Voronezh State University » Collaboration » International projects

VSU's participation in the competition for international funds and programmes

One of the priority areas for VSU’s international activity is the development of scientific and educational collaboration, as well as academic mobility within the scope of international projects.

The work in this direction is aimed at three main tasks:

• initiating, preparing, implementing, and monitoring international projects together with the university departments;
• providing methodological, informational and consultancy support regarding the participation in international projects and programmes;
• employee training at the annual professional development course “International scientific and educational projects aimed at improving the quality of education".

VSU is engaged in active collaboration with foreign and international organizations, funds, and programmes: UNESCO, the European Commission, the Council of Europe, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (European Commission), EU 6/7 FP, Erasmus Mundus, TEMPUS, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), German Research Foundation (DFG), IREX, International Foundation for Science. VSU also takes part in a large number of international educational and scientific projects and programmes.

The grants received by VSU from international foundations and programmes testify to its international recognition.

VSU is among the four Russian universities that have received the two largest and most prestigious grants which were used to found the Interregional Institute of Social Sciences and the “Wave processes in homogeneous and nonlinear media” research and education centre, as well as the grants of the EU 6FP and 7FP programmes, TEMPUS (within the TEMPUS programme alone, VSU has taken part in 6 projects), INTAS, Erasmus Mundus, IRSIS, DAAD, DFG, the Council of Europe, and IREX programmes.

Since 2013, VSU has been implementing 9 international projects, including:

• 5 TEMPUS projects,
• 2 projects of the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union,
• the projects of the British Council,
• SCOPES (Scientific Cooperation between Eastern Europe and Switzerland) programmes.

In the current year, the International Project and Programme Centre of VSU’s International Cooperation Department, in collaboration with the university departments, prepared 20 project proposals within major educational and scientific programmes: TEMPUS, Erasmus, the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union.

Following the results of a competitive selection, VSU had 5 of its projects sponsored. Thus, the success rate of VSU's international projects is 25%, which is higher than the average for most Russian universities.

This can be clearly seen from the European Union's TEMPUS programme. Of 171 projects, the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency selected 28 projects involving Russian universities, 3 of which will be implemented by the academic staff of Voronezh State University.

A brief summary of the most significant international programmes, their sphere, terms, and partnership history

TEMPUS (European Union's programme) (1990–2013) is aimed at funding international cooperation in developing academic programmes, university management, interaction between the academic community and the civil society, as well as structural reforms of higher education.

Since 1994, VSU has taken part in 11 projects under the "Tempus" programme. At present, 6 of them are being implemented by the faculties of Computer Sciences; Geography, Geo-ecology, and Tourism; Romance and Germanic Philology; Biology and Soil Sciences; the Law Faculty, and the International Project and Programme Centre.

Since 2012, The Faculty of Computer Sciences has been implementing the «Computer Science as the Second Major» programme (for students specializing in social sciences, engineering, and exact sciences).

The Sixth Framework Programme of the European Union for Research and Technological Development (6FP) (2002–2006) is the key mechanism and the first practical step towards creating a single European Research Area. The 6FP was aimed at increasing research effectiveness, developing innovative processes, and integrating European science at various levels: local, regional, national, and international.
In 2006, VSU became the first regional university to coordinate the 6FP project. The implementation was monitored by the Regional Information Centre for Scientific and Technological Cooperation with the EU (Voronezh State University).

The Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union for Research and Technological Development (7FP) (2007–2013) – a 6FP successor – one of the most extensive science support programmes in the world, with a total budget of 53.2 billion €. The 7FP is aimed at creating and developing the European Research Area, assisting European science in gaining a competitive edge, building a knowledge-based European economy and society, ensuring equal and mutually beneficial scientific cooperation between the EU and other countries' research teams.

During the 7FP implementation period, 5 projects involving VSU were supported. Currently, 3 of them are being implemented by the Faculties of International Relations, Economics, Physics, Law, and History, as well as the International Project and Programme Centre.