Mohamed ALYANI 

( Office Manager of the MECAM Coordination Office )

“I´m proud of all the international university cooperation” – by using these words, Mohamed Alyani who is the manager of the coordination office of the Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM: www.mecam.tn) in Tunis, left Marburg after having stayed at the Centre for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS), which is part of the Philipps-Universität, for almost a week. Mr Alyani used the so-called Erasmus+ Staff-Mobility Program which had made his stay in Marburg possible.

MECAM is mainly coordinated by the Université Tunis and Philipps-Universität Marburg. As part of his stay, Mr Alyani learned a lot about the local working methods and structures of the MECAM as well as the general university structures and operating processes in Marburg. Especially meeting the Marburg colleagues (some of them for the very first time) was helpful not only for being involved in current challenges but, primarily, as a trust-building measure: to deepen the insight and understanding of each other´s work. In this respect, it is only logical that with Mrs Pia Wagner (Financial Administration) and Mrs Julia Hermann (Foreign Language Secretary) two of our Marburg MECAM team members will also join the Erasmus+ Staff Mobility Program within 2024/2025, then vice versa: from Marburg to Tunis! Therewith, they go along with Mr Alyani´s advice: “I would like to encourage all the members of MECAM to develop this close link between the team members in Tunisia and Germany to pursue MECAM´s main mission!” Not least because this mentioned mission contains the expansion and the growth of international cooperations – the Erasmus+ Staff Mobility Program has been supporting this actively.

In principle, the program is open to all employees of the Philipps-Universität Marburg, inter alia: general and technical administration, library, financial departments, faculties, study guidance etc. They all are given the opportunity of a stay abroad with an European university or a foreign corporation. The Erasmus+ Staff Mobility Program is designed for continuing education and further study, it paves the way for unique qualification opportunities with regard to the respective areas of responsibility and even beyond.

Generally, stays between two and five days (plus travelling days) can be promoted. For further information, please have a look at link

But not only by offering the Erasmus+ Staff Mobility Program the Philipps-Universität Marburg has been a significant supporter during MECAM´s main phase; there is a lot more worth to be mentioned: since 2021, a professorship for modern Maghreb Studies has been established, a liaison office in Tunis including a locally-based employee has been created, and last but not least: the additional funding of formats and instruments as well as the provision of mobility scholarships for doctoral students.