Erasmus +: Call 2020, programme guide and key data

As you may know, Erasmus + is the European Union’s funding programme in the fields of education, training, youth and sport for the 2014-2020 period. It supports the efforts of participating countries to efficiently use the potential of European talent for cooperation and mobility projects with partner countries. Thus, every year organizations from all over Europe request the Erasmus + financial support programme for thousands of projects. The call for proposals 2020 includes 3 types of actions designed to achieve the objectives of the programme.

Key Action 1: Mobility of Individuals

This Action is all about providing opportunities for individuals to improve their skills, enhance their employability and gain cultural awareness. It supports mobility projects in the field of education, training and youth, Joint Erasmus Mundus Master Degrees and Erasmus + Loans for Master.

Key Action 2: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

This key action makes it possible for organisations from different participating countries to work together, to develop, share and transfer best practices and innovative approaches in the fields of education, training and youth. It includes Sector Skills Alliances ensuring cooperation between education and employment in tackling skills gaps with regard to one or more occupational profiles in a specific sector; Knowledge Alliances cooperation between higher education institutions and enterprises; Capacity Building in the field of youth supporting cooperation with Partner Countries; Capacity Building in the field of higher education supporting cooperation with Partner Countries.

Key Action 3: Support for policy reform for youth dialogue

It provides grants for a wide variety of actions aimed at stimulating innovative policy development, policy dialogue and implementation, and the exchange of knowledge. It aims at achieving the objectives of the European political agendas, in particular the Europe 2020 Strategy, the Strategic Framework for European Cooperation in the field of education and training (ET 2020) and the European Youth Strategy.

Budget and deadlines

The total budget allocated to this call is 3,207.4 million euros, which represents an increase of 12% compared to the 2019 call. Specifically, with regards to the field of Youth, the budget amounts to 191.9 million euros and in Education and training it reaches 2,943.3 million euros.

The 2020 call establishes three rounds to present projects under the programme. Thus, the deadlines for submitting applications will end on February 5, April 30 and October 1, 2020.

Four key facts you should know

Do you know what are the calls with a higher budget per project? Where are there interesting opportunities this year?

The European Universities call can provide a grant of up to € 5 million. In fact, this year there is an available budget of € 120 million (compared to € 30 million in 2019) meaning there will be many opportunities this year.

This call is aimed at generating networks of European universities that share a common long-term sustainable strategy.

It is also hopes to establish a collaboration framework that favors the mobility of students and doctoral students within this network. At least three universities will be part of this strategy. The closing date will be next February 26.

Do you know where there is a higher success rate?

Compared to the 12-14% presented by the H2020 program, the Sector Skills Alliances call reached a 35% success rate according to official 2017 statistics.

These are projects that can receive up to € 4 million of funding for transnational collaborations that work to identify the needs / deficiencies of existing and emerging skills in an economic sector and / or translate these needs into vocational curricula to respond to those needs.

For 2020, 6 priority areas are highlighted:

1. Blockchain

2. Cultural heritage

3. Cybersecurity

4. Rail supply and transport industries

5. Labor integration Social enterprises

6. Software services

The deadline to participate is February 26.

Do you know where a greater number of collaborative projects in the educational field are approved?

Strategic Partnerships is the call where in 2017 more than 2,800 projects were funded. These are initiatives that seek to support the development, transfer and / or implementation of innovative practices in the field of education and youth, as well as the implementation of joint initiatives that promote cooperation, peer learning and the exchange of experiences at European level. The deadline to submit the application is March 25.

Do you know which is the top 5 of countries with a greater budget allocated in 2020 in mobility (Key Action 1) and collaborative projects (Key Action 2)?

• Top1: Germany in the lead with more than € 277M

• Top2: France with more than € 232M

• Top3: Italy with more than € 212M

• Top4: Spain with more than € 194M

• Top5: UK with more than € 189M

The Erasmus + guide, reference document

The Erasmus + Program Guide is the reference document for all organizations that wish to participate in the program. It offers information on the priorities of the program, the actions that are financed, the funds available for each of the actions, and detailed information on the requirements and conditions to participate. The Guide consists of 3 parts:

Part A presents an overview of the program. It provides information on the objectives, priorities, budget and main characteristics.

Part B provides specific information on the program actions included in the Guide. Details the different types of projects that receive program support.

Part C provides detailed information on the procedures for grant application and project selection, as well as financial and administrative provisions related to the granting of Erasmus + grants.

External links:

• Erasmus + 2020 Program Guide

• Call for proposals for the Erasmus + program