IUC 2026 - Stage 1 - Expression of Interest and Commitment

• Phase-in (ca. 1 year): project formulation activities, preparing the operational and management modalities/set-up and support structure within the partner and Flemish university’s policy framework and governance, and identification of (PhD) scholars.
  
   
• Two main project phases of 5 years each, with a Phase 1 focusing on capacity building and creating the conditions for uptake, and a Phase 2 focusing on consolidation, uptake, impact, and sustainability.
  
   
• Phase-out (ca. 1 to 2 years): taking stock of all results; financial and administrative closing; closing event; preparing for search for new funding opportunities to sustain the partnership.

Eligibility of coordinators

Affiliation and statute of the coordinators

• Flemish coordinator: professor at a Flemish university with a ZAP statute (Independent Academic Personnel), with a minimum ZAP appointment level of 10% (or equivalent), and an 80% employment status, and with minimum 7 remaining active years at the time of submission. A co-coordinator should be appointed in case the coordinator does not have 7 more active years to go, with the co-coordinator having at least 7 remaining active years and meeting the eligibility criteria for coordinatorship
   
• Partner promoter: professor, with at least an 80% employment status at the partner university involved

Additional criteria

A Flemish academic can be coordinator of only one IUC project. Flemish coordinators of ongoing IUC projects on the date of submission of the Expression of Interest and Commitment are not eligible.

Eligibilty of countries

Benin, Bolivia, Cuba, DR Congo, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam

• Stage 1 - Expression of Interest and Commitment: focus on fit for purpose for IUC of the project partners and project vision.
   

• Stage 2 - Concept Note: focus on fit for purpose for IUC of the partner university, project strategy & content, and consortium development (MIP and MSP).
   

• Stage 3 - Phase-In: focus on fully fledged proposal, operational and management modalities/set-up & support structure

The main elements of the Expression of Interest and Commitment are:

1. Process: how was the proposal developed, who is involved, track record, etcetera.
    
2. A presentation of the partner institution: profile and value framework, track record of cooperation with Flemish higher education institutions, institutional strategy, context analysis, factsheet.
    
3. Project content: a high-level project vision
    
4. Project organisation
   
   ·        Coordinators: presentation of the coordinators’ team, their track record of cooperation, motivation, justification of fit for purpose, etcetera.
   
   ·        Partner and Flemish institution: organisation of the project, justification of fit for purpose,
   
   Letters of commitment from the rector of the involved institutions for the project, project organization and the coordinator.
    
5. Partnership: approach to broaden and embed the partnership locally and in Flanders as Multi-Institutional and Multi-Stakeholder Partnership

Format for a project proposal (offline working document)

Annex 1: IUC 2026 - Institution Fact Sheet

Annex 2: 

1. Statutes of the partner university 
2. Latest strategic/institutional plan of the partner university; 
3. Financial statements of the last 3 years of the partner university

Annex 3: Cv of the partner and flemish coordinator 

Annex 4: Letter of commitment rector partner university

Annex 5: Letter of commitment rector Flemish university