Tempus IV publishes fifth call for proposals: up to €66.6 million available for neighbourhood partners

Up to €66.6 million has been earmarked for the EU’s southern and eastern neighbourhood countries under the Tempus IV Higher Education Programme’s fifth call for proposals, which has just been published. Under the call, €22.8 million each have been allocated for the Southern and Eastern Neighbouring areas, plus an additional €6.25 million each under the reserve that the relevant financing decision is adopted by the European Commission; a further €8.5 million have been allocated for the Russian Federation. 

The call for proposals seeks joint projects with a ‘bottom-up’ approach aimed at institutional modernisation and reform, and structural measures seeking to contribute to the development and reform of higher education systems in partner countries. 

The overall objective of the programme is to support the modernisation of higher education in the EU's surrounding area. The Tempus programme promotes institutional cooperation and focuses on the reform and modernisation of higher education systems in the partner countries. It contributes to an area of cooperation in higher education involving the European Union and partner countries in its wider proximity. In particular, the programme will promote voluntary convergence with EU developments in the field of higher education, deriving from the Europe 2020 Strategy, the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (‘ET 2020’) and the Bologna process.

The purpose of this call for proposals is to promote multilateral cooperation among higher education institutions, authorities and organisations from EU Member States and partner countries with the focus on the reform and modernisation of higher education.

The programme is aimed at institutions and organisations based in four groups of eligible countries: 27 EU member states, the 17 countries in the Southern and Eastern neighbouring area of the European Union (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the occupied Palestinian territory, Syria, Tunisia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, the Russian Federation and Ukraine), 4 countries of the Western Balkan region (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, as well as Kosovo under UNSC Resolution 1244/99), and 5 Central Asian Republics (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). The two principal instruments for cooperation through this Tempus call for proposals are: 

•       Joint Projects: projects with a ‘bottom-up’ approach aiming at modernisation and reform on an institutional (university) level. Joint Projects aim at transferring knowledge between universities, organisations and institutions from the EU and from the partner countries as well as between partner country entities as appropriate,

•       Structural Measures: projects seeking to contribute to the development and reform of higher education systems in partner countries, as well as to enhance their quality and relevance and to increase their voluntary convergence with EU developments. Structural Measures will be interventions designed to support structural reform of higher education systems and the strategic framework development at national level.

Both national and multi-country projects can be financed under the call. The maximum duration of projects is 24 months or 36 months.

The period of eligibility of costs is expected to start on 15 October 2012. The total budget available for the co-financing of projects is estimated at €78.1 million (plus an additional amount of €12.5 million for the Southern and Eastern neighbouring area, under the reserve that the relevant financing decision following the recent ENP review is adopted by the European Commission). 

The minimum grant for both Joint Projects and Structural Measures will be €500,000.

The maximum grant will amount to €1,500,000. The deadline for submission of applications is 23 February 2012, 12.00 Brussels time.