Ten projects at the University of Turku were awarded internal seed funding for Global Pilots of the Ministry of Education and Culture's Internationalisation Programme. The projects focusing on education, health care and sustainability are implemented by a diverse and expert network of partners.
The objective of the Ministry’s Internationalisation Programme is to create a cooperation network between Finnish and partner universities in the target countries, and to develop two-way collaboration that globally strengthens Finland’s higher education, competence brand and co-operation networks. The goal is to attract and recruit international experts to Finland, as well as research, development and innovation activities that meet global needs.
The University of Turku coordinates two of the eight Global Networks of the International Programme: Finland-Africa Platform for Innovation (SDG 9) (FAPI) and Finland-China Network in Food and Health (FCFH). In addition to coordination responsibilities, the University of Turku is involved in five other global networks: Southern African and Finnish Higher Education Institutions' Network for Health and Well-Being (SAFINET), Finnish Indian Consortia for Research and Education (FICORE), Global Innovation Network for Teaching and Learning (GINTL), The Finnish-American Research and Innovation Accelerator (FARIA) and EDUCase Platform.
Funding for Ten International Projects in the First Application Round
In the seed funding call organised in the spring 2022, funding was allocated for international projects related to global networks for the years 2022–2023. The funded projects had to be part of at least one pilot network in which the University of Turku is involved. The Finland-China Network in Food and Health coordinated by the University of Turku organised its own internal seed funding application round.
A total of 15 projects applied for seed funding, ten of which were granted funding. A total of almost 500,000 euros of funding was distributed. Another 400,000 euros remained to be distributed for the second round of the application, which will open during the autumn. The first application round received the most applications (10) for projects implemented in Africa. The projects that received funding by continent are targeted at Africa (6 projects), India (1 project) and other Asian countries (2 projects). There is also one project to be implemented in Africa and India. Most of the projects were connected to several global networks.
After the announcement of the results of the funding call, the projects have been able to kick off during the summer of 2022.
"It is interesting to finally get to hear concretely what is going on in the projects. It is great that the University of Turku is active in so many Global Networks and in a wide geographical area”, says International Liaison Officer Satu Nurmi from the Partnerships and Strategic Engagement Unit at the University of Turku.
Seed Funding Supports Long-term International Co-operation
The projects that received seed funding in the first round of applications focus on education, healthcare and sustainability. The projects are implemented by a diverse and expert network of partners and they strongly support the realisation of the strategic goals of the University of Turku and the guidelines of the International Programme launched in 2021.
The funding supports activities that create and initiate long-term, effective cooperation that benefits all parties involved. Thanks to the seed funding, previously started cooperation is also supported and its long-term development is ensured.
“Seed funding can be used to cover, for example, salary expenses and work trips. Although the pandemic period has made it difficult to travel, it has made it possible to build flexible operating methods and digital technology has been utilised not only in teaching and research but also in communication”, Nurmi explains.
The funded projects will be presented on the University's website during the autumn of 2022.
Read more at the Global Networks' own websites.
