Strategic guidelines on internationalisation in higher education and research

International strategy for higher education and research 2017-2025 sets the overall targets for making higher education and research in Finland more international. The strategy has been prepared by the Ministry of Education and Culture together with universities, universities of applied sciences and stakeholders.

The following overall goals are named in the strategy

• Greater international attraction through focusing on the latest science and leading edge research
• Finland is the home of high-quality education
• Momentum for sharing knowledge, expertise and educational innovations
• A warm welcome to Finland
• The Finnish message is heard internationally
• Team Finland knowledge network
• Greater involvement of Finnish experts living abroad and alumni educated in Finland

Internationalisation is regarded as an important aspect in higher education and research. Ministry of Education and Culture encourages institutions in their internationalization e.g. by taking it into account in the core funding for higher education institutions as well as in the target negotiations with institutions. 

Partnerships and Networks

There are several programmes and funding instruments that aim to promote international cooperation, networking and partnerships in higher education institutions. They are coordinated by a Finnish National Agency for Education (Opetushallitus).

Asia Programme supports cooperation projects between higher education institutions aiming at internationalizing education. The target countries in the programme are China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The FIRST+ programme (Finnish–Russian Student and Teacher Exchange Programme) promotes collaboration of higher education institutions in Finland and Russia. The programme supports student and teacher mobility between Finnish and Russian higher education institutions and the organisation of joint intensive courses.

The Higher Education Institutions Institutional Cooperation Instrument (HEI ICI) supports cooperation projects between higher education institutions in Finland and the developing world that are designed to enhance higher education provision in these countries.

In addition, European Union's Erasmus+ programme for higher education supports higher education cooperation and development projects.