II IIIII INTERNATIONALISING HIGHER EDUCATION
CALL FOR GRANT APPLICATIONS
As part of its ‘Internationalising Higher Education’ programme, British Council Ukraine is pleased to announce the call for applications for exploratory grants for higher educational institutions in Ukraine and in the UK wishing to establish partnerships.
Aim of the grants
The purpose of the exploratory grant is to provide higher education institutions in both countries with the opportunity to develop a partnership and to create a plan for future collaboration. For this call, priority will be given to applications around the subject area ofEnergy (including oil and gas, tight or unconventional gas and renewables).
Background
Ukraine Higher Education Institutions are seeking to establish collaboration with international institutions and there is keen interest to work more closely with UK Higher Education Institutions.
Ukraine plays a major role in the EU’s current and future energy security. As well as a drive by EU countries to raise awareness of renewable energy in Ukraine, it has been identified as a major potential future producer of unconventional or tight gas. Production sharing agreements have been signed between Shell, Chevron and the Ukrainian government. While reserve levels are still to be determined, there are prospects for 50 years of production.
Ukraine will need to increase the capacity of its Higher Education sector to respond to the opportunities now opening up. The British Council is working in partnership with the British Embassy in Kyiv and Shell Ukraine to gauge future prospects for HE collaboration between UK and Ukraine and to build foundation for sustainable partnerships in the field of energy between the two countries.
In 2012 a rolling seminar was held in 3 cities of Ukraine aimed at raising awareness on unconventional gas issues amongst relevant academics and universities in Ukraine with speakers from the UK. As a follow-up event an inward mission to the UK for 12 academics from 4 Ukrainian universities has been organised in June 2013. The visit consisted of a one-day seminar exploring future opportunities in partnerships in unconventional gas know-how in the HE sector and a field trip to the British Geological Society in Nottingham.
Value of the grants
Exploratory grants up to the value of 5000 GBPwill be awarded to selected institutions by 30thJanuary2014.We are able to fund up to a maximum of 5 grants, depending on the quality of applications we receive.
Deadline for applications
The deadline for the submission of applications is January 20th 2014.
Eligibility
Grants are open to recognised Ukrainian and UK higher educational institutions.
Applicants should demonstrate evidence of interest of the partnership institution.
Expected outcomes of the activity funded by the exploratory grant
Selected institutions will be expected to produce a report detailing their activities. In addition, they will be expected to provide a plan for collaboration. This ‘road map’ will need to set out not only the outcome of the proposed project but also how this is to be achieved.
The focus of the collaboration could be:
-A bid for a research contract
-Joint research findings and publications
-Training or capacity-building for teaching staff in partner organisation
-Jointly developed course, programme or degree
Criteria for selection
Selection will be based on the clarity of the application in respect of the following:
-Clear indication of how the exploratory stage will help to design future collaboration
-The rationale and focus of the proposed collaboration
-The roles in the proposed collaboration of each partner
-The benefits of the proposed collaboration for each of the partners
Conditions
Grants should be used within 6 months of the grants received during the period of March – August 2014.
It is envisaged that the grants will be spent on either visits to prospective institutions or organisation of workshops and seminars to discuss and develop future collaboration programmes.
It is a condition of this grant that you submit an evaluation report (including financial report) within 3 months of the conclusion of the exchange. Submitted reports can be used for promotional purposes to demonstrate how education partnerships between UK and Ukraine function.
Exclusions
Grants will not be given to cover elements of existing partnership programmes.
Grants may not be used to cover overheads.
Application forms
Application forms can be downloaded from British Council Ukraine website from Friday 1st
November
The application should be completed in English and returned electronically along with scans of any supporting documentation to Lyudmila Tatsenko, Higher Education Manager, British Council Ukraine()