The report, ‘Mapping of potential funding sources for research-based Indo-Finnish collaborations in the field of education development’, concludes that many factors are in favour of Indo-Finnish collaborations at present, and a variety of funding opportunities for such collaborations do exist.
Higher education internationalisation in India
As India is reconfiguring its higher education and research sectors in line with the National Education Policy, many Indian universities are looking at greater internationalisation. Likewise, many universities, state and non-governmental actors are interested in working together with international academia to find research-based solutions to educational challenges.
While several countries in the global North look to collaborate with India, Finland holds some competitive edge in the field of education owing to the high quality of its education system. There is considerable interest among Indian universities and other education development actors to explore collaboration opportunities with the Finnish universities.
GINTL India as a new funding programme
At the same time, the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland (MINEDU) has identified India as an area of interest. Through the GINTL India programme, it has allocated funding for seven Finnish universities for India-related initiatives including research collaborations with Indian partners. This funding scheme is scheduled to run from 2021 to 2024.
Findings of the report
The newly published GINTL report recommends a funding strategy where the Finnish actors seek funding through Finnish sources and the Indian partners through their Indian sources. Many of the Indian funding opportunities are only available for organisations based in India.
The report identifies a variety of relevant funding instruments. These include governmental and non-governmental sources in India, international non-governmental funders and development banks, and the European Commission research funding programmes, which are also open to non-EU countries. The report also entails sections on specific areas of opportunity for Indo-Finnish collaborations, on higher education and research funding landscape in India, and on the assessment and ranking of higher education institutions in India.
Funding and partnership database
The narrative report is accompanied by a database, which includes further details of available funding instruments, funding schemes and potential partners for Finland-India collaborations in education research. The database is available for GINTL India member HEIs in Finland. Members may also share the database with their partners in India.
Research statement
The report, ‘Mapping of potential funding sources for research-based Indo-Finnish collaborations in the field of education development’, was prepared for GINTL India by the Technopolis Group of United Kingdom. The report is based on information from both primary (qualitative interviews) and secondary (desk research) sources.
