Call for Applications to the Higher Education Partnership Programme 2023-2026
The Higher Education Partnership Programmer (HEP) 2023-2026 supports collaboration projects between higher education institutions (HEIs) in Finland and in developing countries.
The Higher Education Partnership Programme (HEP) supports cooperation projects between Finnish higher education institutions and higher education institutions in the global South to strengthen and develop higher education by enhancing their methodological, educational and administrative capacities. The HEP programme for 2023-2026 specifically aims to improve the overall employability of graduates, boost digitalisation and develop both social and technological innovations in higher education. The partnership programme supports the partnering higher education institutions to improve their pedagogical practises and institutional capacity to better respond to the rapidly changing needs of the labour market and to improve the resilience of the education system. The partnership programme is also linked to digital development, blended learning and enhanced attention to promoting equal access to higher education for a diverse cadre of students, including vulnerable groups such as girls and persons with disabilities. The partnership programme will support the professional development of academic staff and leaders to promote teaching, in HEIs and for higher-level TVET. It will strengthen the institutional capacity to provide quality education through various means, including digitized teaching and learning and the administration of higher education. The Programme will also support student and staff exchange to pursue mutual exchanges and learning.
The themes of the partnership programme are the following, and the projects would need to focus on at least one of them:
- High-quality education of primary, secondary and vocational teachers (TVET)
- Climate change, including energy transition and the circular economy
- Food security as an enabler of sustainable development
Who is eligible
The eligible partners are universities, universities of applied sciences or their equivalents that have the right to award higher education degrees. The minimum requirement is one Finnish and one southern HEI but there can be several partners from both Finland and the developing country.
The project proposed should fall within the prioritised thematic areas, target the ODA eligible countries and eligible actions defined in the HEP Programme Document.
What it is offered
The state aid amounts to a maximum of 90 % of the total project budget and the project-specific aid ranges between 700 000–1 100 000 euros.
The state aid for projects applied for in the Higher Education Partnership Programme is a maximum of 700 000 euros. If the Finnish higher education institution is partnering with another Finnish higher education institution or more than one higher education institution in a developing country, the state aid can be a maximum of 1 100 000 euros.
The total programme budget to be allocated to the HEP projects amounts to approximately 7 million euros, which results in around 6-10 projects to be selected, depending on the project-specific budget levels.
HEP Programme Document 2023-2026
HEP Programme Document Attachments 1-5
Deadline: 26 May 2023