€5 million to support digital education in Ukraine as EU announces 159 new Erasmus+ projects worldwide

The European Commission today selected 159 projects for funding under Erasmus+ Capacity Building for Higher Education, which supports the modernisation and quality of higher education in third countries worldwide, including €5 million of additional support for Ukraine to support a large-scale Erasmus+ project for universities to strengthen the digital environment for higher education in the country. 

The four-year “DigiUni” project will develop a high-performance digital platform for Ukraine’s universities that will particularly benefit those students who had to flee the country or are internally displaced. 

“I am yet again particularly pleased that Erasmus+ can make a difference for Ukraine’s young people and the country’s education system. We are keen on building on our long and strong tradition of higher education cooperation with Ukraine by investing in its digital future, and I am convinced that the DigiUni project will make a real difference for Ukrainian students,” said Margaritis Schinas, European Commission Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life.

The project will ensure educational continuity for students enrolled at Ukrainian higher education institutions in the Ukrainian language and according to the Ukrainian curriculum. In particular, the DigiPlatform will offer a digital learning facility to develop training in online teaching techniques and adapt learning content for online or virtual delivery.  

The project, coordinated by Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, will involve higher education institutions and stakeholders from six EU Member States (Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Poland and Spain) and 15 other Ukrainian partners, among which nine national universities, the Ministries of Education and Digital Transformation, the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, and three associations representing the IT sector and students.

As part of the Erasmus+ programme’s support for the Neighbourhood East region, another 19 capacity building projects involve Ukrainian universities and authorities, of which some look into the role of universities in reconstruction, as well as curriculum reform proposals that focus on peace and multilateralism as cross-cutting elements in studies, or skills development in energy efficiency.

Grant agreements will be signed by November 2023, so that projects can kick off their activities before the end of the year.

Created 36 years ago, Erasmus+ is one of the most emblematic EU programmes and nearly 13 million people have participated in the programme so far. Erasmus+ Capacity Building for Higher Education is part of a broader set of actions to foster exchanges of students and staff and support cooperation in education between Europe and the rest of the world. These international actions are based on partnerships of institutions and stakeholders from the 27 EU and 6 associated countries on the one side, and from other regions of the world on the other (non-associated third countries). 

Together, partnerships develop new teaching content and techniques, train staff, and improve quality in university systems and administration. 

Erasmus+ has an overall budget of €613 million for Capacity Building for Higher Education over the 2021-2027 period. Four more annual selections will take place, with the next call for proposals to be launched in November 2023.

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Press release