A new European Union – New Zealand exchange programme will begin in 2009. The programme will receive funding from the New Zealand Government and the European Commission. Both will provide €280,000 respectively over four years. Proposals from New Zealand tertiary education organisations will be accepted up until 6 June 2008 and it is expected that the exchanges will begin next year. The programme will support academic and student exchanges of up to 30 New Zealanders and 30 Europeans to study abroad.

This new programme follows a European Union/New Zealand exchange pilot which was launched in 2004.  The pilot project involved Interactive Design students from Canterbury University, Waikato University and the Wanganui School of Design, allowing students the opportunity to work in different European environments (Austria, Slovenia and the United Kingdom). 

This is not the only news from the academic partnership front: the new Erasmus Mundus Partnerships have been selected under Action 3. In total seventeen new programmes were chosen, the topics of which vary from Sustainable Tropical Forestry to Women’s and Gender Studies. The full list of programmes is available on the DG Education and Training homepage.

New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission
DG Education and Training