CBHE: capacity building in higher education

CBHE is the one large Erasmus+ action designed around institutions outside the EU rather than inside it. For a Ukrainian university it is the main entry point into the programme: here it is not an appendix to a European application but its subject.

The action is centralised, so the application goes to the EACEA through the Funding & Tenders Portal, and the organisation needs a PIC rather than an OID.

Three strands for different levels of maturity

Strand 1 – fostering access to cooperation. For institutions with little international project experience and for newcomers. Grant from €200,000 to €400,000, duration 24 or 36 months.

Strand 2 – partnerships for transformation. Innovation in education and institutional modernisation. Grant from €400,000 to €800,000, duration 24 or 36 months.

Strand 3 – structural reform projects. Systemic change in higher education with national authorities involved. Grant from €600,000 to €1,000,000, duration 36 or 48 months.

Minimum consortium

For Strands 1 and 2 a national project requires at least two programme countries (one institution each) and one third country represented by at least two institutions. A multi-country project takes the same two programme countries plus two third countries, with two institutions from each.

Strand 3 adds the mandatory involvement of the national competent authority, meaning the ministry or agency responsible for higher education.

What is actually assessed

CBHE is not about scientific novelty but about the change that stays in the institution after the project ends. An application describing a series of conferences and visits loses to one describing an accredited programme, a retrained department or a quality assurance system put in place.

The second common weakness is cooperation in which the Ukrainian partners are recipients rather than co-authors. The logic of the action assumes that institutions in the third country define the need and European partners bring the experience of meeting it.