TUAS number one in getting external funding
Based on the RDI indicators collected yearly by the Ministry of Culture and Education, TUAS was in 2015 the university of applied sciences with the largest amount of external funding. TUAS managed to get EUR 5,039,000 of RDI funding.
In 2016, Turku University of Applied Sciences is set to be even more successful, based on the ongoing projects: the amount of money will be up to 6 million.
Higher education institutions constantly apply for funding from different external sources. Research, development and innovation (RDI) is an essential part of the activities of all Finnish higher education institutions. The alignments in the higher education policy and the reforms of the funding model have made it even more important in terms of success. In 2015, TUAS had over 120 projects, of which almost a third were international. At the moment the number of ongoing projects is 150. A pool of projects this vast and multidisciplinary contains many kinds of activities, which are however brought together by the goal of producing more knowledge, well-being and competitiveness for the area of operations.
In 2015, TUAS was the only higher education institution in the Nordic countries coordinating projects from all sectors of the Erasmus+ funding (Knowledge Alliances, Capacity Building, Strategic Partnership) in the current funding programme period of the European Union. Turku University of Applied Sciences is also the only Finnish higher education institution to receive EU Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership funding two years in a row. It is granted yearly for 2–3 projects coordinated by a Finnish higher education institution. In addition, TUAS holds the top spot as the coordinator of projects in the EU Central Baltic programme.
In addition to EU funding, TUAS has succeeded in e.g. acquiring funding from Tekes (the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation). Only two universities of applied sciences have a spot in the list of 50 largest recipients of Tekes support. TUAS is one of these.
“TUAS will also in the future concentrate on active regional and international cooperation. Our very good reputation as a research organization to be funded means that external funding will continue to increase in 2017”, says Esko Ovaska, Head of RDI Services at TUAS.
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