British Council Ukraine: Internationalising Higher Education Call for Grant Applications

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1 As part of its Internationalising Higher Education programme, the British Council in Ukraine is pleased to announce a call for applications for grants for a range of mobility and partnership activities between higher educational institutions in Ukraine and in the UK. Background The Government of Ukraine places a high priority on education reform "to ensure that the education system corresponds to the needs of a modern economy and promotes Ukraine s integration into international scientific activities. The goals of this reform are quality education and equal opportunity 1." The Law on Higher Education adopted in July 2014 was the first major legislative initiative in education by the new Government. Similar laws on Primary and Secondary Education, on Vocational Education, and an underpinning Basic Law on Education, are in preparation. The Law on Higher Education (HE) seeks to transform the HE sector in Ukraine by addressing the main structural problems of the inefficient use of funds, corruption and international isolation. Key elements include the granting of financial and administrative autonomy to universities; the election of rectors; a closer approximation of degree classifications to international standards; the removal of legal barriers for academic mobility; greater involvement of students in decisionmaking processes; and the combatting of plagiarism. Universities will become involved in research and development as opposed to just teaching, and the number of higher education institutions (HEIs) will be reduced from over 800 to around 100. British Council Programmes The British Council is supporting the implementation of the 2014 Law on Higher Education, as part of an enhanced suite of programmes in education, science and culture, aimed at supporting Ukraine's European choice and ambitions for international partnership, by making the UK the partner of choice for Ukraine in reforming its education system. Our priorities are those areas where the Government of Ukraine considers the UK s experience to be most relevant. These include quality assurance at national and institutional levels; improved English teaching and English-medium teaching within universities; the development of effective leadership within HEIs; training for researchers in international communication skills; support for student selfgovernance; and the development of effective, accountable and autonomous university management and governance. 1 Serhiy Kvit, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, MOES newsletter September 2015 Page 1 of 6

2 Our programmes will include long-term engagement for sustainable impact as well as more immediate "repair" activities. We wish to support the development of new national systems and capacities, as well as working with individual HEIs across all parts of Ukraine. We also wish to grow Ukraine s ability to access - in partnership with UK institutions - the significant funding opportunities available under EU programmes such as Erasmus+, Horizon 2020 and Creative Europe. Ukraine has joined both of these last two programmes, as a Partner Country, in And as a specific area of immediate need, we will work with the institutions evacuated from the occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk, who are struggling to function in straitened circumstances. Grant Opportunities Our mobility and partnership grants aim to provide a range of opportunities for UK and Ukrainian HEIs to collaborate in specific areas, to complement and build on the policy-development and capacity-building activities described above. We are offering a range of grants to enable different levels and types of collaboration, whichever best fits the applicants' strategic aims for the collaboration. Exploratory Visit Grants Grants of up to 2,400 are available to fund travel and living costs for two visits between UK and Ukraine institutions. This may be either two separate visits (in either direction) by individuals or two individuals on one visit. The grant is intended to enable applicants to: Meet a potential partner to explore and agree the aims for further cooperation (with the possibility of submitting an application for additional British Council grant support in future, including One- or Two-Year Partnership Grants below). Meet a potential partner to explore, scope out, plan and produce a joint application to relevant actions of the EU-funded Erasmus+, Horizon 2020 or Creative Europe Programmes. One-Year Partnership Grants Grants of up to 7,200 are available to fund travel and living costs for up to six visits over a 12-month period between UK and Ukraine institutions These are to support a one-year collaborative partnership, or a first-stage collaboration activity (with the possibility of submitting an application for additional British Council grant support in future). Applicants for One-Year Partnership Grants must have partners in place and be able to demonstrate the aims and objectives of the 12-month collaboration, together with an appropriate activity plan in one of the thematic areas set out below. Page 2 of 6

3 Two-Year Partnership Grants Grants of up to 12,000 are available to fund travel and living costs for up to ten visits over a 24-month period between UK and Ukraine institutions. These are to support a two-year collaborative partnership in one of the thematic areas below. Applicants for Two-Year Partnership Grants must have partners in place and be able to demonstrate aims and objectives of the 24-month collaboration, a detailed activity plan, anticipated outcomes, evaluation mechanisms, and a strategy for the application / integration of learning outcomes into practice and the dissemination of results. Thematic Areas for Partnership Grants: The development of quality assurance systems within HEIs; The improvement of the quality of teaching within HEIs; The development of effective internationalisation strategies and capacities within HEIs; The development of links between HEIs and business; The enhancement of graduate employability; The development of student organisations within HEIs, including student engagement in HEI decision-making structures; The development of student voice mechanisms and information channels. Further grants will be available in the 2016/17 UK financial year and may have a wider set of activity themes. Additionally, specific grants will be made available to the Ukrainian universities selected to take part in the British Council's Ukraine Leadership Development Programme, delivered with the Institute of Higher Education of the National Academy of the Educational Sciences of Ukraine and the UK Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. These grants will specifically support leadership teams to undertake institutional change projects in collaboration with UK partner universities. We expect the learning and practice from the Partnership Grants above to provide a valuable resource for these change projects. Grant Benefits We hope that, overall, the collaboration enabled by the grants will benefit the Ukrainian higher education sector by: Developing new skills and capacities within the Ukrainian participating institutions; Page 3 of 6

4 Improving the effectiveness of management and governance systems within the Ukrainian participating institutions; Enhancing the transparency of, and/or improving access to, higher education in Ukraine; Assisting the Ukrainian participating institutions to access further international funds. Grant Values The grants will be awarded on a flat-rate basis based on the visits to be funded. Flat-rate costs will be awarded for travel, UK visa and living costs, and on the assumption that visits will be for one working week. NB grants for visits to Ukraine will be reduced as no visa is needed. The grant amounts are built up as follows: Grant Type UK Visa Return Airfare / Local Travel Living Costs One Week Number of Visits Total Exploratory Grant ,400 One-Year Partnership ,200 Two-Year Partnership ,000 Grant Payment and Reporting Exploratory grants will be paid out 100% in advance. One- and Two-Year grants will be paid out on the basis of a 80% advance, with the balance payable on submission of an acceptable report after the partnership's end. Two-Year Partnerships will be required to provide an interim progress report at the end of their first year. If a smaller number of visits have taken place than originally planned, the amount of the grant will be reduced accordingly and institutions will be required to pay back any excess advance payment made by the British Council. As the grants are flat-rate grants, HEIs will not need to provide detailed receipts and other supporting documentation in their reports, but will simply need to evidence that the associated visits have taken place as planned. Guidance on this will be provided. Page 4 of 6

5 Grant Eligibility British Council Ukraine: Internationalising Higher Education This call for grants is open to recognised Ukrainian and UK HEIs and other relevant sectoral institutions. Additionally, registered student organisations are eligible to apply for grants related to student activities as set out in the thematic areas above. Institutions in either country can apply, but one institution must take responsibility for signing the grant agreement with the British Council, for receiving and managing the funds, and for reporting on the grant-funded activity. Grants awarded to Ukrainian institutions will be paid in dollars or euros. The institutions will need to have such bank accounts set up to receive the grant. Timetable The deadline for submitting Exploratory Visit grant applications is 31 January The grants will be disbursed by 28 February 2016, and the funded activity should take place between 1 March and 31 December The deadline for submitting One- and Two-Year Partnership Grant applications is 15 February The grants will be disbursed by 31 March 2016, and the funded activity should take place between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2017 (One-Year grants) and 31 March 2018 (Two-Year grants). Criteria for Selection The selection of all grants will be based on the clarity of the application in respect of the following: The rationale and focus of the proposed collaboration; The roles of each partner in the proposed collaboration; The benefits of the proposed collaboration for each of the partners. In addition: For Exploratory Visit grants: a clear indication of how the grant will help to establish future collaboration; For One-Year Partnership Grants: partners in place; aims and objectives of the collaboration; an appropriate activity plan in one of the thematic areas; For Two-Year partnership Grants: partners in place; aims and objectives of the collaboration; an appropriate activity plan in one of the thematic areas; anticipated outcomes; evaluation mechanisms; strategy for the application / Page 5 of 6

6 integration of learning outcomes into practice and for the dissemination of results. Application Process Application forms can be downloaded from the attached documents on this page from 8 December Applications should be completed in English and returned electronically along with scans of any supporting documentation to the Higher Education Team, British Council Ukraine (UA_IHE@britishcouncil.org.ua). Enquiries can also be sent to UA_IHE@britishcouncil.org.ua. Page 6 of 6