C 061 2002 EN 5 1 01 20020308 EN 005 5 1 8 4 EAC 07/02 <TI> <P>Call for proposals 2002 on general activities of observation and analysis (action 6.1.2 of the Socrates programme)</P> <P>(EAC 07/02)</P> <NO.DOC.C>2002/C 61/05</NO.DOC.C> </TI> <TI> <NP> <NO.P>1.</NO.P> <TXT>BACKGROUND INFORMATION</TXT> </NP> </TI>

On the basis of the Decision of the European Parliament and the Council adopting the second phase of the Community programme Socrates

Decision No 253/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 January 2000 (OJ L 28, 3.2.2000 p. 1).

the Commission is inviting proposals for the implementation of General activities of observation and analysis (sub-action 6.1.2 (c) and (d).

Sub-action 6.1 is part of the action Observation of education systems, policies and innovation' and provides for a series of steps to improve and facilitate the exchange of information and experience in education among the countries participating in the Socrates programme.

For the period between 2000 and 2006 participation in the Socrates programme is open to the Member States, the EFTA/EEA countries under the agreement on the European Economic Area

Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

and the applicant countries

Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Turkey.

. Applications for support may include, or be made by, establishments in any of these countries. In the case of countries outside the European Union, financial support for the participation of these establishments will be granted providing that national contributions have been settled.

With this in mind, this call for proposals has as its objectives:

1. to facilitate the implementation of the Report on the future objectives of education and of training systems

Report on the concrete future objectives of education and training systems adopted by the Education Council on 12 February 2001, ref. 5980/ 01 EDUC 18.

 according to the conclusions of the Education Council

Council conclusions on the follow-up to the Report on the concrete future objectives of education and training systems adopted by the Education Council on 29 November 2001, ref. 13797/01.

 using, in particular, the exchange of experience between establishments working on the priority themes (see point 2 below) as well as other methods generally applied within the framework of international cooperation; 2. to give financial support to educational, lifelong learning and research institutions that mobilise their innovation potential around the key issues related to the implementation of the Objectives Report.

In this context, the participation of institutions from the candidate countries will make it possible not only to widen the European dimension of the activities concerned, but also to prepare the future association of these countries with the open method of coordination and the application of measuring instruments for its implementation.

 <TI> <NP> <NO.P>2.</NO.P> <TXT>PRIORITY THEMES</TXT> </NP> </TI>

The three priority themes for this call for proposals have been determined by the Council on the basis of the Commission's proposal. They are therefore considered as matters of common policy interest in accordance with the Decision adopting the Socrates programme. The three priority themes are:

basic skills,

mathematics, sciences and technology,

overall development of education and training systems.

The first two priority themes coincide with the areas specified in the Council conclusions of 13 July 2001

OJ C 204, 20.7.2001.

with a view to beginning the implementation of the objectives report.

The third priority theme for this call for proposals is horizontal and aims to encourage medium and long-term reflection on the development of education and of training systems as a whole in Europe.

<TI> <NP> <NO.P>2.1.</NO.P> <TXT> <HT TYPE="BOLD">Basic skills</HT> </TXT> </NP> </TI>

The objective of activities within this priority theme is to encourage comparative analysis at European and international level on measures, practices, innovative experiences and teaching approaches concerning basic skills. They should be based on a broad definition of basic skills (beyond the classical conception of reading, writing and arithmetic), also including personal and cognitive skills necessary to ensure individuals' participation in the knowledge society (access to new communication technologies, foreign language skills, encouragement of entrepreneurship, learning to learn, cultural capital, numeracy). They will aim also to distinguish in these various areas what necessary level constitutes a basic skill (as opposed to a specialisation).

The activities supported under the priority theme on basic skills will focus on the following main aspects:

analysis of the various aspects concerning basic skills (pedagogical, social, curriculum related, horizontal, etc.), as well as teaching and learning techniques, maintenance, validation and certification of skills; analyses covering new basic skills will be considered as a priority,

analysis of the inclusion of basic skills in the curriculum (including in particular that of the new skills), and of the strategies adopted to avoid overloading the curriculum in the context of the knowledge society,

analysis of questions concerning lifelong access to basic skills, according to requirements of various groups (for example adults, young people without qualifications or in difficulty).

 <TI> <NP> <NO.P>2.2.</NO.P> <TXT> <HT TYPE="BOLD">Mathematics, science and technology</HT> </TXT> </NP> </TI>

Developing a scientific culture in society, and encouraging young people to undertake scientific or technical studies in the view of a professional activity constitute a major challenge for education systems in the knowledge society.

In this perspective, activities supported by this call for proposals will encourage comparative analysis of the measures, practices, experiences and innovative teaching approaches in these fields, in particular concerning the following aspects:

analysis of initiatives intended to encourage young people's motivation to undertake and continue scientific and technical studies (for example, through guidance and counselling services in secondary schools); special attention will be paid to projects aiming at improving gender balance among people engaged in these studies,

the improvement of the quality of scientific and technical teaching, in order to promote its attractiveness and its effectiveness, in particular concerning the following aspects:

(a) content of the initial and in-service teacher training curricula in mathematics and sciences; (b) methods of teaching and learning applied to these matters, (including, for example, the creation of science centres); (c) access to appropriate teaching equipment and material (including the use of new technologies as teaching tools).

<TI> <NP> <NO.P>2.3.</NO.P> <TXT> <HT TYPE="BOLD">Development of education and training systems</HT> </TXT> </NP> </TI>

The objective of the projects in this field is to facilitate understanding of medium and long-term trends and future developments in education and training systems, on the basis of comparative and prospective studies covering in particular the following aspects:

their structure (organisation, pathways, compatibility, standards, quality assurance, etc.),

their content (relation between general and vocational education and between quality and relevance, continuous training and lifelong learning, individualised courses, etc.),

their interface with society, economy (in particular the transition towards employment),

the internationalisation and globalisation dimension,

the development of a market of the educational services outside the public sector.

 <TI> <NP> <NO.P>3.</NO.P> <TXT>ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA</TXT> </NP> </TI> <TI> <NP> <NO.P>3.1.</NO.P> <TXT> <HT TYPE="BOLD">Eligible activities</HT> </TXT> </NP> </TI>

The following activities will be considered eligible under this call for proposals: studies, analyses, pilot projects, seminars, exchanges of experts and other appropriate actions aimed at improving knowledge and facilitating the exchange of expertise and experience relating to the priority themes listed in point 2.

 <TI> <NP> <NO.P>3.2.</NO.P> <TXT> <HT TYPE="BOLD">Eligible establishments</HT> </TXT> </NP> </TI>

Organisations and institutions from within the participating countries with the qualifications and experience needed to carry out the proposed action are eligible under this call for proposals. For this purpose, application forms should include detailed information on previous experience in the fields necessary for the implementation of the project.

 <TI> <NP> <NO.P>3.3.</NO.P> <TXT> <HT TYPE="BOLD">Eligible proposals</HT> </TXT> </NP> </TI>

To be considered eligible under this call for proposals, proposals must:

use the application forms specifically designed for this action (see point 6),

respect the deadline established for this call for proposals,

relate to the priority themes described in point 2 above,

actively involve establishments from at least five countries taking part in Socrates and at least one institution from a Member State,

include a balanced budget that respects the maximum percentage of community cofinancing established to 75 % of the total amount of eligible expenditure.

 <TI> <NP> <NO.P>4.</NO.P> <TXT>SELECTION CRITERIA</TXT> </NP> </TI>

Eligible proposals will be assessed on the following criteria:

the extent to which the project is justified and necessary in relation to identifiable needs,

quality and accuracy of the description of the methodology to be applied,

the clarity and consistency of the overall design of the project, and the feasibility of attaining the objectives within a reasonable time-frame,

the quality of the material organisation of the project (commitment and involvement of the different partners, work plans and budget defined in accurate terms, clearly established coordination, etc.).

During the selection process, preference will go to proposals which:

clearly show their added value at European level and their potential multiplier effect, particularly with regard to potential impact in terms of pooling experience among several participating countries which have differently structured education systems,

if they are based on studies and data already available in this area, aim to carry out a comparative summary (clearly establishing the level of knowledge achieved in this area) and describe in detail how they envisage the subsequent stages of the work,

if they involve a corpus of fresh data, clearly describe the methods and systems to be used to evaluate the reliability of the data collected,

contain, where appropriate, prospective aspects, i.e. projects which seek to identify and anticipate trends, potential innovations in the area and their future development,

set out explicitly their added value in relation to activities already completed. In particular, it is recommended that due account be taken of results available from projects funded under action III.3.1 during the first phase of the Socrates programme. Applicants are also advised not to repeat working programmes of projects funded under previous calls for proposals for action 6 http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/socrates/observation/call.html

clearly demonstrate their European added value as well as their potential multiplier effects, particularly concerning the potential impact in terms of how the experience will be shared with a significant number of countries participating in the programme,

include measures to monitor and externally evaluate the quality of the anticipated results of the project with a view to wider dissemination.

 <TI> <NP> <NO.P>5.</NO.P> <TXT>CONTRACTS AND FINANCIAL AID</TXT> </NP> </TI>

Applicants may propose projects lasting one or two years. Projects lasting two years may be covered by a contract (agreement on funding) lasting one year, with possible renewal for a further year, or by a two-year contract. In the case of two-year contracts, a first advance will be paid at the start of the project. Subsequent payments will be subject to periodical revision and evaluation of the project's progress by the European Commission.

The Commission's financial support may be up to EUR 200000 yearly. This ceiling will nevertheless be reached only in exceptional circumstances. The amounts paid will be calculated so that they cover a maximum of 75 % of eligible expenditure.

The total available budget for activities covered by this call for proposals is approximately EUR 1300000. As an indication, in 2001, financial support was given to eight projects, within the maximum co-financing established at 50 % of eligible expenditure.

In the event of the Commission approving a proposal, a funding agreement in euro setting out the conditions and the level of funding, will be signed by the Commission and the beneficiary.

 <TI> <NP> <NO.P>6.</NO.P> <TXT>SUBMITTING PROPOSALS</TXT> </NP> </TI>

Further information on the procedure for submitting proposals will be included in the information pack obtainable by faxing or mailing to:

For the attention of Mr Anders Hingel

European Commission

Office: B-7 07/024

B-1049 Brussels.

Fax (32-2) 299 22 31

E-mail: UNITE-A1@cec.eu.int

The request for an information pack must contain the following details: name, full address, postcode and language version desired. The request must refer explicitly to this call for proposals and to Action 6.1 of the Socrates programme. Only one copy of this information package per request will be sent.

The information pack, along with this call for proposals and other information, is also obtainable from the following Internet address:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/socrates/observation/call.html

All applications for funding must be submitted by 3 May 2002 by registered post to the abovementioned address. Proposals sent after this deadline will not be taken into consideration. The postmark will be taken as proof of submission. Applications may not be sent by fax nor in several parts. Incomplete applications will not be accepted. Applicants will receive an advice of receipt.

Unsuccessful applicants will be informed in writing.