Applicant / Coordinating organization – organization that submits a grant application on behalf of a consortium, partnership or network of participating organizations. The applicant/coordinating organization represents and acts on behalf of the group of participating organizations in its relations with the Agency. If the grant application is selected, the applicant will become the main beneficiary (see definition of beneficiary below) and will sign the grant agreement on behalf of the participating organizations;
Associated partner – any organisation that can contribute to the promotion, implementation, monitoring, evaluation activities and/or sustainable development of an Action 1, 2 or 3 consortium/partnership, can be considered as an associated partner. This applies more specifically to socio-economic partners (i.e. commercial enterprises, public authorities or organisations, non-profit or charitable organisations, etc.), international organisations or in certain cases to third-country higher education institutions. In contrast to "full partners" (see definition below), associated partners are not entitled to benefit directly from the grant;
Bachelor student / undergraduate (student in first cycle) - a person enrolled in a first cycle higher education programme and who will obtain after the completion of the programme a first higher education degree;
Beneficiary and co-beneficiary – the beneficiary (also referred to as “main beneficiary” or “coordinating organisation”) is the organisation that, on behalf of the consortium / partnership / network of participating organisations, has signed an agreement with the Agency. The beneficiary has the primary legal responsibility towards the Agency for the proper execution of the agreement; it is also responsible for the overall and day-to-day coordination and management of the project in the partnership, consortium or network, and for the use of the EU funds allocated to the project. Only in the context of a “grant agreement with multiple beneficiaries” can full partners be considered as co-beneficiaries and include their expenditure in the final budget of the project. In all other circumstances, only the expenditure incurred by the main beneficiary and duly recorded in its accounts in accordance with the applicable accounting principles of the country where it is established can be considered as eligible; 
Coordinator / coordinating organisation: The coordinator is the project leader in the coordinating organisation. He/she acts as contact person for the Agency in all aspects related to the management of the project. The coordinating organisation is the organisation responsible for the overall management of the project in the partnership, consortium or network. The coordinating organisation usually acts as beneficiary (or main co-beneficiary) in the contractual and financial relations between the consortium, partnership or network and the Agency (see above);
Co-tutelle – joint supervision of doctoral studies by two universities from different countries; if successful, the doctoral candidate will be awarded a joint or double doctoral degree awarded by the two institutions;
Diploma Supplement – The Diploma Supplement model was developed by the European Commission, Council of Europe and UNESCO/CEPES. The purpose of the supplement is to provide sufficient independent data to improve the international ‘transparency’ and fair academic and professional recognition of qualifications (diplomas, degrees, certificates etc.). It is designed to provide a description of the nature, level, context, content and status of the studies that were pursued and successfully completed by the individual named on the original qualification to which this supplement is appended. It should be free from any value judgements, equivalence statements or suggestions about recognition;
Dissemination – a planned process of disseminating  information on the activities, outputs and results of programmes and projects to key actors and target groups. It occurs as and when the results of programmes and initiatives become available;
Doctoral candidate (candidate in third cycle) – an early-stage researcher at the beginning of his/her research career, starting at the date of obtaining the degree which would formally entitle him/her to embark on a doctoral programme;
Doctoral Candidate Agreement – an agreement signed by the consortium and the doctoral candidate enrolled in the joint doctorate programme explicitly indicating any academic, research, financial and administrative modalities related to the candidate's participation in the programme and, if applicable, the award and usage of the fellowship;
Doctoral programme (third cycle) – a research-related programme of higher education study and research that follows a higher education degree and leads to a fully recognised doctorate degree, offered by higher education institutions or, in those Member States where this is in accordance with national legislation and practice, by a research organisation;
Doctoral school – a research and pedagogical structure that groups and coordinates several research teams in the context of a coherent research project and organises and/or provides training activities for doctoral candidates and prepares them to their professional career.
Double or Multiple Degree - two or more national diplomas issued by two or more higher education institutions and recognised officially in the countries where the degree-awarding institutions are located;
Edition of a Joint Masters Course / Joint Doctorate Programme – the "edition" of an EMMC or EMJD corresponds to the complete duration of the joint course/programme from the enrolment of the students/doctoral candidates up to the award of their masters or doctoral degree; once selected, all individual EMMCs and EMJDs will be awarded a framework partnership agreement (see 4.5 or 5.5) covering five consecutive "editions" of the joint course/programme; each "edition" starts at the beginning of an academic year and ends one, two, three or four years later depending on the duration of the joint course/programme.
Employment Contracts: in the context of Erasmus Mundus "Action 1B – Joint Doctoral Programmes", "Employment contracts" refer to the doctoral candidates' recruitment method that guarantees adequate and equitable social security provisions (including sickness and parental benefits, health and accident insurance, pension rights and unemployment benefits) in accordance with existing national legislation and with national or sectoral collective bargaining agreements. Provided these conditions are met, EMJD consortia can opt for the most suitable enrolment framework.
EURAXESS – a portal containing useful information on the management of research activities as well as the recruitment of researchers; more information is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess.
European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) – a student-centred system aimed at facilitating students' mobility between different HEIs and based on the student workload required to achieve the objectives of a programme, objectives preferably specified in terms of the learning outcomes and competences to be acquired. More information is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc48_en.htm.
Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate (EMJD) Consortium Agreement – an agreement signed by all consortium full partners (and, if applicable, associated partners) clearly laying down for the joint doctoral programme the academic, research, administrative and financial rules and procedures in adherence with the rules and requirements as set out in the Erasmus Mundus programme;
Erasmus Mundus Masters Course (EMMC) Consortium Agreement– an agreement signed by all consortium full partners (and, if applicable,  associated partners) clearly laying down for the joint masters course the academic, administrative and financial rules and procedures in adherence with the rules and requirements as set out in the Erasmus Mundus programme;
Erasmus Mundus National Structures – Erasmus Mundus National Structures are contact and information points designated by the participating European countries; they inform the public about the programme, offer assistance and advice to potential applicants and actual participants and provide feedback on programme implementation to the Commission and the Agency; they can provide useful information about the particularities of national education systems, visa requirements, credit transfers, and other tools; they are consulted on the recognition of degrees, the eligibility of institutions and other quality elements related to the programme. See list of Erasmus Mundus National Structures under Chapter 8;
Enterprise – all undertakings engaged in economic activity in the public and private sector, whatever their size, legal status or the economic sector in which they operate, including the social economy;
European Qualification Framework (EQF) – acts as a translation device to make national qualifications more readable across Europe, promoting workers' and learners' mobility between countries and facilitating their lifelong learning; more information is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc44_en.htm;
"European country" – a country which is a Member State of the European Union or any other country which participates in the programme according to Article 9 of the Programme Decision (i.e. EEA countries; candidate countries with a pre-accession strategy, and potential candidate countries of Western Balkans and the Swiss Confederation, provided an agreement establishing their participation in the EM programme is in force by the date of the selection decision). Should this not be the case, HEIs from the country concerned will be considered as third-country organisations entitled to participate in projects as partners but not to submit or coordinate them, and their nationals considered as third-country nationals.
Please find below for each of the three Actions of the Programme, the list of "European countries" at the time of drafting the present version of the Programme Guide:

 
European individual  –  a person who is a national or a resident of a European country as specified above;
European institution – an institution which is located in any of the European countries as specified above;
Evaluation Committee – the committee in charge of drafting the selection proposal that will be subject of the formal grant award decision; the composition of the evaluation committee may vary from one action to another but it must be composed of at least three persons representing two different organisational entities with no hierarchical link between them. For Erasmus Mundus it is composed of representatives from the Agency and from the services concerned in the European Commission; for Action 1, this evaluation committee is assisted by a  Selection Board composed of leading figures from European academia proposed by the Member States of the EU and appointed by the Commission;
Exploitation of results consists of “mainstreaming” and “multiplication”. Mainstreaming is the planned process of transferring the successful results of programmes and initiatives to appropriate decision-makers in regulated local, regional, national and European systems. Multiplication is the planned process of convincing individual end-users to adopt and/or apply the results of programmes and initiatives;
Full Partner – any organisation fulfilling the Action-specific eligibility criteria, which acts as a full member of a consortium, partnership or project network. In contrast with "associated partners" (see definition above), full partners can benefit from the EU grant and – in close cooperation with the beneficiary – play a decisive role in the management and implementation of the project cooperation activities;
Higher education – all types of courses of study, or sets of courses of study, training or training for research at the post-secondary level which are recognized by the relevant national authorities of a participating country as belonging to its higher education system;
Higher Education Institution (HEI) – an establishment providing higher education and recognized by the competent national authority of a participating country as belonging to its system of higher education; for the purposes of Action 1 B - Joint Doctoral programmes, the concept of HEI includes also doctoral/graduate/research schools and research organisations on the condition that they provide doctoral training and research activities, and deliver doctorate degrees recognised as such by the relevant authorities of the country concerned;
Higher education staff – persons who, through their duties, are involved directly in the educational and/or administrative process related to higher education;
Joint degree – a single diploma issued by at least two higher education institutions offering an integrated programme and recognised officially in the countries where the degree-awarding institutions are located; in accordance with the Erasmus Mundus Programme Decision, “programmes resulting in the award of joint degrees shall be promoted”;
Marie Curie Initial Training Network – a European Commission-funded programme aimed to improve early-stage researchers' career prospects in both the public and private sectors, thereby making research careers more attractive to young people; more information can be obtained from http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/people/initial-training_en.html;
Masters programme (second cycle) – a second cycle higher education programme that follows a first degree or equivalent level of learning and that leads to a masters degree offered by a higher education institution and recognised as such by the relevant authorities of the country where the master degree is delivered.
Masters student (student in second cycle) – a person enrolled in a second cycle higher education programme and who has already obtained a first higher education degree or has a recognised equivalent level of learning according to national legislation and practices;
Memorandum of Understanding: a document that describes all the agreements reached between the partners with regard to all aspects related to the management of the partnerships and organisation of the mobility. It outlines the role and responsibility of the partners within the organisation concerning mobility activities, the procedure and criteria for the selection of candidates and the measures foreseen to tackle specific programme objectives such as recognition, quality assurance, prevention of brain drain and sustainability. It must also contain specific provisions in terms of financial management of the grant.
Mobility – moving physically to another country, in order to undertake study, work experience, research, other learning or teaching or research activity or related administrative activity, supported as appropriate by preparation in the host language;
Post-doctoral Programme – higher education study or research offered by a higher education institution or a research organisation established in accordance with national legislation and practice that follows a doctoral degree;
Promotion and awareness raising is used primarily in the context of publicising the existence of programmes and initiatives, their aims, objectives and activities and the availability of funding for given purposes;
Post-doctoral Researcher – an experienced researcher who is in possession of a doctoral degree or who has at least three years of full-time equivalent research experience, including the period of research training, at a research organisation established in accordance with national legislation and practice after obtaining the degree which formally allowed him/her to embark on a doctoral programme offered by higher education institution;
Scholar / academic – a person with outstanding academic and/or professional experience who lectures or conducts research in a higher education institution or a research organisation established in accordance with national legislation and practice;
Student Agreement – an agreement signed by the consortium and student enrolled in the joint masters course explicitly indicating any academic, financial and administrative modalities related to the student's participation in the joint course and, if applicable, the award and usage of the scholarship;
Third-country – a country which is not a European country as specified above;
Third-country individual – a person who is neither a national nor a resident of a European country as specified above;
Third-country institution – an institution that is not located in any of the European countries as specified above. The  countries participating in the Lifelong Learning Programme are not considered as third countries for the implementation of Action 2.
The co-beneficiary modalities apply to Action 3 projects.
The participation of third country organisations and/or nationals under Action 2 is directly linked to the geographical coverage of the specific losts concerned.