The Human Capital Initiative (HCI)

The Human Capital Initiative (HCI) will deliver an investment targeted towards increasing capacity in higher education in skills focused programmes designed to meet priority skills needs. These needs are identified though the detailed and comprehensive framework now in place under the National Skills Council, including  publications from the Skills and Labour Market Research Unit (SLMRU), the work of the Regional Skills Fora, the NTF Advisory Group, and the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, and direct involvement of employers. The HCI will also respond to the targets outlined in the National Skills Strategy, Technology Skills 2022, and other government strategies. It will seek to promote innovative and responsive models of programme delivery, and to enable the higher education system to respond rapidly to changes in both skills requirements and technology.

The key objectives are to:

• Increase provision in areas of identified skills need
• Future proof graduates with industry relevant skills for emerging technologies
• Ensure that there is a greater focus across the whole spectrum of higher education course provision on promoting and embedding transversal skills
• Incentivise continued reform and innovation in higher education provision building on best practice available nationally and internationally.

The key areas of focus for actions under the initiative are:

• Priority skills needs for the economy, particularly in high productivity growth sectors
• Mitigating Brexit risks
• Promoting regional development and NDP/Project 2040 objectives
• Innovation and reform in programme provision
• Responding to digitalisation and the future world of work
• Strengthening relationships with enterprise and addressing identified future skills needs
• Provision of upskilling and reskilling through lifelong learning

The HCI will consist of 3 main pillars. The funding under each will be awarded through a series of challenge based competitive call models. The three Pillars are as follows:

Pillar 1 – Full-Time Graduate Conversion Courses

Pillar 2 – Additional Places on Existing Full-Time Undergraduate Provision

Pillar 3 – Innovation and Agility

This Call for Proposals:

PILLAR 1, Graduate Conversion (Opens, 16 January 2020; Closes 13:00 hrs, Thursday 5 March 2020)

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are invited to submit applications from 16 January for funding under the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) Pillar 1 call for proposals for Graduate Conversion. €300m over five years from 2020-2024 has been allocated for the HCI from the surplus in the National Training Fund (NTF) in line with recommendations contained in the independent review of the NTF on the use of the surplus and the development of labour market skills. This is the third call for proposals under the HCI and further calls for funding will be issued under other pillars of the programme. Click below to find out more.

16/01/2020

Arising from the Teacher Supply Action Plan (TSAP), proposals are invited for flexible programmes to upskill registered post-primary teachers to teach Mathematics, Physics, and Spanish. The Call for Proposals is being managed by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills (DES).

To specifically address teacher supply challenges experienced in Irish medium schools, proposals for programmes to upskill teachers to teach the targeted subject in an Irish medium setting are particularly welcome.

Proposals in line with the criteria outlined in the call document should be submitted to the HEA in electronic format before 5pm on 2 March 2020 to teachereducation@hea.ie.

Eligible institutions that intend to submit a proposal(s) are requested to return an Expression of Interest form to teachereducation@hea.ie no later than 24 January 2020.

Requests for clarification should be directed to teachereducation@hea.ie. Responses will be provided via a FAQ document, which will be published on the dedicated call page on the HEA website at regular intervals.

02/03/2020

Erasmus+

Support for European University Capacity Building

Call for submissions October 2019

The European Universities Initiative was conceived in response to the EU’s ambition to build a European Education Area; its aim being to bring together a new generation of creative Europeans with the ability to cooperate across languages, borders and disciplines to address societal challenges and to ensure the continued competitiveness of Europe.

It sets out to encourage the emergence of several ‘European Universities’ by 2024, consisting of alliances of bottom-up networks of universities across the EU which will enable students to obtain a degree by combining studies in several EU countries and contribute to the international competitiveness of European universities.

In order to achieve this major step forward, the European Commission is testing different cooperation models for European Universities with two calls for proposals under the Erasmus+ Programme.

The alliances will:

• be open to partners from all types of higher education institution and cover a broad geographic scope across Europe;
• be based upon a co-envisioned long-term strategy focused on sustainability, excellence and European values;
• offer student-centred curricula jointly delivered across inter-university campuses, where a diverse student bodies can build their own programmes and experience mobility at all levels of study;
• adopt a challenge-based approach according to which students, academics and external partners can cooperate in inter-disciplinary teams to tackle the biggest issues facing Europe today.

This call for applications, developed by the Higher Education Authority with the support of the Department of Education and Skills, will offer financial support for certain vouched costs to eligible Irish HEIs to facilitate their efforts to participate in these networks.

Call Document

Application procedure

Proposals must be emailed in electronic format to policy@hea.ie using the application form issued by the HEA and available below.

Queries to Niall Kelly, Policy and Planning, Higher Education Authority / nkelly@hea.ie / 01 231 7100

Submissions should be received by the HEA in electronic format before 5pm, Friday 22^nd November 2019. Late applications will not be accepted. A signed / hard copy is not required.

22/11/2019

The Human Capital Initiative (HCI)

The Human Capital Initiative (HCI) will deliver an investment targeted towards increasing capacity in higher education in skills focused programmes designed to meet priority skills needs. These needs are identified though the detailed and comprehensive framework now in place under the National Skills Council, including  publications from the Skills and Labour Market Research Unit (SLMRU), the work of the Regional Skills Fora, the NTF Advisory Group, and the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, and direct involvement of employers. The HCI will also respond to the targets outlined in the National Skills Strategy, Technology Skills 2022, and other government strategies. It will seek to promote innovative and responsive models of programme delivery, and to enable the higher education system to respond rapidly to changes in both skills requirements and technology.

The key objectives are to:

• Increase provision in areas of identified skills need
• Future proof graduates with industry relevant skills for emerging technologies
• Ensure that there is a greater focus across the whole spectrum of higher education course provision on promoting and embedding transversal skills
• Incentivise continued reform and innovation in higher education provision building on best practice available nationally and internationally.

The key areas of focus for actions under the initiative are:

• Priority skills needs for the economy, particularly in high productivity growth sectors
• Mitigating Brexit risks
• Promoting regional development and NDP/Project 2040 objectives
• Innovation and reform in programme provision
• Responding to digitalisation and the future world of work
• Strengthening relationships with enterprise and addressing identified future skills needs
• Provision of upskilling and reskilling through lifelong learning

The HCI will consist of 3 main pillars. The funding under each will be awarded through a series of challenge based competitive call models. The three Pillars are as follows:

Pillar 1 – Full-Time Graduate Conversion Courses

Pillar 2 – Additional Places on Existing Full-Time Undergraduate Provision

Pillar 3 – Innovation and Agility

This Call for Proposals:

PILLAR 3, Innovation and Agility (Opens, 16 December 2019; Closes 12:00pm (Noon), 24 March 2020)

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are invited to submit applications from 16 December 2019 for funding under the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) Pillar 3 call for innovation and agility. €300m over five years from 2020-2024 has been allocated for the HCI from the surplus in the National Training Fund (NTF) in line with recommendations contained in the independent review of the NTF on the use of the surplus and the development of labour market skills. This is the second call for proposals under the HCI and further calls for funding will be issued under other pillars of the programme. Click below to find out more.

16/12/2019

Erasmus+

Higher Education Institutions are invited to submit proposals to be considered for Multi-Campus Support funding. The higher education institutions that have more than one campus and that meet a set of specific criteria can apply for additional funding of up to €250,000 per institution. This funding is intended to recognise the challenges faced by operating in more that one campus, over a wide geographical area, and the funding implications that this presents.

More details can be found here and the application form can be downloaded below.

Queries can be sent by email to funding@hea.ie

30/10/2019

Erasmus+

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are invited to submit applications for funding under the Senior Academic Leadership Initiative (SALI) Call 2019, in line with the requirements set out in the Call for Applications. This Call is managed by the Higher Education Authority (HEA), on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills (DES).  Following a competitive process based on an annual Call for applications from HEIs, the HEA will approve a defined number of new and additional senior academic leadership posts to successful HEIs.  It is envisaged that 45 senior academic leadership posts will be awarded to HEIs over three years to assist in accelerating gender balance at senior levels.

The Senior Academic Leadership Initiative aims to help achieve equality of outcome in the higher education sector. New and additional senior academic leadership posts will be funded in areas where:

• there is clear evidence of significant gender under-representation
• where this appointment will have significant impact within the HEI and the relevant faculty/department/functional unit
• where they would be a proportionate and effective means to achieve accelerated and sustainable change within an institution

Deadline for submission is 12.00 18 October 2019

FAQs 

FAQs updated 19 September 2019

Please submit questions to sali@hea.ie

Senior Academic Leadership Initiative Call Portal

Erasmus+

The National Strategy for Higher Education provides for substantial and appropriate restructuring, consolidation and co-operative approaches within the landscape of Irish higher education, including the development of Technological Universities and the incorporation of HEIs in the Initial Teacher Education area.

The HEA, with the support of the Department of Education and Skills, recognises that such reforms carry additional costs and has provided for a fund to support consortia engaged in implementing reforms of the higher education landscape, including in particular those designated, or seeking designation, as Technological Universities.

The HEA is now inviting submissions for funding support in respect of the costs arising from landscape reform. The total funding available under this call will be c. €14 million as allocated by the Department of Education and Skills.

Submissions should be received by the HEA in electronic format before 5pm, Friday 3rd May 2019.

Click here for the HEA Landscape Template 2019

THIS CALL IS NOW CLOSED

Erasmus+

Eligible Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that expressed an interest are invited to submit proposals for funding under the Higher Education Strategic Infrastructure Fund.
The closing date for receipt of applications is 4pm on Tuesday April 2nd 2019 (GMT).This call is now closed.

Click here for the Higher Education Strategic Infrastructure Fund application portal

Erasmus+

Government of Ireland – International Education Scholarship. For more information, access the GOI-IES portal:

The 2019 Government of Ireland – International Education Scholarship funding call is now closed.

The closing date for receipt of applications is 5pm on Friday 29 March 2019 (Irish Time).

Erasmus+

Erasmus+ is the EU’s flagship education and training programme enabling 250,000 students to study and work abroad each year. For more information, access the EURIreland website: www.eurireland.ie

A new call will be announced in October 2018. Details of the 2017 call can be found below.

02/10/2018

Erasmus+

Find out about the IRC’s Funding Calls for 2018. For more information, access the Irish Research Council’s website www.research.ie

Find out about the Student Assistance Fund and the Fund for Students with Disabilities here.

To find out about the student grant please visit susi.ie.

Access the student finance section of our website here.