funding
European Work Programme 2013 to implement ICT
The objective of ICT research under the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) is to improve the competitiveness of European industry – as well as to enable Europe to master and shape the future developments of these technologies so that the demands of its society and economy are met. You can find more details of the ICT Work Programme 2013.
The EU Member States have earmarked a total of € 9.1 billion for funding ICT over the duration of FP7; making it the largest research theme in the Cooperation programme, which is itself the largest specific programme of FP7 (with 64% of the total budget).
FP7 research activities will strengthen Europe’s scientific and technology base and ensure its global leadership in ICT, help drive and stimulate product, service and process innovation and creativity through ICT use and ensure that ICT progress is rapidly transformed into benefits for Europe’s citizens, businesses, industry and governments.
The Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) bundles all research-related EU initiatives together under a common roof playing a crucial role in reaching the goals of growth, competitiveness and employment; along with a new Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP), Education and Training programmes, and Structural and Cohesion Funds for regional convergence and competitiveness. It is also a key pillar for the European Research Area (ERA).
EU will offer every young person employment or training within four months of leaving schoool
The European Commission has launched their latest Youth Employment Package requesting a guarantee from all Member States that every young person receives a quality offer of employment or training within four months of leaving school, or of being unemployed. The proposal will make full use of EU funding and in particular the European Social Fund (ESF), which was set up to reduce the differences in prosperity and living standards across EU Member States and regions.
The new Youth Employment Package is part of the initiative Rethinking Education - designed to reduce the youth unemployment rate. Research has shown that the figure is close to 23 % across the European Union, yet more than 2 million vacancies remain unfilled.
To change this, Member States are being urged to take immediate action to ensure that young people develop the skills and competences needed by the labour market, and to achieve their targets for growth and jobs.
The need for a more dynamic approach to education comes after statistics showed that 73 million Europeans (around 25 % of adults) have a low level of education. Nearly 20 % of 15 year olds lack sufficient literacy skills, and in 5 countries more than 25 % are low achievers in reading (Bulgaria 41 %, Romania 40 %, Malta 36 %, Austria 27.5 %, and Luxembourg 26 %). Early school leaving remains at unacceptably high levels in several Member States: in Spain it is 26.5 % and in Portugal 23.2 % (the EU target is under 10 %). At the same time, less than 9 % of adults participate in lifelong learning (the EU target is 15 %).
Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, believes these statistics highlight a serious weakness in our education and training systems. She says, 'Matters have been made worse as the economic downturn has led many Member States to cut funding for education and training.'
She goes on to say, 'Europe will only resume sustained growth by producing highly skilled and versatile people who can contribute to innovation and entrepreneurship. Efficient and well-targeted investment is fundamental to this, but we will not achieve our objectives by reducing education budgets.'
The focus now is on education and ensuring it is more relevant to the needs of students and the labour market, while assessment methods will be adapted and modernised. The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and open educational resources (OERs) are also to be scaled up in all learning contexts. But teachers also need to have regular training in order to update their own skills. The strategy further calls on Member States to strengthen links between education and employers, to bring enterprise into the classroom and to give young people a taste of employment through increased work-based learning. EU education ministers are also encouraged to step up their cooperation on work-based learning activities at a national and European level.
Rethinking Education conducted a Commission survey this year titled 'Education and Training Monitor', which outlined the skill supply in the Member States. What was derived from the survey was the need for a much stronger focus on developing transversal skills and basic skills at all levels. Key areas were especially a[0]pplicable to entrepreneurial and information technology (IT) skills.
Improving foreign language learning has also been highlighted with a new benchmark set for 2020 for at least 50 % of 15 year olds to have knowledge of a first foreign language (up from 42 % today) and at least 75 % to study a second foreign language (up from 61 % today). Investment in these skills is deemed vital as is the need to build world-class vocational education and training systems and for increasing levels of work-based learning.
The goal for Member States is to improve the recognition of qualifications and skills, including those gained outside of the formal education and training systems. Technology, and in particular the Internet, will need to be fully exploited, and schools, universities, and vocational and training institutions must now increase access to education via OERs.
For more information, please visit:
Rethinking Education - Education and Training Monitor 2012 Report
http://ec.europa.eu/education/news/rethinking/sw373_en.pdf
EU Youth Strategy
http://ec.europa.eu/youth/news/latest-youth-unemployment-figures_en.htm
Information Day on Call 7 of the CIP ICT Policy Support Programme
This event addresses stakeholders interested in submitting project proposals for the 7th Call for Proposals of the CIP ICT Policy Support Programme. Call 7 is expected to be published on 22 December 2012 and the relevant documents related to it will be available on the Participant Portal on the same day.
15 January 2013, Charlemagne Building – Rue de la Loi 170 – B-1040 Brussels Room: GASP
The draft Work Programme for 2013 is available here for information.
Check for Objective 2.3: ICT for learning
The aim of this objective is to support ICT-based modernization of educational and training. The objective is supported by two distinct target outcomes, each with specific funding instruments.
Obj 2.3.a: Piloting and showcasing excellence in ICT for learning for all
Funding instrument: Pilot B - It is intended to support one Pilot up to 5 M€ of EU contribution.
Focus and outcomes
- Large-scale piloting activities showcasing ICT-based innovation and excellence covering blended modes of formal/informal/non-formal learning with links to workplace-based or self-paced lifelong learning.
- To ensure complementarity and synergies with on-going CIP projects the activities should cover at least the following subjects: digital literacy and computing, artistic and creative skills, mathematics.
Conditions and characteristics
- Pilots should place the solution in real world setting involving at least 50.000 students and 4.000 teachers.
- The consortium should include at least 10 regional actors/hubs of excellence with the direct involvement of technology and supply industry.
- Include at least one piloting activity seeking to demonstrate ways of lowering or removing technological barriers in learning processes for users with special needs or at risk of exclusion (socially, physically or technologically disadvantaged groups – and of those who consider themselves unsuited for education).
Obj 2.3.b: Organising competitions on Educational Games
Funding instrument: Thematic Network - It is intended to support one Thematic Network (Actual Costs) up to 1 M€ of EU contribution.
Focus and outcomes
The aim of this objective is to establish a network which organises competitions on educational games addressing the following needs: learning maths, improving ICT skills, and adopting a healthier lifestyle. The network should ensure that the specific requirements to engage children at risk-of-exclusion and the elderly are taken into account.
Conditions and characteristics
- The consortium should have solid experience in organising competitions at the European level.
- The network should ensure appropriate follow up for wide dissemination of the results in mainstream education.
Expected impact for both a and b
- Support the implementation of the “Digital Agenda for Europe” and in particular Action 68 "Mainstream eLearning in national policies for the modernisation of education and training, including in curricula, assessment of learning outcomes and the professional development of teachers and trainers".
- Showcase to a critical mass of students, teachers and parents how to use technologies for their learning, teaching and support needs.
Grundtvig course in Rome on Personalization in Adult Learning
Improve your skills attending a Grundtvig course in Rome. Apply for a Grundtvig grant to attend the course on Personalization in Adult Learning; the deadline for application is september 17, 2012.
If you are a teacher, a trainer, or part of non-teaching staff involved in adult education, you can improve and upgrade your professional skills attending a Grundtvig course in Rome.
Association educommunity promotes an in-service course to develop skills in the field of Personalization in Adult Education.
The course aims to spread and improve personalization culture, to show a model of intervention shared at European level and to introduce the guidelines to design and produce learning personalized experiences for adult and elderly people.
Course sessions: session 1: 11-15 march, 2013; session 2: 02-06 april, 2013.
The deadline for grant application is september 17, 2012.
The course is registered in Comenius-Grundtvig Training Database.
Detailed information about the programme and next steps to take in applying for Grundtvig grant is available in our educommunity blog.
If you are interested, write to mobilty@educommunity.it for the pre-registration and further information about the course.
EU granted training courses in Greece
Develop new skills even as you share intercultural experiences in an enjoyable setting like Greece. Funding is available through the LLL Programme, and the deadline for applications is September 17, 2012.
Service training grants are now available for participation in lifelong learning programs offered in Piraeus or at the summer resort Loutra Oraias Elenis, in Korinthos, Greece. Courses are organized by IDEC and aimed at those working at schools and training organizations registered in the Grundtvig - Comenius database.
Projected courses for 2012 - 2013 include:
- International Development Officer (Grundtvig, Comenius)
- Stress Prevention in Training Organisations (Grundtvig)
- Stress Prevention in Schools (Comenius)
- Evaluation and Quality Assurance (Comenius)
- Software Assisted Skills Assessment Methodology (Comenius)
Learning new skills, or sharpening old ones, is an essential component of professional and personal development, and an affordable endeavour thanks to scholarships from your National Agency. The deadline for grant applications is September 17, 2012.
If you are interested in participating, register on-line or fill in the registration form and return it by e-mail (natassa@idec.gr) or fax: +30 210 4286228. The number of participants in each training course is 16 and applications will be treated in priority order.
ICT Proposers' Day
The ICT Proposers' Day is a unique networking opportunity to build partnerships and projects targetting the new Information and Communication Technologies Work Programme for 2013.
Networking for European ICT Research & Development
The event will provide:
- first-hand information from European Commission officials on the upcoming calls for proposals and the ICT Work Programme 2013, offering around 1.5 billion euro of EU funding
- an opportunity to present and discuss your project idea during one of the networking sessions
- an electronic platform for exchanging ideas and finding right partners to form project consortia
- a face2face brokerage event with pre-arranged meetings within the ICT Proposers' Day
- guidance on how to present a successful proposal
Who should attend?
Everyone who is interested in responding to calls for proposals for R&D projects in the field of Information and Communication Technologies. It is an exceptional occasion to meet potential partners from academia, research institutes, business and industry, SMEs and government actors from all over Europe. More than 2000 participants are expected to attend!
Community Learning Innovation Fund - open for applications
The Community Learning Innovation Fund (CLIF), a new £4million grants fund from the Skills Funding Agency, administered by NIACE, is now open for applications.
The CLIF will provide grants of between £10,000 and £65,000, to organisations from across England for new and imaginative community learning opportunities to encourage adults to take up, succeed and progress in learning.
The purpose of the CLIF is to support new and creative community learning opportunities, particularly for disadvantaged people, in line with the objectives set out in New Challenges, New Chances Further Education and Skills Reform Plan: Building a World Class System (BIS, December 2011). The Fund will draw on the experience of previous government funds such as the; Adult and Community Learning Fund (ACLF) (2011-12), Transformation Fund (2009-10) and Adult and Community Learning Fund (1998-2004) in supporting innovative social partnerships, curriculum innovation and strategies to engage under-represented groups.
Projects will be funded to run from September 2012 to 31st July 2013.
The Fund is open for applications until:
12 noon, Thursday 28th June 2012 for applications for £50,000 and over
12 noon, Thursday 5th July 2012 for applications for less than £50,000.
Please note that this fund is open to organisations in England only. Projects should be designed to support the development and delivery of community learning for people aged 19 and over. The application process is online and only online submissions will be accepted. Applications submitted in hard copy or by email will not be accepted.
Access the online application form here.
Full information about the Fund is available in the Prospectus which can be downloaded in PDF format.
Europortfolio: Call for a European Consortium
The worldwide emergence of the ePortfolio is transforming our current views on learning technologies. For the first time in the relatively short history of learning technologies we are seeing the rise of a new generation of tools dedicated to valuing and celebrating the achievements of the individual, from nursery school to lifelong and life wide learning, a technology providing a key link for individual, organisational as well as community learning (e.g. communities of practice, learning regions and cities). While some countries and regions are already providing the infrastructure required to offer ePortfolio access to all citizens, other regions and countries are considering it, and others have yet to discover its possibilities.
Europortfolio are looking for partners to submit a proposal to the European Commission. Posible funding is 150.000€ per year, with a maximum of 3 years. Deadline for the submission of proposals is 1 March 2012.
Despite success recorded in the development of ePortfolio initiatives in Europe and beyond, the growth of ePortfolio is still extremely patchy across institutions, regions and sectors. This is the consequence of a lack of leadership resulting in the fragmentation of initiatives, information, technologies and actors.
Leadership: despite the efforts made by a number of actors, including those who have succeeded in making Europe a worldwide ePortfolio actor, this initial leadership has not yet been translated into a shared European ePortfolio vision, practice and infrastructure.
Fragmentation of initiatives: most initiatives occur at individual, local and organisational levels, few at regional, national and international levels (e.g. European Language Portfolio). This fragmentation, which sometimes mirrors that of political structures (municipality/district/region/nation), institutions and sectors, is detrimental to the emergence of a an ePortfolio ecosystem working across space, time and institutions.
Fragmentation of technologies: despite efforts on interoperability (e.g. IMS and LEAP 2A standards) ePortfolios are not interoperable across ePortfolio platforms and main stream information systems in education, human resource development and employment.
Fragmentation of actors: distance, language and cultural barriers affect the ability to share information and build shared knowledge within and across sectors and frontiers. The results of interesting experiences, both successful, as well as failed, are not easily accessible to those planning or making decisions in relation to ePortfolio policy/technology implementation.
Fragmentation of information: despite the efforts of a number of actors, there is no single centralised point from which it is possible to find all relevant information on ePortfolios initiatives, technologies, practice and actors.
In order to address those issues, we are working on building a consortium to submit a proposal to the European Commission. Posible funding (link) is 150.000€ per year, with a maximum of 3 years. Deadline for the submission of proposals is 1 March 2012.
An initial summary of the proposal is accessible at http://tinyurl.com/7ddhs73.
If you are interested to join as a partner or associated partner, you are invited to provide details using an online form accessible at: http://tinyurl.com/7hrxghs. Responses will be used to update the Summary and to invite partners to join as Partner or Associate Partner.
Draft ICT PSP Work Programme and Call for Proposals 2012 now online
The draft ICT PSP Work Programme 2012 has been approved by the CIP ICT Committee. The work programme is still subject to the formal approval by the Commission (expected in January 2012). The 6th Call for Proposals would be opened from 1 February to 15 May 2012 (pending to the formal approval of the Work programme 2012 by the Commission). An information day on the 6th Call for Proposals is planned for 3 February 2012 in Brussels. Confirmation of the date, the exact venue and the draft agenda will be published during the week of 9 January 2012. On line registration will be open from that page during the same week.
The ICT Policy Support Programme (or ICT PSP) aims at stimulating innovation and competitiveness through the wider uptake and best use of ICT by citizens, governments and businesses.
NEW : Work Programme and Call for Proposals - 2012
The draft ICT PSP Work Programme 2012 has been approved by the CIP ICT Committee . The work programme is still subject to the formal approval by the Commission (expected in January 2012).
You can download the draft ICT PSP Work Programme 2012 here.
The 6th Call for Proposals would be opened from 1 February to 15 May 2012 (pending to the formal approval of the Work programme 2012 by the Commission).
Please pencil the date of 3 February 2012 for an information day on the 6th Call for Proposals, in Brussels.
Confirmation of the date, the exact venue and the draft agenda (the event is planned from 9h30 to 16h00) will be published during the week of 9 January 2012.
On line registration will be open from that page during the same week.
THEME 2: DIGITAL CONTENT, OPEN DATA AND CREATIVITY
The Digital Agenda for Europe promotes the creation, production and distribution of digital
content and services for a vibrant single market.
This theme contributes to the design of added-value products and services across Europe based on high-quality digital content.
The theme 2 will support:
- Objective 2.1 Europeana18 and creativity;
- Objective 2.2 Open Data and open access to content;
- Objective 2.3 eLearning.
The total funding available for this theme is 41 M€, encompassing three objectives.
€ 5.7 billion for Marie Curie Actions under Horizon 2020
In the next proposal for the Research and Innovation programme "Horizon 2020", the Marie Curie Actions will be renamed "Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions" (MSCA). The objective of the actions will however remain the same: supporting career development and training of researchers through worldwide mobility and skills development.
The Marie Curie Actions will continue to play a key role, with a proposed budget amounting to €5.7 billion. In the future, MSCA will intensify collaboration between universities, research institutions ,enterprises, including SMEs and all socio-economic actors. It will be implemented by, for example, doctoral training, temporary postings of researchers from the public to the private sector or vice-versa, and short term staff exchanges between public and private sectors. This should increase the employability of researchers, broaden the career prospects of researchers and in both public and private sectors, attract talents from abroad and thereby combat brain drain. In addition, the MSCA will become the only EU programme offering support for excellent doctoral training.
The MSCA will also keep on promoting the participation and empowerment of women in research notably through the EU Charter and Code for researchers.
More information
- Press release "Horizon 2020: Commission proposes €80 billion investment in research and innovation, to boost growth and jobs"
(IP/11/1475, 30 november 2011)