Welsh Higher Education
Brussels
EU Funding Seminar
Cardiff School of Social Sciences
Berwyn Davies, Welsh Higher Education Brussels (WHEB)
Presentation outline
• About WHEB
• Networking and transnational funding
opportunities
• An approach to engaging with these
opportunities
• How WHEB can help you
WHEB is located in Wales
House, Brussels
Why WHEB?
• Promote the interests of the Welsh Higher
Education sector in Europe
• Enable the sector to engage more fully with
European priorities such as the EU2020
Strategy – Innovation Union/Youth on the
Move and the Bologna Process
• Facilitate stronger relationships between
Welsh HEIs, European Institutions and
Regional Partners from the EU, and beyond
How we support the HE sector in
Wales – re UKRO
• We do:
- Advise potential
applicants on coming
opportunities
- Enable European
officers to bring policy
context into applications
- Support applicants to
build their political
profile in Brussels
• We don’t:
- Provide funding alerts
- Give technical advice
on applications and
contracts
Who we work with in Wales and
Brussels
•
-
In Wales:
European Officers
Academic Registrars
HEI management
Lecturers/researchers
HE sector bodies in
Wales
- Welsh Assembly
Government
• In Brussels
- EU officials
- Sector groups e.g.
European University
Association
- Networks
European Regions Research and
Innovation Network
•
•
•
•
•
Over 90 regions
Thematic working groups
Horizontal working groups
ERRIN project involvement
Brokerage events for project applicants
– e.g. INTERREG IVC, Intelligent
Energy Europe calls in December 2010
EU Transnational Funding
• Focus of WHEB’s work:
- Give advanced warning to enable HEIs to
plan – call schedule, briefings in Wales,
relation between funding streams
- Inform applicants of relevant EU policy and
previous projects
- Identify/create networking opportunities for
applicants to raise their European profile e.g.
expert groups
EU transnational funding
programmes relevant to most
academic staff (I)
• Research Framework Programme 7 (FP7),
composed of:
–
–
–
–
Cooperation
Ideas
People
Capacities
• Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP), composed of:
–
–
–
–
–
Comenius
Leonardo
Erasmus
Grundtvig
Transversal (e.g. ICT, languages, policy analysis,
dissemination)
Erasmus Centralised
Programmes
• Erasmus Multilateral Projects – 2011 changes
– Social Inclusion in Higher Education
– Mobility strategies and removal of barriers to mobility in
HE
– Fostering the excellence and innovation in HE
– HEI-Enterprise Cooperation
– Modernisation of HE incl. curriculum, governance, funding
reforms
• Erasmus Academic Networks
• Erasmus Accompanying Measures
Other EU programmes relevant
to most academic staff
• EU-global higher education cooperation programmes
• EU-US (Atlantis)
–
–
–
–
Joint degree projects
Excellence mobility projects
Policy-orientated measures
Schuman-Fulbright action
• EU-Canada/Austr./NZ/Japan/Asia/Latin America
• Tempus
– Western Balkans, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, North
Africa and the Middle East
– Curriculum development, HEI modernisation
Common features  a general
approach
• Usually partnership of at least three actors from three
EU Member or Associated States
• Usually some degree of co-financing required (e.g.
up to 75% of costs covered by EU)
• Themes agreed by the Commission and European
governments, but applications reviewed
independently
• Competitive bidding: well-ranked projects are not
always funded
• Main benefits to funded organisations are European
profile and access
An approach to engaging with
these opportunities
•
•
Early preparation helps to maximise chances of success
– Understand the policy drivers (talk to Commission officials and UK
contact points)
– Possibly: Write (well in advance) with suggested topics for funding
– Be a project evaluator first
– Identify and contact the European leaders in the field
– Possibly: Inform WAG & UK Government
See it from the Commission’s point of view
– Policy impact and management of project as are as important as
technical prowess
– Inspire confidence that the partnership will deliver the desired
results e.g. with a track record of previous cooperation
Useful documentation:
ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/ssh/docs/guide-communicating-research_en.pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/research/social-sciences/pdf/roadmap-2011-2013-final_en.pdf
How WHEB can assist with this
preparation
• What funding opportunities are in development and when the
deadlines will be e.g.
–
–
–
–
–
FP7 Cooperation themes/Capacities – mostly July 2011
FP7 ERC Advanced Grants – Nov 2010
FP7 People – some in March 2011
Lifelong Learning Programme – Oct 2011
PROGRESS – Spring 2011
• Arrange initial meetings for potential applicants with
Commission officials
• Research the policy objectives towards which the funding
should contribute
• Identify active/successful European universities etc. in the field
• Signpost to sources of more specialised help as required
Contact details
Berwyn Davies
Head of Office/Pennaeth Swyddfa
Welsh Higher Education Brussels/Addysg Uwch Cymru Brwsel
Wales House/Tŷ Cymru
11 Rond-Point Schuman 6th Floor/6ed llawr
B1040 Brussels/Brwsel
Belgium/Gwlad Belg
Telephone (direct)/Llinell uniongyrchol: +32(0)2 2266697
Fax/Ffacs: +32(0)2 5028360
e-mail/e-bost: berwyn.davies@wheb.ac.uk
Web/Gwefan: www.wheb.ac.uk