There are some rules to respect for Erasmus Mundus grantholders in the MARES programme on the topic of mobility:

• Research/Training with MARES partners has to happen in at least 2 different European countries.
  • For Category B fellowshipholders, the countries visited during the MARES activities must be different from the country in which the doctoral candidate has obtained his/her last university degree
  • Additional note: candidates with a joint/multiple or double degree can be an exception to this rule: they can select the award country of their choice. (eg: if you for example have a degree awarded by both Ghent University and Bremen University, you can choose your award country: Belgium or Germany.) This means that with a joint degree you have more chance on eligibility for a certain PhD subject: you would be eligible for a topic that involves Bremen University, since you then have the option to choose Belgium / Ghent University as degree-awarding country of your master degree. 
• A research period has to take at least 6 months (not necessarily consecutive)
• You have to spend at least two thirds in Europe for the period covered by the fellowship
  • If the PhD topic you selected includes a third-country partner (a non European partner), then:
    • Category A fellowship holders can spend a period of maximum 1 semester (6 months) in a third country.
    • Category B fellowship holders can spend up to 1 year in a third-country.
    • Periods in excess of this duration cannot be covered by the MARES project.

The mandatory mobility periods will be announced in the original planning of the doctoral proposal and will be refined after the first month of the start of the doctoral study (when designing the detailed doctoral research proposal after intensive discussion between the candidate, supervisors and members of the doctoral guidance committee). 

---

Below are 2 examples that help explain these mobility regulations

Example: Institute A (the “home” institute) and B (the “second” institute) propose a doctoral topic to the MARES Scientific Board. The Board selects the topics based on the innovative and original content of the proposal but also on the relevance of the partnership and thus mobility. During the application procedure, the doctoral candidate applies for a topic and knows that he/she will reside most of the time at institute A and at least six months at institute B. When selected, the candidate will make a detailed planning of his/her mobility related to the relevance in the research topic and may as such decide together with his guidance committee to spend the time at institute B in year 2

Example 2: An Italian applicant (= Category B) has obtained his last university degree in Spain. This applicant is not eligible for a PhD topic where a Spanish partner is involved, as the mobility he plans on doing in MARES must exclude the country where he obtained his last university degree: Spain. However, if this last university degree were a joint/multiple or double degree from for example a Spanish and German university, then he is allowed to pick a PhD topic with either a Spanish or German partner, as this applicant is allowed to choose which country this last university degree pertains to. He cannot however pick a PhD topic with both a Spanish and German partner.

---

Below are 3 models of how your mobility could be organized and planned. These are just examples. Candidates are expected to plan their mobility at the start of their PhD. 

Model 1:




Model 2:


Model 3:


Legend: