Programme LV05 “Scholarships & Latvian-Norwegian Research Support Fund and Scholarship Programme”

1. Programme LV05 “Scholarships & Latvian-Norwegian Research Support Fund and Scholarship Programme” EEA and Norwegian Financial Mechanisms 2009 – 2014 Bergen, 26.04.2012

2. Programme Operator The Programme Operator – • The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia (MoES) The central authority of the Latvian education, science and technology development , as well as youth, sportsand Latvian language policy. It is the leading public administration authority in these fields and is directly engaged in the implementation of the policy, funding of education, research and administration of research support programmes of both domestic and international scale. Main tasks of the MoES as the PO: • establishing and chairing the Cooperation Committee and the Programme Committee; • development of Programme management and monitoring system; • reconciliating the reports; • ensuring the coherence between the project implementation and the sectoral policy conditions.

3. Programme Operator The Programme will be implemented in co-operation with the State Education Development Agency (SEDA). SEDA is under functional supervision of the Ministry. SEDA is the intermediary body of EU Structural funds in the area of education, training, science and lifelong learning. SEDA implements Swiss-Latvian Cooperation Programme, EU Lifelong Learning Programme, and implemented EEA FM and Norway FM block grants “Academic Research” and ”Scholarship block grant” (period 2004-2009). Main tasks of SEDA: • organizing project selection, announcement of public calls; • signing contracts with the project promoters; • planning and management of the financial resources; • project implementation monitoring and control; • preparation of reports; • ensuring the publicity requirements .

4. ProgrammeAreas Activity I “Scholarships” • European Economic Area Financial Mechanism Programme Area No.19 “Scholarships” (518 250 EUR) • Norwegian Financial Mechanism Programme Area No.24 “Bilateral Scholarship Cooperation” (492 000 EUR) Activity II “Bilateral research co-operation” • Norwegian Financial Mechanism Programme Area No.23 “Bilateral Research Cooperation” (4 500 000 EUR)

5. ComplimentaritybetweenProgrammeActivities Additional support to research programmes from activity I “Scholarships”: • higher education institutions’ degree students and staff involved in the projects funded by the Research activity will be eligible applicants also for the Scholarship activity’s measures “Mobility Projects in Higher Education” and “Preparatory visits” • aligned timing of calls between Research and Scholarship activities The content and timing of the open calls for bilateral research cooperation and scholarships will be coordinated by the Cooperation Committee together with the Programme Committee.

6. ThematicAreasoftheProgrammeSizeofProjects Activity I “Scholarships” • No limitations regarding the study level or field of the study programme. Activity II “Bilateral research co-operation” • social sciences and humanities; • public health, including aspects connected with pharmaceuticals, biomedicine and prevention. Length of projects: • Research – 12 to 36 months • Studies – 3 to 11 months • Staff mobility – 1 to 6 weeks • Preparatory visits – 1 to 5 days Programme proposal: Scholarship projects: 1 600 EUR to 13 200 EUR Research projects: 30 000 EUR to 100 000 EUR

7. TimingandNumberofCalls * Are launched in case of unused financing. All open calls stay open for two months.

8. Eligibility Activity I “Scholarships” • The eligible applicants are Latvian state and private HEIs. An applicant needs to cooperate with at least one partner higher education institution in the donor country. • Project applicants hold an Erasmus Charter. • Individuals apply for mobility grants via an institutional project. Eligible costs of student and staff mobility projects include: • Scholarship 1 200 EUR per month, covering subsistence and insurance costs (for students) • Study fee up to 1 000 EUR (registration costs will not be eligible) (for students) • Travel, subsistence and insurance costs, course fee (for staff mobility) • Travel and accommodation costs and daily allowance (for preparatory visits)

9. ModalitiesofFunding Activity I “Scholarships”: Project promoter (beneficiary) – higher education institution of Latvia – signs an agreement on the implementation of a project with SEDA. Project promoter (beneficiary) concludes a partnership agreement with project partners in Norway. Payment to the project promoter will consist of: • advance payment – 80% • final payment in amount of 20% upon the approval of the final report Grant rate is 100%.

10. Contacts Ministry of Education and Science www.izm.gov.lv International Affairs and Financial Mechanisms Division, Policy Co-ordination Department Head of Division – Ms. Gunta Arāja, phone: +371 67047875, e-mail: gunta.araja@izm.gov.lv State Education Development Agency www.viaa.gov.lv International Cooperation Programme Unit, Management and External Cooperation Department Head of Unit – Ms. Larisa Vaļte, phone: +371 25491837, e-mail: larisa.valte@viaa.gov.lv

11. Thankyou!