Funding in Nordplus Adult
Grants from Nordplus Adult are based on fixed unit costs for different types of expenses connected to the applied activity. Grants from Nordplus are contributions to project expenses, and all participating organisations must therefore expect some degree of co-financing.
The co-financing is not to be specified or documented in the application or in the final report as it is presupposed in the unit cost system.
Furthermore, the unit cost system is based on the premise that the implementation of the activity and not the actual cost must be documented. This provides greater financial flexibility in relation to the project implementation.
If the project partners complete all the granted activities (e.g. the granted number of traveling participants, the granted duration of stays, the granted number of working days etc.), the partnership is entitled to keep the total awarded grant, regardless of whether the real costs of the activities are lower than the awarded grant. Possible surplus funding can be spent on any project-related activities. On the other hand, if the real costs are higher than the awarded grant, the partnership will have to co-finance the extra costs. It is therefore recommended to take stock of the level of co-financing needed to carry out the project before submitting the application.
Mobility projects and collaboration projects operate with two different unit cost systems as described below. Following the signing of the contract, approved projects will receive the “Nordplus Adult guide for reporting, documentation of activities and financial management of grants”, which contains detailed information on financial matters. The guide can found here.
Mobility projects
Grants for travel and subsistence
Allocation of grants for mobility projects is based upon fixed unit costs for travel and subsistence (lodging/board) and will automatically be calculated in the application form when information on the number of participants, their home and hosting country(-ies) and the duration(s) of the stay(s) is inserted.
| TRAVEL UNIT COSTS (PER PARTICIPANT, ROUND-TRIP) | |
| To and from Greenland | 1.300 € |
| To and from the Faroe Islands and Iceland | 660 € |
| Between Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and Åland | 330 € |
| *Domestic, more than 500 km (round-trip) | 175 € |
* The unit cost for domestic travel is an addition to the unit costs for transnational travel. Grants for domestic travel can be applied for in the home country when the distance between the participant’s hometown and the airport, train or bus station of international departure is more than 250 km. Domestic travel can also be applied for in the host country when the distance between the airport, train or bus station of arrival and the hometown of the hosting organisation is more than 250 km.
| SUBSISTENCE UNIT COSTS (PER PARTICIPANT) | |||
| TYPE OF PARTICIPANT | PER DAY | PER WEEK | PER MONTH |
| Adult learners (students) | 70 € | 250 € | 750 € |
| Teachers and other adult education staff | 100 € | 500 € | 1.350 € |
The grant for subsistence is designed to cover the whole stay, including travel days (usually, two travel days).
Grant for project management
The purpose of the grant is to contribute to all kinds of project-related costs for managing and implementing the mobility project.
Costs for managing and implementing the project may be any type of costs of coordinating and participating in a mobility project such as accounting, reporting, preparing meetings and activities. In addition, costs for preparing and participating in virtual activities can be covered with this grant. The grant may also cover extra costs for implementing the project in a sustainable way, e.g. extra costs for green travel.
The grant is a lump sum and thus independent of project duration and content. The coordinating institution is awarded a higher grant since greater costs are foreseen when coordinating a project.
The following criteria must be met in order to be eligible for a project management grant:
- The mobility project must be of the type "Exchange of teachers and other adult education staff" or "Exchange of adult learners (adult students)". Preparatory visits are not eligible for this grant.
- The applied grant for travel and subsistence must be minimum 10.000 €, or the number of traveling participants must be minimum 15.
| RATE PER PARTICIPATING INSTITUTION FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT | |
| Coordinator: | 2.000 € |
| Partner: | 1.000 € |
Collaboration projects
Grants for collaboration projects are allocated according to fixed unit costs for travel/subsistence, working days and expenses for project management. The unit costs serve as a basis for determining a given grant, and the system offers flexibility in relation to moving funds between and within some types of expenses.
The programme provides grants for three types of costs:
- Project management
- Transnational project meetings
- Development work
- Grant applications can be submitted for development work when applying for development and mapping projects, but not for thematic networkssince these projects do not aim at product development.
Nordplus Adult does not set a fixed ceiling for grants. This means that applicants have the opportunity to define their needs for support on the basis of their specific project. Please note, however, that the programme budget is limited to approximately 1.2 million € per year. For each project, a thorough assessment of the applied budget is made. In particular, the assessment addresses the coherence between the description of the project, its results and the support applied for. Grant reductions may be introduced if a budget is not substantiated by a sufficient project description.
An average grant for a two-year Nordplus Adult collaboration project involving three or four partners is 50.000 €.
Grant for project management
The purpose of the grant is to contribute to all kinds of project-related costs for managing, implementing and disseminating the collaboration project.
Costs for managing and implementing the project may be any type of costs of coordinating and participating in a collaboration project such as accounting, reporting, preparing meetings and activities. In addition, costs for preparing and participating in virtual activities can be covered with this grant. The grant may also cover extra costs for implementing the project in a sustainable way, e.g. extra costs for green travel.
All collaboration projects are obliged to disseminate their project results to relevant external target groups defined in the application. Examples of costs for dissemination are publication of reports and newsletters, campaigns on social media, translation, websites and organisation of conferences, seminars and meetings about the project results.
Please note that expenses for services from external suppliers, such as fees, cannot be applied for separately, but can be covered by this grant or by the institutions’ co-financing.
The grant is a lump sum and thus independent of project duration, type and content. The grant is triggered automatically per participating organisation when applying for a collaboration project. The coordinating institution is awarded a higher grant since greater costs are foreseen when coordinating a project.
| RATE PER PARTICIPATING INSTITUTION FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT | |
| Coordinator: | 4.000 € |
| Partner: | 2.000 € |
Grant for transnational project meetings
This grant is for travel and subsistence for staff of participating institutions for meetings between project partners during the project period. The meetings can be used for planning, coordinating, following up and evaluating the project. Network meetings, small seminars/courses with the participation of partners’ own staff/adult learners are also covered by this unit cost.
Costs for external events with participation of persons outside the partnership are to be covered by the grant for project management, which is described above.
Please note that transnational project meetings can only take place in programme countries, which are represented in the partnership. The autonomous regions Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Åland are independent programme countries in Nordplus.
Please also note that the grant includes both travel and accommodation expenses. The unit costs are based on the general mobility travel unit costs with a small contribution for accommodation.
| UNIT COST PER PARTICIPANT PER TRANSNATIONAL MEETING (ROUND-TRIP) | |
| To and from Greenland | 1.600 € |
| To and from the Faroe Islands and Iceland | 960 € |
| Between Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and Åland | 630 € |
| *Domestic, more than 500 km (round-trip) | 175 € |
| **Domestic travel and subsistence, more than 500 km (round-trip) | 475 € |
* The unit cost for domestic travel is an addition to the unit costs for transnational travel. Grants for domestic travel can be applied for in the home country when the distance between the participant’s hometown and the airport, train or bus station of international departure is more than 250 km. Domestic travel can also be applied for in the host country when the distance between the airport, train or bus station of arrival and the hometown of the hosting organisation is more than 250 km.
**The unit cost for domestic travel and subsistence can be applied for by participants from partner institution(s) in the same country as the hosting institution if the distance between the address of the partner organisation and the address of the hosting organisation is more than 250 km.
Grant for development work
The grant is a contribution to coverage of the working days spent on the development of substantial, educational products of mapping and development projects. Thematic networks are not eligible for this grant since they do not aim at development of products. The products are described in the application – examples are curricula, IT tools, analyses, reports, open source materials, teaching material and methods, etc.
Please note that time invested in other project work than concrete product development cannot be covered with the grant, but may be covered by the grant for project management, which is described above.
The application must state an estimated number of working days required for each individual partner for development of the project product(s). The calculation is based on unit costs per person per working day within two groups of countries.
| UNIT COST PER PARTICIPANT PER DAY FOR DEVELOPMENT WORK | |
| Baltic countries | 125 € |
| Nordic countries | 250 € |
There is no fixed grant ceiling for development work, but all budgets will undergo a careful assessment, which will compare the description of the products and development work with the applied number of working days. It will also be taken into account whether the project’s scope and scale fall within the budget frame of the Nordplus Adult programme.
On average, Nordplus Adult grants 25 working days per year per institution. The total number of granted working days per institution for a full project period can exceed 40 days only in exceptional cases. It must be explicitly substantiated in the application if the total number of working days exceeds 40 days.
Ineligible costs
- Overheads, i.e. general unspecified costs not directly connected to the Nordplus project
- Purchasing of office equipment (such as IT equipment)
- Costs for non-Nordic and non-Baltic participants
- Costs for activities outside the Nordic and Baltic countries
Inclusion support for participants
Adult learners and staff who require inclusion support can apply for additional funds. These expenses can be approved with up to 100% of real costs if these costs are not covered through other sources.
At application time, it is possible to apply for known real costs related to inclusion needs directly in the application form.
If the need for additional funds related to inclusion support arises during the project period, this may be applied for outside the ordinary application round. In this case, please send an e-mail directly to the main administrator of Nordplus Adult (nordplus@ufm.dk).
Examples of inclusion support include expenses for an accompanying person, interpreter, single room or similar. This grant is only available to participants in activities that have already been approved. The reason for inclusion support coverage must be duly substantiated in the application or e-mail to the main administrator.
In the final report, invoices and/or other documents proving the real costs for inclusion support must be attached.
Irregular use of funds
If the funds are not used as implied in the contract, and/or the final report is not submitted as agreed upon in the contract, the main administrator can decide to hold back or to withdraw funds.
Payment and auditing
Applicants may receive full funding (the sum applied for), partial funding (only some of the activities applied for are funded, or the budget has been reduced), or the entire application may be rejected.
Applicants of awarded projects receive detailed information on their grant. If funding has been granted for part of the application only, the applicant will receive information about this and the reasons for the reduction.
The grant is paid to the coordinator, who is responsible for the funds throughout the contract period. The partnership determines how resources are to be distributed among the partners. For grants of 15.000 € or more, the approved grant is paid in two separate instalments: 80% after the contract has been signed and the remainder (20%) after the final report has been approved. For applications granted less than 15.000 €, 100% of the funds are paid after the contract has been signed.
The Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science will issue the payment no later than 45 calendar days after the signed contract has been received.
The grant must be recorded in accordance with national and internal regulations as a separate cost item in the organisation’s account so that all payments are visible in the event of an audit.
Final accounting for realised activities and costs