The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) Secretariat organised an Information Session on the EDULINK II Call for Proposals launched on 19 March 2012. The EDULINK II programme provides grants to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) within the context of European Union (EU) – ACP development co-operation. The Information Session was held on the morning of 08 March 2012 at The Institute of Critical Thinking of The University of the West Indies (UWI). A further session held on the 09 May 2012 was dedicated to reporting procedures for projects funded by the European Union.

The information Session attracted considerable interest, both within UWI and from HEIs in Trinidad and Tobago and beyond. Around 65 people attended the Session and many more accessed the session via live streaming.

Dr David Rampersad, Director of the Business Development Unit opened the session and introduced UWI Pro Vice-Chancellors Professor Clement Sankat (Campus Principal), and Professor Wayne Hunte (Research) who acknowledged the potential of the EDULINK II programme and the continued support of the ACP Secretariat and the European Union in the field of Higher Education.

The speakers stressed the importance of developing the capacities and competitiveness of UWI and HEIs from other ACP Caribbean states in the targeted thematic areas of the programme, namely Access to Energy, Energy Efficiency, Agriculture and Food Security.

Mrs Kathrin Renner representing the European Union Delegation to Trinidad and Tobago as the programme’s fundor, highlighted the importance the European Union places on Higher Education in meeting the challenges of the Millenium Development Goals and combating poverty.

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education represented by Mr Rodney Amar further highlighted the importance of co-operation in the sector to develop and meet future global and economic challenges. 

The Session continued with two presentations by the EDULINK Project Management Unit, represented by Mr Christof Merkle. First an overview was provided of the objectives and main conditions for participating in EDULINK II, followed by an explanation of the application procedures, the evaluation process and the identification of key points for submitting a successful application.

A question and answer session then ensued for the remainder of the morning.

The session on reporting was was equally well attended and was kindly supported by Giselle Granger of the EU Delegation’s Contracts and Finance Department.

The questions and answers will be incorporated into the Frequently Asked Questions published on the EDULINK website.  

The PMU presentations for the information session are available here.

Part A pdf

Part B pdf

The presentation for the reporting session is available here:

Technical reporting pdf 

Financial Reporting pdf