The University of Oviedo leads an international meeting to promote student and teacher mobility within the Erasmus Mundus Action 2 program, which will begin next Thursday, 19th January, in Lebanon. The appointment will take place at the Lebanese American University (LAU) and will get a total of 19 European, Egyptian and Lebanese universities together. The Vice-rector for International Relations and Development Cooperation, Ana María Fernández, is going to travel to the Byblos Campus to coordinate the beginning of the program with the members of the consortium.

This is the first time that the Asturian academic institution takes an initiative set in the former denomination "External Cooperation Window" within the Erasmus Mundus program. Specifically, the MEDASTAR project (Mediterranean Area for Science Technology and Research) tries to promote teaching, scientific and cultural exchange among the participating countries.

In a period of 4 days, the people responsible for the participating centres will present their academic programs and will define the main points. The Spanish ambassador to Lebanon, Juan Carlos Gafo Acevedo, is due to participate in the opening session of the meeting.

4 million euros have gone to financing the action, in which seven European universities, apart from the University of Oviedo, are members. The startup is due to be for the 2012-13 academic year and it is estimated that around 190 students will benefit from this financial aid during the next three years.

The aim of this Erasmus Mundus is to mobilize students from Egypt and Lebanon which are taking undergraduate studies, master's degrees, PhD's or postdoctoral stays in any of the European universities taking part in the consortium: Oviedo, Goettingen (Germany), Sciences Po (France), Urife Universteil (Brussels), Karlsruhe (Germany), UCTM Sofia (Bulgaria), Uninetuno (Italy) and Msaryk Universit (The Czech Republic). The program also implies European teaching staff and student mobility to Egypt and Lebanon.