ERASMUS MUNDUS Joint Master Degree Program in Big Data Management and Analytics (BDMA)

Either for government bodies or private industries, data is very significant for designing programs or taking a decision. Therefore, data management and analysis is a very rapidly growing sector and a wonderful opportunity for youths.

If you are a graduate in computer science or closely related subjects and interested to pursue further higher studies in Big Data, ERASMUS MUNDUS Master in Big Data Management and Analytics may be handy for you.

BDMA is a two-year (120 ECTS credits) fully-funded Master’s program conducted across five institutions. It is a unique program that fully covers all of the data management and analytics aspects of Big Data (BD), built on top of Business Intelligence (BI) foundations, and complemented with horizontal skills. It has been jointly designed and adheres to international studies, being structured to cover all the skills BI and BD specialists require. Check out the detailed Course Content.

Benefits: 

The scholarship covers program participation cost, monthly allowance, and travel costs up to a total of 49,000 euros. (Two categories of scholarship are available for program and partner countries)

Check the following link for scholarship details: Tuition Fees & Scholarships

• Full tuition fees
• 1,000 euro per month allowance as support for housing and general subsistence
• Travel allowance up to 3,000 euro year 
• A one-time installation contribution of 1,000 euro for Partner Country Students

Host Country: Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain

Host Institution(s): Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) (coordinating institution), Università di Padova (UniPD), Centrale Supelec (CS), Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (TU/e), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC-Barcelona Tech). Check out the given table for program structure:

Note: Selected student must attend a minimum of two host institutions

Application Timeline:

The application window starts from the first week of October. The deadline for students applying for the Erasmus Mundus scholarship is December 15. However, international students (Except EU) applying as self-funded students can submit the application by April 30. The details for the application timeline is given in the following link: Admission

Eligibility Criteria:

• Citizens of all nationalities can apply to the BDMA Master Programme
• Candidates should have a Bachelor’s Degree with a major in Computer Science from the University listed in World Higher Education Database / World University Rankings  / QS World University Rankings / Academic Ranking of World Universities
• Candidates transcript must be able to demonstrate basic science training in mathematics and/or statistics, life science and social science and/or rural development and/or economics
• Language requirements: Equivalent to level B2 in the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). Below is the list of tests and grades required.
  • TOEFL IBT 72
  • TOEFL PBT 570
  • TOEFL CBT 230
  • Academic IELTS 5.5 overall score with a minimum score of 6.0 for writing
  • ICFE B2 
  • ILEC B2
  • BULATS 60

Important Actions to Start:

 Check the Application manual for detailed procedures. A candidate is supposed to prepare the given list of documents before s/he prepares the online application form.

1. Photo (Recent personal photo, passport size, jpg/jpeg/png/gif formats)
2. Cover Letter (Similar to Letter of Motivation and has to be in PDF format)
3. Passport (Scanned copy in PDF format showing your name, birth name, birthplace, validity, sex, signature, passport number)
4. Bachelor Degree (Certified English translation of your Bachelor Degree in PDF format)
5. Official Transcripts translated into English (PDF format)
6. Self-evaluation for the main Bachelor
7. Other Bachelor/Master Certificates
8. CV (PDF format and Europass CV format is preferred)
9. Letter of Recommendations (You are supposed to get three letters of recommendation from your professors, internship supervisors, thesis supervisors, employers)
10. English Language Proficiency Certificate

Once you prepare the given list of documents, please do fill up the online application form in the given link: Online Application Form.

After you submit the application, the admission team will inform you about your selection through email and you can send the paper documents as notified by the admission committee.

For the details about the program, tuition and scholarship, and application, you can always refer to the official IMRD website: BDMA – Big Data Management and Analytics

For admission-related questions, candidate can approach bdma_admissions@cs.ulb.ac.be

Gagan Gautam

Gagan Gautam is a UNICEF Fellow at the Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas, IIT Bombay. He is passionate about working with the community for developmental activities in Nepal and South Asia.