Erasmus+ for Higher Ecucation KA2 Info for Applicants 2016 Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships Outi Jäppinen, Senior Programme Adviser, CIMO Erasmus+ National Agency, Finland 15 December2015
What are E+ Strategic Partnerships? Flexible projects focused on actual needs and results Transfer, design and implementation of innovative practices concrete and longlasting results Activities define the scope of projects Links with the HE modernisation strategy and HEI s own strategy Projects between different education sectors are possible
Two types of partnerships Depending on the objectives and the composition of the Strategic Partnership, projects may be of two types: A. Strategic Partnerships supporting innovation (relevant for all fields of education) B. (Strategic Partnerships supporting exchange of good practices higher education will not support these types of projects) Priorities Strategic partnership project must address a) at least one horizontal priority or b) at least one field-specific priority
Horizontal priorities Improve achievement in relevant competences (lifelong learnin perspective) Inclusive education Open and innovative education Support for educators Transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications Sustainable investment, performance and efficiency
Field-specific priorities: Higher Education EU Modernisation Agenda: increasing attainment levels improving the quality and relevance of higher education strengthening quality through mobility and crossborder cooperation making the knowledge triangle work including by inter-disciplinary cooperation; improving governance and funding Communication on Opening up Education: promoting the development of new modes of delivery and exploiting and responding to new technologies in learning and teaching
Examples of themes and topics Prevent drop-out, facilitate access and inclusion of non-traditional learners Development of support services (guidance, councelling, mentoring) in order to facilitate better permeability and recognition Pedagogical approaches and methodologies, delivering transversal competences, entrepreneurship mindset and creative thinking
Cross-sectoral Strategic Partnerships New, innovative projects searching solutions for the wicked problems in Europe: youth unemployment, school drop-outs, language skills, ICT skills, entrepreneurial skills; Cross-sectoral Partnership enables cooperation over educational sectors Recommendable to include organisations from all the sectors that involved in the project Use the basic Application Form, no separate application form for crosssectoral applications
General conditions (1) Minimum partnership: 3 organisations from 3 participating countries. In addition to HEIs e.g. enterprises, public authorities and associations Organisations from third countries may also participate if they bring clear added value to the project. Project duration 2-3 years, funding max. 450,000 / 3 years Small scale / large scale projects (proportionality principle in assessment) De-centralised administration (Applications in Finland to the National Erasmus+ Agency, CIMO)
General conditions (2) Calculation of the grant: 7 different cost items, from which applicants will choose the items, accordingly to the project s activities: 1. Management and implementation 2. Transnational project meetings 3. Intellectual outputs 4. Multiplier events 5. Transnational learning/teaching/training activities 6. Exceptional costs (eg. Subcontracting) 7. Special needs support
Calculating the Budget Budget items based on UNIT COSTS (items 1-5): 1. Management: unit cost per MONTH per ORGANISATION 2. Project Meetings: number of mobilities concerning project partner meetings (max 40 mobilities/year) 3. Number of intended working days needed to produce INTELLECTUAL OUTPUTS (4 staff categories, 4 country categories) 4. Organisational costs of multiplier events based on NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS (categories for domestic and foreign participants) 5. Number of mobilities planned for learning/teaching/training activities (depends on DURATION: 5-14days, 15-60 days, 61days-12 months) In the final report: no real costs have to be reported, but how activites, mobilities, events have been carried out.
How to calculate the budget? What budget covers? Self-financing share? Eligible period for costs (24 months: 1.9.2016-31.8.2018 tai 36 kk: 1.9.2016-31.8.2019) The total project grant is capped at 150.000 /12months, 300.000 /24months, 450.000 / 36 months but flexibility between years Unit cost approach: support for up to 10 organisations (1+9) EU support will not cover all the costs. Assumption is that the participating organisations will include their own funding in the implementation. The self-financing share is not defined and the applicants don t have to indicate it in the application Make a shadow budget with real estimated costs for yourself!
Assessment criteria on the budget Elements of analysis The extent to which the project is cost-effective and allocates appropriate resources to each activity Budjetointi The existence and relevance of quality control measures to ensure that the project implementation is of high quality, completed in time and on budget General interpretation of award criteria relevant for all projects The proposal provides value for money in terms of the results planned as compared to the grant requested. The grant request is realistic for a good quality implementation of the planned activities. The proposal foresees appropriate evaluation activities at critical stages of the project, which will allow to measure the progress and quality of the project activities and outcomes, the appropriate use of funds. The quality control measures will allow the project to take any necessary corrective measures in time. Seuranta / Arviointi
What are Intellectual Outputs? Result = capacity building, changes in the mindset/working habits, increasing quality etc. intangible results Output = method, guide, model, study module, survey, specific software etc. tangible results (= intellectual outputs)
What is not an Intellectual Output? A smaller, process - oriented Strategic Partnership results/products can be: Comparative reports, surveys and guidelines intended for internal use for the project Leaflets, websites, blogs, wikis, newsletters, light needs analysis For producing above mentioned products you can not apply for Intellectual Output support
Examples of Intellectual Outputs Application Round 2014-15 (in Finland) The number of Intellectual Outputs varied between 2-9 Examples of Intellectual Outputs applied in 2014-15: Joint Curricula, study programme or module New methodology, pedagogical approach Analysis, survey, best practice guide Teaching material Guide books/ guidelines (eg. for use of teaching material) Specific web platform for studies / cooperation / sharing information Number of work days applied Smaller projects: 90-600 work days Larger projects 700-900 work days
Work Programme The Application Form: Emphasis on the outputs and results Challenge: to draw a coherent and clear work programme for the project The Part G of the Application Form (Implementation): Please elaborate on the methodology you intend to apply in your project. Please also provide detailed information about the project activities that you will carry out with the support of the grant requested under the item "Project Management and Implementation". MANDATORY: GANTT chart or other annex indicating the timetable of the project activities (Template for the timetable of activities)
GANTT Chart Taulukkoon voi lisätä rivejä toiminnoille Vaihtoehtoisesti voit tehdä oman aikataulun!
Biggest challenge: tough competition for funding Level of funding quite moderate for first 3 years of Erasmus+ programme Size of the country defines the level of funding Finland= small country little money The Budget Tables for different countries in 2015: 2015 annual work programme for the implementation of 'Erasmus+': the Union Programme for Education, Training, Youth and Sport(Annex 2)
Preliminary results of application round 2015 + funding for 2016 in some countries Funding for N:o of applications N:o of Funded Success 2016 Call in 2015 projects in 2015 Rate FI 619.000 32 3 9 % SE 740.000 14 6 43 % UK 3,2M 68 8 12 % AT 700.000 24 5 21 % BE 870.000 31 7 23 % CZ 853.000 30 4 13 % DE 4.18M 68 13 19 % DK 494.000 17 2 12 % EE 450.000 10 2 20 % ES 3,2M 103 16 16 % FR 3,5M 86 19 22 % LT 523.000 22 3 14 % NL 1,12M 45 7 16 % NO 470.000 17 6 35 % PL 2,6M 73 11 15 % PT 923.000 44 14 32 %
Budget vs. applied funding by Sectors (in Finland in 2015) 14 000 000,00 12 000 000,00 10 000 000,00 8 000 000,00 6 000 000,00 4 000 000,00 2 000 000,00 0,00 yleissivistävä ammatillinen korkeakoulu aikuiskoulutus budjetti 2 200 000,00 1 900 000,00 611 000,00 720 189,00 haettu 11 491 965,00 6 059 469,00 10 139 077,00 3 191 759,00 Hakemusten määrä 75 27 32 14
Strategic Partnerships for HE in Finland: Application Round 2015 Budget 2015: 611.167,00 Number of applications: 32 Applied funding: 10,1M 3 Selected projects Success Rate: 9,3% Total Funding: 796.135
Funded projects in Finland 2015: Future Mathematics (TAMK UAS) On the Way Towards a Low- Carbon Society (UEF) Moving towards Multiprofessional Work (Turku UAS) 2014: Learning Tourism (Lappi UAS) Communication in Mobile and Virtual Work (Turku UAS)
Strategic Partnerships: Application round 2016 Deadline 31.3.2016 Funding for Finland: ca. 619.000,00 (2015: 611.167,00 ) enough only for 2-3 projects External evaluation in April May Results in June-July 2016, Project period begins 1.9.2016
How can you get your application through? Follow the assessment criteria! Strong performance in each category! 1. Relevance of the project (maximum 30 points) 2. Quality of the project design and implementation (maximum 20 points) 3. Quality of the project team and the cooperation arrangements (maximum 20 points) 4. Impact and dissemination (maximum 30 points)
E+ Strategic Partnerships - what s strategic? The proposal demonstrates, that there is a strong link with policy objectives; it is based on a solid needs analysis; the needs identified are relevant in the context of the HE Modernisation agenda; there is clear added value from transnational dimension; the project involves an appropriate mix participating organisations. Guide for experts http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmusplus/discover/guide/documents/expertguide_en.pdf
Become a partner! Becoming a partner in an Erasmus+ project: an opening for new international projects, a new theme or strategic decision for international activities. Partner can play an active role in the project at the same time contributing to the development needs of own organization's strategies. If you are a partner Participate actively in the project design. Make sure you that you have a clear picture of the project and the importance of your role in the project organization (tasks / budget). Find out about the project co-ordinator and the other of the partners in advance. A Finnish organisation may participate as a partner in another Finnish project
How to apply: DEADLINE 31.3.2016 Application Package Electronic Application Form (Pdf) - no hard copies Annexes (to be appended to the electronic application): Mandate Letters from the partners (Model available) (signed and scanned) Declaration of Honour from the coordinator (signed and scanned) GANTT chart or other annex indicating the timetable of the project activities In order to fill in the electronic application form all the participating organisations (partners) need a PIC number DEADLINE: 31.3.2016 at 13:00 (1 PM) (GMT +2 Finland)
KA2 Strategic Partnerships Info session for applicants PART II, III and IV PART II: 13.1.2016 at 9.30 12.30. Results, work plan and dissemination plan (in Finnish) Lisätiedot ja ilmoittautuminen PART III: 17.2.2016 at 12 14. Budget, application form (in Finnish) Lisätiedot ja ilmoittautuminen PART IV: 10.3.2016 klo 13 15. Questions and answers for applicants (in English) Lisätiedot ja ilmoittautuminen
Application round 2016 2016 Call for Proposals: Programme Guide Erasmus+ Programme Guide: http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/discover/guide/index_en.htm Documents for Applicants (incl. Application Forms): http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/en/txt/?uri=uriserv:oj.c_.2015.347.01.0007.01.eng http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/discover/guide/documentsapplicants_en.htm Application forms and guidelines: Hakuprosessi: http://www.cimo.fi/ohjelmat/erasmusplus/hakuprosessi Actions managed by CIMO: http://www.cimo.fi/ohjelmat/erasmusplus/korkeakoulutukselle Actions managed by EACEA: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/funding_en
Home Assignment: Read Erasmus+ Programme Guide / Strategic Partnerships http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmusplus/documents/erasmus-plus-programmeguide_en.pdf (Version 1 (2016) : 20/10/2015) Pages 9-12 (general information on Education and Training projects, including Erasmus+ objectives and priorities) Pages 105-124 (specific information on requirements for Strategic Partnerships in Education and Training), including: Pages 112-116 (Eligibility and quality assessment criteria) Pages 237-244 (Information for applicants, including procedures and formal requirements) Pages 277-288 (specific information on Strategic Partnerships, including activities and examples of projects)
Survival Kit for Lifelong Learning Projects The Survival Kit provides guidance, tools, links and references for education professionals for: 1. Scoping and planning 2. Organising and implementing 3. Monitoring and evaluating 4. Disseminating and sustaining www.european-project-management.eu/
Thank you! Contact: Outi Jäppinen Katri Mäenpää CIMO Erasmus+ NA Finland