Nordplus

1. Nordplus Kenneth Lundin Center for International Mobility CIMO kenneth.lundin@cimo.fi www.cimo.fi

2. Nordic cooperation, strategies Policy priority areas for the Nordic cooperation • Development in technology and Nordic Centres of Excellence • Welfare • Internal market in the Nordic countries • Cooperation with neighbouring countries and regions • Environment and sustainable development

3. Nordic cooperation, strategies: education and research The basis for educational and research policies are: • Development of Nordic education and research competence • Development of human resources • Lifelong Learning • Extensive competence

4. Nordic dimension, benefit and synergy Basis of all Nordic activities: • Positive effects through inter Nordic solutions • Manifests and develops the Nordic affinity • Increases Nordic competence and competitiveness

5. Nordic dimension, benefit, synergy In education this principle should be expressed through: • Promotion of mobility in the Nordic region • Strengthening of the Nordic dimension in the European education community • Concentration on infrastructural solutions that saves resources • Promotion the division of labour and specializing • “The purpose of Nordic co-operation is to achieve more together than the individual countries are capable of on their own. We call this ‘Nordic synergy’”.

6. Nordplus programmes in education • Nordplus Junior • Nordplus Voksen • Nordplus Sprog • Nordplus Neighbour • Nordplus (HE)

7. Norplus (HE) Task • To create a platform for Nordic HE-cooperation where institutions, teachers, students and administrators can utilize each others competences • To promote the establishment, consolidation and the development of networks of Nordic HEIs • To promote the development of the content of cooperation within and between disciplines

8. Target group • Networks of Nordic HEIs • Minimum: three HEIs from three different Nordic counties and/or autonomous territories • Other actors, e.g. NGOs, public or private sector can be partners in a Nordplus network • Partners from outside the Nordic region can participate but no support from Nordplus

9. Priorities (2005) HÖGUT, the steering group of the programme has a mandate to set annual priorities Priorities for 2005: • Teachers • Joint Study Programmes • Cooperation between HEIs and the private and public sektor, NGOs

10. The presidency’s priorities 2005 (DK) • Cooperation between HEIs and the private sector • Cooperation between the western parts of the Nordic Region (Iceland, Faroe Islands and Greenland) • The internationalization of education • Quality and global competitiveness • Joint and Double Degrees and the establishment and implementation of Joint Study Programmes

11. General guidelines • Division of labour, innovation • Balance • Small subject areas • Students to Finland • West Nordic region • Disabled actors

12. Nordplus activities • Mobility • Support for networks • Intensive courses • Joint study programmes • Other activities

13. Administration Assessment procedures • Annual application, DL February 1st • Application submitted on-line and a signed copy posted to CIMO • Administrator in charge (CIMO) makes a proposal together with co-administrators • HÖGUT makes a decision (April) • CIMO sends Letters of Acceptance and a contract (+ payment order) to selected networks • Payment is issued (100 %) when the contact ( + payment order) is signed and returned to CIMO. • Contact period : from official decision (April) to 1.12 the following year

14. Quality criteria • priorities • general guidelines • history of the network • Quality of the application (What? Who? Why? Expected results? Nordic benefit? + budget in proportion to the activity)

15. Administration, cont. Eligible costs: • Travel, accommodation, daily allowances, post, telephone, rents for assembly rooms, salaries (limited), materials (information, education) Not eligible costs: • Over heads, purchase of equipments, salaries for purely administrative tasks

16. Nordplus network • Coordinator (responsible for the application, report, internal allocation of funds) • Contact person at every partner institution • Nordplus contact person at every HEI that coordinates one or more Nordplus networks • Internal application round at every partner for mobility and proposals for other activities before the official application is submitted

17. Nordplus in figures • Annual budget: appr. 5 M€ (70 % to mobility, 30 % other activities) • Annual total applied sum: 12-14M€ (record in 2005: 16 M€) • On an average some 280 networks are supported every year. Some 330 applies every year. • Covers almost all subject areas (Health Sciences and Teacher education dominates) • Majority of the networks are thematic (relating to a particular subject, administrated on institute level), 10-15 covering all institutions within a subject area, centrally administrated) • Only some 30-40 new networks every year • 40-50 ICs are supported every year • 10-15 JSPs are supported every year

18. National Nordplus agencies DENMARK: CIRIUS www.ciriusonline.dk FINLAND: Centre for International Mobility CIMO www.cimo.fi ICELAND: Office of International Education, University of Iceland www.ask.hi.is NORWAY: The Research Council of Norway, International Scholarships (IS) www.forskningsradet.no/is The Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Higher Education (SIU) http://siu.no SWEDEN: International Programme Office for Education and Training www.programkontoret.se Information points: Greenland, Faroe Islands, Åland