Nordplus projects pay off! Watch the video

"Nordplus is always a good ide!"

That is the clear recommendation from Jan Kvist Martinsen and Eva Sørum Poulsen, both associate professors at the Department of Business Development and Technology at Aarhus University, Herning. Both of them have a great deal of experience when it comes to using the many opportunities provided by Nordplus, and both have organised Nordplus projects and collaborated with other Nordic and Baltic colleagues over the years.
 
“I use a lot of the examples I have seen in other countries when I go back and teach my own students. Nordplus projects have given me important insight into how others have developed new teaching methods and new ways of interacting with companies in their local communities,” says Jan Kvist Martinsen.
 
Jan Kvist Martinsen almost always includes a Nordplus project in his semesters. He emphasises how much both he and the students can learn from it.
 
“The students are normally very happy when they go back home after a Nordplus project. They also tell their fellow students about their experiences which makes it easier to get new students to apply for upcoming projects,” he explains.
 
He finds that the students always bring back something new from each project that he would not have been able to teach them in their regular classes. He explains that this direct access to other peoples’ experiences and cultures, and the physical meetings between students with the same academic backgrounds, open up their eyes to how others think and deal with challenges.
 
And the students are not the only ones whose horizons have been broadened, Eva Sørum Poulsen explains.
 
“My personal experience with Nordplus is always positive. I always gain a lot from a Nordplus project!” says Eva Sørum Poulsen.
 
She points out that;
 
“In our teaching, we can compare what we are doing here in Denmark with what is being done across the Baltic and Nordic states, and when we bring all this together we can give the students a much better experience.”
 
Both lecturers agree that it is easy to apply for funding for a project.
“Applying for a Nordplus project is a straightforward process. You do not have to provide a lot of documentation, and as long as you have a good idea and a good network, you can easily apply. The whole application process is very transparent, so you more or less know from the get go whether or not it will be possible to receive funding for your project,” Eva Bjørum Poulsen says.
 
Preparation is one thing, but experiences from many other international projects suggest that feedback and reporting as well as going through various formal checklists after a project can be very time consuming.
 
“It’s very easy to apply for a Nordplus project – and actually just as easy to report back to Nordplus when you have finished the course or the project,” she says.
 
The best advice the two associate professors can give new applicants who have not worked with Nordplus before is to just go for it, since it is so easy to begin.
 
“If you are a teacher and want to try your hand at a Nordplus project, first and foremost you have to have a good idea that you and your students find interesting. Then you have to find a couple of partners in the Nordic or Baltic countries who want to join you – and then you are off!” says Jan Kvist Martinsen.