Higher education urged to tap EU’s trans-Atlantic funding

Maltese students in higher education are missing out on opportunities to study in the US or Canada through EU programmes as their institutions have failed to tap into a €15 million annual fund.

The fund, available for joint projects between European, American and Canadian institutions, supports student exchanges, joint degrees and better policy cooperation between higher educational partnerships.

According to the European Commission, thousands of European students are getting the opportunity to study in the US and Canada each year through this funding.

Malta, as an EU member, is eligible to take part in this initiative with the possibility of collaborating with top ranking North American universities and vocational training institutions. However, the island’s higher educational institutions have so far failed to penetrate these programmes and did not even submit any application this year.

Announcing another round of projects eligible for funding under this scheme, EU Education Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said that this year 160 universities from both sides of the Atlantic were taking part, including many from southern Italy.

Malta remains completely absent from the list of universities and other institutions mentioned.

Asked why the island was not represented in this initiative, a Commission spokesman told The Times that Malta had not shown any interest in it.

“As an EU member state, Maltese institutions and organisations, as well as students, are eligible to participate in this scheme,” the spokesman said.

“Unfortunately, we have not received any application from Malta this year, neither as lead nor as partner institution. We strongly encourage Maltese institutions and organisations to team up with others in Europe and North America to submit an application in future calls,” he said.

When contacted, an Education Ministry spokesman insisted that both the University and the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology were interested in this project, although he admitted that the two institutions had not filed any applications this year.

However, he pointed out this had been done in the past years, only as a partner and not as a lead, and the proposals where Malta was involved were not selected.

“The University of Malta was involved as a partner in proposals for Atlantis projects in past calls which failed to be selected,” he said.

While keeping all options open and insisting Malta was willing to take part should interesting and feasible opportunities arise, the spokesman said the University had already hosted and sent a substantial number of students on mobility programmes with the US and Canada.

“There are a number of interesting collaborations with US and Canadian Universities (also) at faculty level,” he said.

Under the EU’s cooperation schemes with the US and Canada, any institution of higher or vocational education and training in the EU can apply for grants. They can receive support for joint or double degrees with partner institutions or run joint projects in support of excellence in mobility.

For policy-oriented measures (available for the US scheme only), the scheme is open to a wide range of organisations, including accreditation agencies, private companies and business groups.

This year 26 projects were launched under the US scheme, known as Atlantis, involving 105 universities and training institutions from the EU and the US, while another 10 projects were launched with Canada involving 55 universities and training institutions.

According to the Commission, a call for proposals from EU institutions is expected to be issued by the end of this year.