Proposals for Collaborative Teaching & Learning
- The most accessible form of collaboration in the INGENIUM offer. No new accreditation, no new programme, no minimum size. The only firm requirement is that academics from at least two partner universities teach together.
IN ONE MINUTE
- One firm requirement: academics from at least two INGENIUM partner universities teaching together. No minimum ECTS, contact hours, students or partners beyond that.
- It is embedded — the collaboration happens inside teaching that already exists, which is what makes it sustainable after the funding ends.
- It is collaborative in delivery, not only in design. Wherever the format allows, students from the participating institutions should engage directly with one another.
- Two formats are new this year: collaborative theses and challenge-based mobility. Both need a first cohort in the second semester so that the colleagues involved can shape the full model.
- Both routes. Fast track by 16 October; general call expression of interest by 13 November, application by 18 December 2026.
AT A GLANCE
| Who can apply | Academic staff at any INGENIUM partner university, at bachelor, master or doctoral level. Administrative colleagues and students may be part of the team. |
| Minimum | Academics from at least two partner universities teaching together. Nothing else. |
| Formats | Guest lectures and seminars, co-taught modules and joint courses, COIL and student team collaboration, collaborative theses, challenge-based mobility, and any other teaching collaboration. |
| Route and dates | Fast track by 16 October 2026, delivery February–June 2027. General call: expression of interest by 13 November, application by 18 December 2026, delivery in 2027/2028. |
| Funding | Up to EUR 10,000 per initiative. There is no minimum, and many good collaborations need nothing at all. |
| Assessment | Relevance 3 + Quality 4 + Impact 3 = 10. Six points to pass. |
| Who decides | Technical review by the mixed transition group with the Secretariat, then endorsement by an INGENIUM committee. |
| Link to Pathways | A collaboration attached to a Pathway can be submitted together with the Pathway application, and is then assessed within the Pathway’s score. |
The formats
Illustrations, not a closed list. They combine freely, and a proposal that fits none of them is not disadvantaged provided academics from two partners teach together.
Guest lectures and joint seminars
A colleague from a partner delivers sessions inside your existing course, online or in person. In its most developed form, several partners agree a rotating calendar so that each team both gives and receives.
Effort: low
Co-taught modules and joint courses
Two or more teams design and deliver a teaching unit together, with shared learning outcomes and materials. Where calendars do not align, two complementary courses counted separately are far easier to run than one joint course.
Effort: high
COIL and student team collaboration
International student teams work on a shared assignment across two or more courses. The format that most directly answers the ambition of giving an international experience to students who cannot travel.
Effort: moderate · no travel required
Collaborative theses
A final project at bachelor or master level supervised across two institutions, with a mobility grant so the student can spend time at the second one.
New this year · short mobility attached
Challenge-based mobility
A short funded stay at a partner university or a stakeholder organisation, built around a real challenge rather than around a course.
New this year · 5 days to 2 weeks
Other formats
Simulations, joint laboratory sessions, shared field work, assessment exchanges, joint studio critiques, and formats that do not yet have a name.
The category is residual by design
Collaborative theses
A collaborative thesis is a final project at bachelor or master level supervised by academics from at least two partner institutions, with a short mobility attached. Other final-project formats, such as joint capstone projects, are equally possible within each university’s regulatory limits.
The usual form is a topic pool: two or more academics agree a set of topics they are willing to co-supervise, name themselves as supervisors, and the topics are then published to students through the INGENIUM Student Calendar. A proposal that names students directly is equally acceptable in this first edition. What you are registering is supervision capacity, not a course.
Local thesis regulations differ, and some partners require a formally appointed internal supervisor. Confirm with your own faculty that supervision across two institutions is possible before submitting, and state the position honestly in the application if it is still being clarified. Doctoral supervision is not proposed here: co-tutelles and co-supervision belong under doctoral collaborations.
Challenge-based mobility
A short funded stay, typically five days to two weeks, at another INGENIUM university or at a company, NGO, public authority or research centre linked to a partner, built around a clearly defined real challenge. Challenges may be research-oriented, practice-oriented, or both.
Through this call, academics apply for the coordination of a challenge-based mobility initiative. A proposing team may act as the sending institution, the hosting institution, or both, and ideally works with a stakeholder from its own regional ecosystem. A worked example: two academics from two partners propose a challenge in which students travel to work on maritime simulation, with a port authority as the authentic audience for the result.
There are two ways to attach it. A challenge may be linked to a collaborative teaching initiative — students prepare in class, then travel — in which case one application covers both. Or challenges may be offered to the general pool from which students and their academic advisors draw during the year. A proposal may do both. Design the challenge against learning outcomes from the outset so that credit is possible; where ECTS cannot be awarded, recognition is still documented through a badge, a certificate detailing the learning outcomes, or an entry in the Pathway certificate.
Challenge-based mobility grants and the mobility attached to a collaborative thesis are funded from INGENIUM project funds, never from Erasmus+ KA131. The rate is approximately EUR 500–1,000 for a week depending on destination. The two streams remain strictly separate in all documentation and reporting. For students enrolled in a Pathway, challenge-based mobility is an embedded entitlement rather than a separate application.
If your idea is something else
Routing is a guide rather than a gate. In the previous round three proposals submitted as collaborative teaching were in substance something else, and all three went forward.
| If your idea is… | It belongs in… | Because |
|---|---|---|
| A short intensive course abroad with an online component, three institutions, at least 3 ECTS | Blended Intensive Programmes | Erasmus+ rules, funding and reporting apply, and a BIP code is needed |
| A short certified qualification | Micro-credentials and micro-modules | The accreditation route and the digital credential differ |
| An existing course you want to open to other partners, without co-designing anything | Course Catalogue contributions | No joint design is required, and the semester-2 deadline is 16 October |
| A teaching practice you want to test, evaluate and document in your own classroom | Teaching innovations | It is assessed on pedagogical evidence |
| A training activity for colleagues rather than for students | Training proposals | It feeds the initial edition of the Staff Academy |
| Any other teaching you would do together with a colleague at another partner | Collaborative teaching and learning | This is the open category |
How to apply
- From 14 September 2026
Choose your route
If the collaboration can run between February and June 2027 and the partners are confirmed, use the fast track. If it launches in 2027/2028, or you are still looking for a partner, use the general call.
- By 16 October 2026
Fast track: apply directly
No expression of interest. Complete the application form and upload it. Review is rolling, so you get an early indication, and approvals are confirmed in early November.
- By 13 November 2026
General call: express interest
Short, commits you to nothing, requires no institutional support, and you do not need a partner yet.
- Mid-October – early December 2026
Networking and matchmaking
Meetings across the alliance and keyword-based matching. This is the phase in which most partnerships are actually formed.
- By 18 December 2026
Submit the application
One application covers the whole collaboration. The lead applicant submits on behalf of all participating teams; partners do not submit separately.
How your proposal is assessed
Relevance, Quality and Impact, scored out of ten in total. Six points are needed to pass. Assessment in this edition is light and enhancement-oriented: where a proposal falls short on one dimension but is otherwise strong, the feedback says what would fix it.
3
Relevance
Does it advance what the alliance has committed to?
- Contribution to the European Campus and to genuine jointness in design and delivery
- Connection to an existing or proposed Pathway
- Alignment with the learning outcomes of the courses it sits in
- Societal and labour-market relevance, drawing on the stakeholder dialogue — an expectation for challenge-based mobility
- Alignment with the INGENIUM Innovation in Education Strategy and its four directions
4
Quality
Is it well designed, and can it actually be delivered?
- Pedagogical coherence and clarity about what students will do
- Feasibility and regulatory realism, including an honest account of what still needs arranging
- Credibility of the timeline and of the assessment and recognition arrangements
- Quality of the online and blended design, with online collaboration treated as a learning outcome
- The extent to which students from the participating institutions engage directly with one another
- Inclusion, multilingualism, accessibility and sustainability built in rather than added afterwards
3
Impact
What will change, and will it last?
- Number of students reached and the quality of what they gain
- Breadth and novelty of the partnership, including colleagues and faculties new to INGENIUM
- Embedded and seamless mobility, where mobility forms part of the design
- Prospects for continuing, and potential to grow into a Blended Intensive Programme, a micro-credential, a catalogue contribution or a Pathway component
The three dimensions are common to the whole call; the points listed under each are the version that applies to this section. A small number of categories may carry a different weighting, which will be published here before the call opens.
Funding & Support
You can request funds for staff mobility, embedded short mobility, or any aspect related to the implementation of the initiative. Compensation mechanisms differ from institution to institution. There is no minimum, and proposals that request nothing are not disadvantaged. The application asks what the money is for and roughly how much goes to each element, not for a formal budget.
| What is being funded | Usual source | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Short staff mobility for teaching or preparation of the initiative | Erasmus+ KA131 or INGENIUM project funds | Mobility for teaching or to develop the initiative is one of most encouraged expenses. The idea is that you use it to get to know your colleague (s) and work together in the implementation. |
| Student mobility attached to a challenge or a thesis | INGENIUM project funds | Approximately EUR 500-1,000 for a week, depending on destination |
| Platforms, tools and materials | INGENIUM project funds or institutional resources | Subject to the purchasing rules of the partner concerned |
| Bringing a stakeholder into the teaching | INGENIUM project funds | State the organisation where it is known |
| Staff time and compensation | Institutional rules apply | Whether staff time can be bought differs by partner. Check the institutional rules published at your own university |
Fast-track application
For initiatives ready to run between February and June 2027. There is no expression of interest: complete the application form, then upload it here with any supporting material. Applications are reviewed as they arrive and approvals are communicated in early November 2026. The fast track matters particularly for collaborative theses and challenge-based mobility, which need a first cohort in the second semester.
Expression of interest
Deliberately short. It commits you to nothing, it requires no institutional support, and you do not need a partner yet. Its purpose is to describe your idea well enough that the alliance can help you find the right collaborator.
Frequently Asked Questions
As small as one session. There is no minimum number of ECTS, contact hours or students. The only firm requirement is that academics from at least two partner universities teach together.
Yes. Submit an expression of interest to the general call and say what kind of partner you are looking for. It enters the networking phase and the keyword-based matching, and can become a full application once a partner is confirmed.
No. English is the most common working language, but collaborations in other shared languages are welcome, and multilingual design counts positively under quality. Whatever you choose, state it plainly so that students know before they apply.
No. The usual form is a topic pool: you and a colleague agree topics you are willing to co-supervise, and students apply through the Student Calendar. Naming students at the outset is also accepted in this first edition.
Yes. You can apply as a sending institution, as a hosting institution, or as both. The form asks which applies.
It depends how the challenge is attached. Where it is built into a collaborative teaching initiative, the students are those taking part in the initiative. Where challenges are offered to the general pool, students apply through the student cycle with their academic advisor. For students in a Pathway it is an embedded entitlement.
No. Tick the box in the application and name the Pathway. Where a collaboration is proposed together with a Pathway, it is assessed within the Pathway’s overall score rather than separately.
No formal endorsement signature is required. You confirm that the collaboration sits in a course or programme already accredited at your institution and that your Head of Department or equivalent is aware of it.
You receive feedback summarising the strengths of the application and, where appropriate, what would strengthen a resubmission. Non-selection is treated as a developmental outcome, and a proposal can be resubmitted in a subsequent cycle.
Useful Documents
Documents for this section are in preparation and will be published here before the call opens on 14 September 2026.
Talk to us
| UNIVERSITY | COORDINATOR | |
|---|---|---|
| UNIOVI | Jesús Daniel Santos | ingenium@uniovi.es |
| TUIASI | Irina Lungu | irina.lungu@academic.tuiasi.ro |
| UdA | Marcello Costantini | marcello.costantini@unich.it |
| Xamk | Eeva Kuoppala | eeva.kuoppala@xamk.fi |
| Skövde | Mikael Ejdebäck | mikael.ejdeback@his.se |
| HKA | Melissa Gruber | melissa.gruber@h-ka.de |
| MTU | Michael Hall | michael.hall@mtu.ie |
| Rouen | Ligia Livanu | ligia.livanu@univ-rouen.fr |
| UoC | Georgios Kossioris | kosioris@uoc.gr |
| MUS | Magdalena Kasnakova | m.kasnakova@mu-sofia.bg |
