Following the Joint statement signed between the British Council Vietnam, Ministry of Education and Training, and UK Higher Education International Unit, and the great success of the Vietnam UK Education Cooperation Forum organised by the Vietnam Embassy in the UK, Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training and British Council Vietnam in London on 11 September 2015, the British Council Vietnam is pleased to announce the Higher Education Partnership (HEP) fund to support for foundation partnerships between UK and Vietnamese higher education institutions.
1. Aim
The ultimate aim of the HEP is to capitalise on the UK world-class in teaching, learning, innovation and research capabilities to contribute to the enhancement of education, research and innovation in higher education in Vietnam.
The fund is to provide seed funding for UK Vietnam partnerships in the format and key areas of priorities as in section 2 and 3 below.
2. Partnership format
The HEP would support for partnerships in the forms of:
I. Education Policy reform should support and facilitate the Vietnamese Higher Education Reform Agenda (HERA) and the internationalisation of Vietnam and UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
II. Industry engagement
3. Areas of priorities
Key areas of priorities in 2015 – 2016 include:
- University governance
- Quality assurance
- Graduate's employability
4. Eligibility of applicants
UK higher education institutions, Vietnamese higher education institutions, research institutes, businesses and industries in Vietnam and the UK, are eligible to apply for this fund.
The involvement of government and/or businesses/industries from either country in the proposed project will be an added value for the proposal.
5. Funding
The fund available under this call is worth £30,000. Applicants may bid for maximum of £15,000 of this fund.
Applicants are required to meet a minimum of 50 per cent of the total project budget in the form of cash match funding which should be transferred into the British Council account for administration.
The cash matching fund is the contribution from applicant’s institution to the project in order to assure the result and the sustainability of the project. This is not the income of the British Council. The full amount of the fund is to be used for the project implementation.
6. Assessment
Each proposal will be considered by an assessment panel whose role will be to score projects against the assessment criteria, using an agreed scoring scheme.
The main criteria for evaluation of the applications will be:
- The extent to which the proposal meets the expectation of the call in terms of aims, format, priorities and eligibility
- The support by senior staff from all the organisations involved in the application.
- The potential of the partnership to have impact beyond the participating organisations.
- The number of people who will be influenced and reached by this partnership during the project’s lifetime.
- The potentiality of sustainability of the partnership beyond the funding period.
- The proposed grant management arrangements.
- The involvement of government and/or businesses/industries from either country in the proposed project as an added value.
- The commitment of 50 per cent of the total project budget in the form of cash match funding
7. How to apply
Applications for funding can be submitted by the partner from either the education or business sector. Applications should clearly indicate the lead partner and fund allocation by activity with clear time-tables.
Applicants are required to complete a concept note form and submit this to the British Council. If the applicants’ concept note is successful, they will be notified to develop full proposals. In the case of consortia bidding, the proposal should be submitted by the ‘lead applicant’.
Proposals will be assessed in two rounds following the timelines as specified in Section 8.
8. Important timelines (*)
| 5 October 2015 | Calls for proposals sent out |
| 15 November 2015 (UK time) | Submission of concept note |
| 22 November 2015 | Concept note assessment and notification of full proposal submission |
| 27 November 2015 | Submission of full proposal |
| 04 December 2015 | Notification of acceptance and Agreement |
| 16 December 2015 | Matching fund and Initial grants of budget issued and partnerships start |
| 16 March 2016 | Interim report submitted to the British Council for consideration of release of the remaining grant |
| 30 June 2016 | End-of-project report submitted to the British Council |
(*) New timelines updated.
9. Submission of applications
Concept notes and full proposals should be emailed by no later than the deadlines specified in Section 9 to:
Nguyen Thanh Truc
Higher Education Officer (Partnerships)
T +84 8 3823 2862 (ext. 2503)
E thanhtruc.nguyen@britishcouncil.org.vn
10. Important forms
- Form 1 – HEP 2015 – Concept note application form
- Form 2 – HEP 2015 – Full proposal application form
- Form 3 – HEP 2015 – Interim report template
- Form 4 – HEP 2015 – End-of-project report template
Equality, diversity and inclusion Policy
Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our cultural relations ambitions. They contribute to the mutual trust, respect and understanding we strive for on behalf of the UK. Our Equality Policy commits us to ensure that there is no unjustified discrimination in people on the basis of age, gender, disability, religion and belief, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and work-life balance. All projects undertaken by lead and implementing partners must not contravene this policy.