Projects chosen for EU-US and EU-Canada co-operation schemes

Citation

(2005), "Projects chosen for EU-US and EU-Canada co-operation schemes", Education + Training, Vol. 47 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2005.00447cab.009

Projects chosen for EU-US and EU-Canada co-operation schemes

The European Commission has selected 19 new projects, involving 117 institutions, to participate in the ninth edition of the EU-US and EU-Canada co-operation programmes in higher education and vocational education and training. The projects are funded jointly by the EU and authorities in the United States and Canada for a total of three years. The objective is to set up institutional co-operation at graduate and postgraduate levels, focusing on international curriculum development and student mobility. Jan Figel, European Commissioner for Education and Training, said: “The programme is responding to a growing demand for academic co-operation across the Atlantic. Co-operation with other countries is a win-win situation, notably in education. In searching for responses to current challenges in higher education, Europe is willing to look beyond its borders”.

In 2004, the European Commission and the US Department of Education jointly selected 13 projects from 58 applications to participate in the EU-US co-operation programme in higher education and vocational education and training. This represented a 35 per cent increase in applications compared to 2003. Six projects were jointly selected with Canadian authorities, out of 17 applications.

Since inception of the programmes in 1995, more than 150 projects have been funded, involving 450 European universities and vocational-training institutions and an equal number of institutions in the USA and Canada. More than 6,000 students have taken part in two-way exchanges. In 2004, the European Commission spent 2.6 million on the 19 new projects -1.8 million on the 13 EU-US projects and 800,000 on the six EU-Canada projects. The projects involve around 750 students at some 60 EU universities and vocational-training institutions, and an equal number of US and Canadian groups.