Introduction
Introduced in 2013, The UK-ASEAN Knowledge Partnership (UAKP) is a joint programme between the British Council and the UK Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO). The UAKP programme comprises three components: Education, Research and Innovation.
Aims and Objectives
The overall objective of the UAKP initiative is to enhance education, research and innovation links between UK and ASEAN countries by capitalising on the strength of existing UK educational links, and the widespread use of English in the region. The ultimate goal is to make the UK a partner of choice for ASEAN as it develops world-class learning and research capabilities.
We are calling for proposals from Vietnamese and UK universities for collaboration in education and research. The involvement of government and/or businesses/industries from either country in the proposed project will be an added value for the proposal.
Outcome
The Partnership will embrace existing activity in the region as well as catalysing new activity in specific areas between existing partners.
The Partnership could potentially have one of the following ‘pillars’:
(i) Education Policy reform should support and facilitate the Vietnamese Higher Education reform agenda and the internationalisation of Vietnam and UK institutions.
(ii) Transnational Education i.e. the delivery of education across borders, and can take various forms:
+/ Delivery of UK education through foreign campuses
+/ Delivery of UK qualifications through partnerships with foreign institutions
+/ UK academics delivering training in foreign institutions
(iii) Development of R&D collaboration should focus on very specific areas that match UK comparative advantage with wider ASEAN development needs, e.g. around sustainable development; innovation; health and life science, agritech and climate change.
Eligibility of applicants
The UK universities, Vietnamese universities, businesses and industries in Vietnam and the UK, are eligible to apply for this fund.
Organisations based in other countries, particularly in the ASEAN region, may participate as a partner with the UK and Vietnamese applicants as specified above.
Funding
The fund available under this Call is worth £30,000. Applicants may bid for part of or the whole 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.
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 objectives of the Call, as defined in the aims and objectives section above.
- Proposals must be supported by senior staff from all the organisations involved in the application.
- The potential of the partnership to have impact beyond the participating organisations.
- Number of people who will be influenced and reached by this partnership during the project’s lifetime.
- The partnership’s potential for sustainability beyond the funding period.
- The proposed management arrangements.
- The involvement of government and/or businesses/industries from either country in the proposed project will be an added value.
- The Involvement of partnership from two more ASEAN countries are encouraged.
- The applicant is able to commit a minimum of 50 per cent of the total project budget in the form of cash match funding
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.
Important timelines
| Round 1 | Round 2 | |
| 1 July 2014 | Calls for proposals sent out | |
| 1 August 2014 | 1 October 2014 | Submission of concept note |
| 23 August 2014 | 22 October 2014 | Submission of full proposal |
| 30 August 2014 | 30 October 2014 | Notification of acceptance and Agreement |
| 30 September 2014 | 30 November 2014 | Matching fund and Initial grants of budget issued and partnerships start |
| 28 February 2015 | Progress report submitted to the British Council for consideration of release of the remaining grant | |
Submission of applications
Concept notes and full proposals should be emailed by no later than the deadlines specified in Section 8 to:
Ms Nguyen Thu Giang
Higher Education Manager
T: +84 (0)4 3728 1926
E: giang.nguyen@britishcouncil.org.vn