Programme Description
TEMPUS is an education programme of the European Union which focuses on the modernisation of higher education in the EU’s immediate neighbouring countries. It supports and promotes institutional cooperation by responding successfully to the changing needs of its partner countries in the area of higher education. Since its start in 1989 the participating countries have increased from 17 to 56, involving countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Western Balkans and the Mediterranean region.
The main objective of Tempus is to contribute to the creation of an area of cooperation in the field of higher education between the European Union and the Tempus Partner Countries. In addition to promoting cooperation between institutions, Tempus intends to promote a people-to-people and ‘bottom-up’ approach. Therefore Tempus relies on the motivation of people to make a difference and is a co-operation programme which promotes capacity-building, modernization and reforms through international partnerships.
Higher education institutions provide the training for a new generation of leaders and are key players in the successful transition to a knowledge-based economy and society. They are centers of expertise and important factors in growth and competitiveness. Therefore Tempus greatly contributes to promoting reform and modernization in both EU Member States and all participating countries and also effects EU policy areas on external relations, such as enlargement, development and neighbourhood policy.
Works cited
- Haupt, Klaus. The Tempus Success Factors, p. 12/13 in DAAD – Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (Hrsg.).20 Jahre Tempus. Deutsche Hochschuleinrichtungen im Tempus-Programm von 1990 bis 2010. Bonn, 2010.
- http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/tempus/
EU-Links
European Union: http://europa.eu/
EACEA: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/index_en.php
TEMPUS Programme: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/tempus/
European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm
European Parliament: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/
European Council: http://www.european-council.europa.eu/
Europe Direct: http://europa.eu/europedirect/index_en.htm
Eurodesk: http://www.eurodesk.org/edesk/
