As a general rule, and in line with the principles defined in the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers, EMJD consortia must recruit their Erasmus Mundus fellowship holders under "employment contracts".

Without prejudice to high academic standards, in order to ensure geographical diversity among the doctoral candidates, no more than two doctoral candidates with the same nationality should be awarded an EMJD fellowship in the same Doctorate programme. 

The fellowships is paid to the candidates in the following way:

- Amount I - only for Category A fellowships - (Contribution to the candidate’s travel, installation, visa related costs and any other types of costs) are usually paid into three instalments: the first one at the beginning of the programme, the second one when the PhD candidate moves from the Primary to the Secondary Institution, the third one at the end of the 36 months Programme;

- Amount II (Fixed contribution to the doctoral candidate participation costs) can be charged directly to the doctoral candidate by the consortium on the condition that the former has signed a “doctoral candidate agreement” specifying the amount to be charged and the costs/activities covered by it. The consortium manages this contribution for expenses related to the participation of the candidates in education and research activities (education and research related costs, attendance at meetings, conferences, etc.). The EMJD Consortium is free to define the appropriate amount of participation costs to be charged to doctoral candidates;

- Amount III (Fixed Living Allowance) must be paid on a monthly basis to the doctoral candidate’s personal account. For "employment contracts", the consortium can deduct the relevant charges and taxes attached to this type of contract. In that case, this living allowance is a gross EU contribution to the candidate’s salary costs. The net salary resulting from deducting all compulsory charges in accordance with national legislation should be equivalent to the stipends amount (at least € 1 400 per month).

Further information about the fellowships are available in the Programme Guide for Erasmus Mundus 2009-2013