of careers – some are undertaking PhD study or academic research, some are working for private sector organisations, some in the public sector. The Glocal Alumni Association section of our website provides some insights into what our alumni are doing.

Yes. All of the universities offer PhD opportunities.

Health and wellbeing

Yes, you have the right to access the NHS while in the UK either as an EU citizen or under your UK visa as an international student. On arrival in the UK you should register with a GP practice.

Language classes

Language classes are available at all of our universities. At the moment, only specific languages are available free of charge or at discounted rates: Catalan in Barcelona, German in Göttingen, Swedish in Uppsala, Dutch in Rotterdam, etc.

Preparing over the summer

Some reading lists will be available once course registration begins in early August.

There is nothing specific that we ask you to do or look at to prepare for the start of the programme. If you can read The Economist or the Financial Times, that might provide you with the kind of current topics and thinking that we will engage with, but you really should not worry about this.

Programme content and assessment

There are a number of study trips in the programme, usually in the second year. Colleagues in Rotterdam, Göttingen, Kyoto and Los Andes arrange trips to a range of locations, institutions and companies as part of particular courses.

There are a number of types of assessment across the programme – group work, presentations, short and long essays. Because this is a Masters programme, there are few exams, but that will depend on the courses and options that you choose on your specific study track.

Yes – you will share some classes with other students, but there will also be others that are run specifically for GLOCAL students. This will depend on your study track and location.

Summer School

Yes, we will give careful thought to when the summer school is scheduled, so that all students can attend.

Visa information

Yes, you can travel on your EU passport throughout the programme. If you have dual nationality please inform us at socpol-glocal@glasgow.ac.uk.

Under new EU regulations, it should now be possible to apply for a study visa for any Schengen Area country up to six months in advance of arrival. This means that you can apply for your Spanish or Swedish study visa from your home country before coming to the UK. Details of the new regulations can be found here. If you are going to Spain in the second semester you should contact the local Spanish Embassy in your home country for details of how to apply. If you are going to Sweden in the second semester you can find details of how to apply for a residence permit for higher education on the Swedish Migration Agency’s website here.

If you obtain a UK Student Visa, this will allow you to apply for the UK Graduate Visa.

Your Student Visa will be valid for the entire two-year duration of the programme.
For the UK, you can apply for either a two-year Student Visa (valid for the duration of your studies) or a Standard Visitor Visa (valid for up to six months). We recommend that you apply for the Student Visa, because:

·         The Student Visa will be valid for the UK for the entire two-year duration of the programme. This also means that should any new travel restrictions arise to Spain or Sweden after the first semester, you will be able to remain in the UK until these are lifted.

·         Only Student Visa holders are eligible to apply for the UK post-study Graduate Visa

·         If you need to make any subsequent visa applications from within the UK, most Embassies will only accept applications from students who have a Student Visa. You can find all details on the Student Visa and Standard Visitor Visa application processes on the International Student Support Team’s webpage here.

You can begin your UK visa application once you have accepted an unconditional offer for the programme and received your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) letter or Short-Term Study Supporting Letter from the University of Glasgow Admissions team. You should be able to start your Spanish or Swedish visa application from six months ahead of arrival in those countries (so from July).

COVID-19 implications

Yes, if you are unable to travel to the UK in September due to demonstrable COVID-19 related reasons, you will still be eligible for your scholarship payments until such time as it is possible for you to travel to the UK.

The University of Glasgow offers a number of mental health and wellbeing support services. Details of many of these can be found on our Counselling and Psychological Services webpage. Please remember that you can also always reach out to one of the programme’s academic or professional services staff if you are struggling.

The insurance policy provided through Erasmus Mundus Travel Insurance offers cover for emergency healthcare. However, the policy does not include cancellation or curtailment cover, so if this is something you would like, you may wish to take out an additional policy.

There is much more to the GLOCAL experience than being in the classroom. Many of you will live in the same accommodation, and we will work very hard to ensure that you have the opportunity to meet with each other and share thoughts and ideas. This will begin, we hope, even before you arrive in Glasgow.

Yes, language classes will be available in Glasgow.

New legislation has recently come into effect in Scotland which allows you to give 28 days’ notice to quit your contract with any Purpose Built Student Accommodation provider for reasons related to COVID-19. Please note that these regulations do not apply to accommodation contracts taken out with a private landlord.

This will depend on current lockdown and social distancing regulations in your home country. You should check the website of your local UK Embassy. It is possible that you will experience some delays in the processing of your visa; however, normal processing times are around three weeks so there is still plenty of time for you to receive your visa in time for the start of term. If your visa application is delayed due to COVID-19 it will be possible for you to begin following the programme online and come physically to Glasgow once you receive your visa.

Yes, we expect the mobility periods in Barcelona and Uppsala to begin as planned.

Keep us informed of your plans. We expect you to make every effort to come to Glasgow but, if you are not able to do so, we will be flexible.

The UK government has introduced quarantine regulations for people traveling to the UK. Details on how these apply in Scotland can be found here.

Our expectation is that you will make every effort to travel to Glasgow. If you are prevented from doing so by a COVID-19 -related event, such as illness, travel restrictions or inability to secure a visa, then please contact us as soon as possible.

The University of Glasgow takes the safety of it staff and students very seriously. We are actively planning around room capacity, safe circulation, study spaces, timetables, cleaning regimes etc. Detailed plans and up-to-date information can be found here.