Hello Everyone,

My name is Ali Samoo, and I have been granted the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship for the 4CITIES Masters in Urban Studies Program, starting September 2023. Hailing from Hyderabad, and having done my undergraduate in Karachi as a first generation college going student, I am really grateful to now be a prospective graduate student in Europe. As one of only 20 students, globally, to have been awarded this scholarship, it excites and burdens me at the same time to pursue this degree. While the scholarship is a full ride, I have to manage certain pre-departure and immediate placement expenses on my own. Therefore, I am putting out a call to help me raise this amount so I can pursue the goal of getting a masters in Urban Studies.

Over the past few years, I have been working in climate change research with a particular focus on Sindh’s climate history. Through my research work, I have worked on Karachi’s infrastructural design and the ways in which it is situated in the climate crisis that the world is going through today. My focus on Sindh is primarily because it is my homeland and secondly due to the precarity that this region faces under a globally changing climate. The record-breaking floods from last year are testament to this vulnerability. Through my training in Urban Studies and my focus on climate research, this masters programme will help me look for frameworks, policies, and methods through which climate adaptability and resilience can be sought for wider Sindh.

With the given scholarship from 4Cities, I have received a total package amounting to €49,000. However, I have calculated a total amount of €5000/$5500 of pre-departure expenses for myself that the program does not account for. These expenses include my travel from Karachi to Brussels in August, VISA applications, advance payment of housing deposits, and expenses for the first month in Brussels.

This program will allow me to live in four different countries and study at six different universities across Europe and give me a holistic understanding of how cities can be planned and what measures to take in combating climate change from the global south. But for this work, I need initial funding that this platform hopes to raise.

I would be very grateful for any help that you can extend so that I may be able to get a higher education through this program.