Pakistani Engineer Awarded Fully Funded Erasmus Mundus Scholarship to Study Hydrogen Systems Across Italy and Norway

Starting from professional education, I did my bachelor’s in chemical engineering at NED University of Engineering and Technology, a renowned university in Pakistan. Then, I started my professional career working in a Crude Oil Refinery, after that I worked at a Chemical Manufacturing Plant, and then in an Oil & Gas Exploration and Production (E&P) company. Overall, I had more than 3.5 years of work experience before I joined the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Program in Hydrogen Systems and Enabling Technologies (HySET).

HySET is one of the few master’s degrees that are specific to the Hydrogen value chain. This program is related to the climate change issue,e which is being faced globally. Hydrogen is a part of the solution to the greenhouse gas emissions problem in the energy industry. In this program, you study in Milan, Italy, at Politecnico di Milano or in Turin, Italy, at Politecnico di Torino for the first two semesters, depending on your study track. Then, you get three choices for the third semester: Trondheim, Norway in NTNU or Eindhoven, Netherlands in TU/e, or Barcelona, Spain in UPC. I am currently in my 2^nd semester of studying at Politecnico di Milano and will be going to Trondheim for the 3^rd semester.

Educational Background

Academic Background is already mentioned above. It didn’t really “prepare” me for the multi-country experience. I believe that you can’t gain multi-country experience without actually going to other countries. Since I didn’t get any opportunity to go out of the country for anything, I didn’t have any multi-country experience from my academic background.

How Did You Prepare to Apply to the Institution?

For most of the programs, there is a proper guideline for the application, and they also provide the weightage of different factors like Academic achievements (grades), work experience, etc. I just followed the guidelines, and one thing that I did kind of differently is that I provided one Recommendation Letter from my office colleague and one from the university professor. Normally, students provide both letters from university professors, but I also provided from the company to validate my professional skills in addition to my academic skills.

How Did You Prepare to Apply for the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship?

The first thing that I did was to prepare for IELTS. Then, after doing IELTS, I started looking at different available scholarships. I chose Erasmus Mundus because it provides you with the opportunity to experience different European countries, and it gives you specific education on a topic that is currently trending in the world. Moreover, it doesn’t have any binding, which means that after completion of the degree, a candidate is free to choose whatever is best for him/her.

Could You Briefly Discuss the Erasmus Mundus Program You Pursued and the Specific Field of Study It Focused On?

Already discussed above in Question 1.

How Did the Cost of Living Vary Across the Countries You Studied In? Which Country Was the Most Affordable or Expensive, and How Did You Manage Financially?

I haven’t travelled to my second country yet, but I have information from my seniors about the expenses, which I can share. In this program, Italy is the cheapest country. Norway and the Netherlands are very expensive compared to Italy. Although Milan is the most expensive city in Italy, it is still cheaper than Norway and the Netherlands.

Did You Face Any Language Barriers, and if So, How Did You Overcome Them? Did the Language of Instruction Change From One Country to Another?

The language of instruction is English in almost all Erasmus Mundus Programs. If there’s some other language of instruction for a specific study track, they mention it on the website. Generally, in Italy, the language barrier is a big issue, but in Milan, which is the most international city in Italy, the language barrier is not really a big problem because many people speak English.

Would You Recommend the Erasmus Mundus Program to Others? What Advice Would You Give to Someone Considering This Scholarship?

Of course, I would recommend applying for Erasmus Mundus Programs. My advice is to review carefully the available programs in the Erasmus Mundus Catalogue and select the one that is extremely relevant to your background. Apply to 4,5 programs but set a higher priority for a single program that is highly related to your background and spend most of your time writing a motivation letter for that program. One more advice is to try to convince your professors to give you recommendation letters specific to the program.

Looking back, would you have done anything differently during your time in the program?

I wouldn’t say that I did everything perfectly. There’s always room for improvement. But for now, I don’t have any regrets, and I think I wouldn’t do anything differently even if given a chance to go back in time 😊