The budget is from the Erasmus+ KA2. Notably, Hue University is the only university in Vietnam that have been granted international projects in two successive years (2019 and 2020).

Hue University representative leader talking to the partner at the launching ceremony of the Curriculum Design in Agro ecology (CDAE)

Hosting and coordinating international projects

Those who are interested in the International Cooperation activities have been impressed by the fact that Hue University was authorized to host the CDAE project (at the meeting in Belgium) in 2019 and it made the spotlight on the e-map of Erasmus+ projects in January 2020.

EC Agency of Education, Vision and Culture has announced another 2020 grant for Curricula Development on Climate Change Policy and Law (CCP-Law), which is part of the Erasmus+ fund.

The success goes beyond expectation. Among 100 Higher Education institutions in the world that were granted the 2020 projects, Hue University is the only university to be granted to host the CBHE project.

In particular, with the budget of approximately 1 million euros, Hue University will coordinate the whole project, directing 3 higher education institutions in Europe and 6 in Asia to design and implement training programs leading to the degrees of Master of Law within 3 years, from 2020 to 2023.

Starting the CDAE project at Hue University

Dr. Do Thi Xuan Dung, Vice-President of Hue University, said that the role of coordinating CBHE project sponsored by Erasmus+ has long been undertaken by European institutions. Other institutions in Asia, especially in Vietnam, have participated as members.

“Non-European institutions, including Asian ones, have recently undertaken the coordination of about 15-30% of the projects. It is hard for an institution to be considered for the project coordination because it must meet various criteria for evaluation. For example, Vietnam only had two institutions, namely, Hue University and Hanoi University in 2019. In 2020, only Hue University has been the only one to be granted the Erasmus+ fund to host CBHE project,” Dr. Do Thi Xuan Dung added.

Vietnam has become internationally integrated in many fields, including education. Whereas the International Cooperation activities in higher education institutions once mainly involved teacher training, conferences and seminars, there are many changes now.

According to Dr. Do Thi Xuan Dung, participating in international cooperation projects brings many benefits, among which is the opportunity to develop the institution as well as elevate its reputation. Once the university proves its potentials, there will be cooperation in many other fields. At Hue University, there will be more projects in research, technology transfer, co-training programs and lecturer and students exchange programs.

Hue University launched the Center of Capacity for Sustainable Tourism Development of the TOURIST project

Hue University’s ability to host and coordinate international projects has been appreciated by international partners and organizations. Claudia Linditsch (University of Joanneum, Austria), manager of TOURIST project, of which Hue University is a member, said: “In TOURIST project, Hue University plays the role of a national coordinator. The project has gained outstanding achievements thanks to Hue University’s proactivity, pioneering and project operating capacity. It is recognized by the international partners and, undoubtedly, Hue University is a competent candidate to play an important part in hosting and operating major international cooperation projects.”

Towards extensive goals

The project operating role is considered as parameters for capacity evaluation as well as challenges to Hue University on its way to identify itself and elevate its reputation at the international level.

As the project host working closely with international partners, Hue University has good chance for exchanging experience and knowledge with partners from developed countries. It not only helps to implement project for the sake of the community, but also creates favorable conditions for Hue University to raise the capacity in training students, developing staff and improving facilities.

A Hue University leader said that, from the experience and opportunity gained via the authorized projects, Hue University would continue to extend the cooperation and share the project operating experience with its affiliate constitutions. This will allow Hue University to have more windows for international integration, turning Hue University into a research-oriented national university.

Story and photos: Huu Phuc