Ireland represented at EC-Iran in Tehran
By Aoileann Ní Bhroin
Professor Patrick Fitzpatrick, Principal Adviser at the UCC Academy attended a two day information day and contact seminar in Tehran organised by the European Commission.
The event on 3-4 July which was led by the EC’s Directorate General for Education and Culture (DG EAC) aimed to promote Erasmus+ and Horizon 2020 (including the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions) to over 200 Iranian higher education representatives.
The first day of the event focussed research funding opportunities available under the Horizon 2020programme. This included thematic workshops on different topics, as well as mobility grants for researchers from the European Research Council and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. The second day was dedicated to presenting opportunities for Iran-EU cooperation under Erasmus+, including Capacity Building in Higher Education, International Credit Mobility, Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees and the Jean Monnet activities. To promote cooperation between the EU and Iranian institutions, sessions were arranged on both days to allow university officials and academics the opportunity to network.
The event was welcomed by the Iranian government and higher education and research sectors as a positive first step towards further cooperation and more physical (and virtual) events in future. The local media coverage was extremely positive. On 3 July, an article was posted on the Commission website (https://ec.europa.eu/education/events/20170703-eu-iran-higher-education-research-event_en) and an information page was created on the MSRT website for this event: https://www.msrt.ir/en/news/32348/the-two-day-iran-eu-event-on-science-research-and-innovation-documents
Under Erasmus+ Key Action 107 International Credit Mobility, Iran belongs to the Middle East region (with Iraq and Yemen). The next call for proposals will be in November 2017 with a deadline in February 2018.
