HEI ICI Programme

Call for Applications to the Higher Education Partnership Programme 2023-2026

The Higher Education Partnership Programmer (HEP) 2023-2026 supports collaboration projects between higher education institutions (HEIs) in Finland and in developing countries.

The HEP Programme is open for higher education partnership applications. Projects are to be implemented during 1.1.2024–31.8.2026.

The project proposed should fall within the prioritised thematic areas, target the ODA eligible countries and eligible actions defined in the HEP Programme Document 2023–2026. 

The state aid amounts to a maximum of 90 % of the total project budget and the project-specific aid ranges between 700 000–1 100 000 euros.

The state aid for projects applied for in the Higher Education Partnership Programme is a maximum of 700 000 euros. If the Finnish higher education institution is partnering with another Finnish higher education institution or more than one higher education institution in a developing country, the state aid can be a maximum of 1 100 000 euros.

The total programme budget to be allocated to the HEP projects amounts to approximately 7 million euros, which results in around 6-10 projects to be selected, depending on the project-specific budget levels.

Read more: HEP programme - for applicants 

All HEI ICI projects are coordinated by a Finnish higher education institution. The Finnish project coordinator serves as the Finnish National Agency for Education's contact person and is responsible for the internal project communication. The coordinator is responsible for guiding the project implementation in such a way that it follows the guidelines set by the programme and by Finland’s development policy framework.

Reporting Requirements

Projects receiving HEI ICI funding are required to submit annual reports to the Finnish National Agency for Education. The reporting must be results-based and comprise of both financial and project activity information, based on the project-specific indicators. Further information on reporting requirements is available below. 

All reports and attachments need to be submitted through the EDUFI online reporting system.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Finland granted a total of 12 million euros to development cooperation projects carried out by higher education institutions (HEIs) in 2017-2020. The funding was used to implement 20 projects in 16 countries to strengthen higher education in the developing world. 

The cooperation focused on the least developed countries in Africa and Asia, especially on Finland’s development cooperation partner countries. Other countries, such as Peru and Myanmar, were also represented.

The cooperation took place in HEI networks of varying size and geographical coverage. Several academic fields were covered, with a noteworthy focus on multi-disciplinary collaboration, business incubation and innovation, as well as teacher training and education.

The support was used to develop e.g. study programmes and teaching methods in the participating HEIs, to provide continuing education for the staff, and to strengthen research capacity and working life connections. The projects contributed to the development of subject-specific, methodological, pedagogical and administrative capacities in the HEIs.
 

Please send all enquiries concerning the projects to hei.ici(at)oph.fi

EDUFI programme administration contacts:

• Kaija Pajala, tel. +358 29 533 8571
• Anne Peltonen (financial management), tel. +358 295 331 398