EUR 7.6 million for transatlantic university cooperation
The European Commission and US authorities are launching 14 new university cooperation projects intended to foster transatlantic academic cooperation and innovative transatlantic university degrees. In the framework of the new eight-year EU-US education agreement (2006-2013), both sides will invest €3.8 million each this year. The projects selected for funding under the programme dubbed Atlantis include two mobility projects similar to the EU's Erasmus university exchange programme, which will focus on students' curriculum development. Furthermore, four policy-oriented actions aimed at improving transatlantic cooperation through studies and seminars will receive financial support. The largest number of students, however, 284 out of a total 380, will benefit from one of the transatlantic degree programmes: They will spend a full academic year in the partner university on the other side of the Atlantic and receive a double degree from one university in Europe and one in the United States on successful completion of their study programme. There will, for instance, be double bachelor degrees in geosciences, urban planning and information management as well as dual master degrees in mechanics and materials and electronic engineering. 'Atlantis gives renewed impetus to the process of innovation in higher education,' said Ján Figel', European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth. 'Furthermore, Atlantis will help promote mutual understanding between the EU and the USA, by allowing hundreds of European and American students to spend between one and three semesters on the other side of the Atlantic with full academic recognition of that period of study.' Some 32 European institutions from 12 EU Member States and 22 US institutions will be involved in the projects selected, as more than two partner universities will participate in most of the programmes. Among those institutions, eight are situated in Germany and four in the United Kingdom. In addition, universities in Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden will take part. The European Commission and the US authorities received a total of 56 funding applications. The Europe-based Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) and the US-based Fund for Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) jointly selected the 14 projects that will now receive the funding. According to the European Commission, the number of funding applications under the Atlantis programme in 2007 increased by 40% in relation to the previous year. In particular, there seems to be a growing interest in transatlantic joint or double degrees. Since the EU-US cooperation programme in higher education and vocational training was first agreed in 1995, more than 4,000 students have participated in transatlantic exchange schemes. Some 136 projects in more than 700 European and American institutions have been funded.
Countries
United States