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TFK programme's third application round funds 33 education cooperation projects

Programmes Higher education Global Cooperation Team Finland Knowledge Internationalisation
The third application round of the Team Finland Knowledge programme (TFK) and this year’s separate call for Ukraine received wide interest among the Finnish higher education institutions (HEIs). The target countries and regions for the programme’s actual call this year were Southern Africa, Latin America, India and Southeast Asia.

Finnish National Agency for Education granted in total 2 078 883 euros for 33 projects. The share of 26 projects that received funding in the actual call is 1 509 008 euros and funding received per project varies between 40 290 and 72 000 euros. Project period is 1.8.2023-31.12.2025.

Karttapallo

72 project proposals in total were submitted for the actual call, and the applied funding was in total 5 245 708 euros. By the application deadline universities handed in more applications than universities of applied sciences: 45 projects applied were coordinated by a university and 27 projects by a university of applied sciences. Most HEI’s submitted more than one application and all in all, 27 Finnish HEIs were involved in the project proposals either as project coordinators or as project partners: 13 universities and 14 universities of applied sciences. The application round was open to all degree levels and disciplines.

An infographic about the applied and selected projects by target area in the TFK programme in 2023.

Cooperation with Latin America received 29 applications, which was about 40 percent of all received applications. Southern Africa received 36 percent, Southeast Asia 17 percent and India 5 percent of all the applications.  The most common study field represented in the applications was teacher training and education science, which was followed by engineering and engineering trades and health. A project can be related to one or more study fields.

36 percent of the applied projects were funded in the call 2023. The primary assessment criterion was the quality of the project application. In addition, according to the TFK programme guidelines only 2 projects from the same HEI can be funded for cooperation with a target country or region. Selected projects include 10 cooperation projects with Latin America, 9 projects with Southern Africa, 5 projects with Southeast Asia and 2 projects with India. The selected projects include 9 Finnish universities of applied sciences and 10 universities as well as 39 HEIs from target countries and regions.

Selected projects create solutions for the challenges of the health field and sustainable future as well as develop teacher training

The selected projects represent different fields, such as health, teacher training and educational science, engineering, social and behavioral science as well as environmental protection. Field specifically most of the selected projects are related to health field, among others overcoming challenges related to the world’s aging population and decrease of maternal and prenatal mortality. Also, education in health sector is developed by utilizing digital solutions. Selected projects in teacher education, sustainability and environmental protection address such themes as development of digital skills, online teaching and inclusive education methods, acceleration of the green transition development and efficient reduction of air pollution are themes. The projects emphasize mutual learning and responsible cooperation between HEI’s involved in the projects.

Infographic of the planned activities and education fields of the selected projects of the TFK programme in 2023.

The majority of projects combine different cooperation activities: mobility of students and staff between Finland and target countries or regions, common study modules, courses and intensive courses together with implementation of digital and/or virtual teaching are the most popular forms of cooperation. In addition, curriculum and work life collaboration as well as joint and/or dual degrees are also included in several projects.

The next TFK programme call will open in early 2024

The purpose of the Team Finland Knowledge programme is to create and strengthen cooperation between Finnish higher education institutions and the target regions and countries selected to the TFK network, and to design new operating models for cooperation. The programme funds educational cooperation between higher education institutions through cooperation and mobility projects. The programme is open to all higher education institutions in Finland and in the target regions and countries of the programme.

The next call will be opened in early 2024. The target countries and regions will be announced later.