Information for UK Higher Education institutions
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In July 2003, the Secretary of State for Education and Training and the Minister of Education for the Russian Federation, signed a statement of intent on ‘Russian-United Kingdom Partnerships in Higher Education.’ The BRIDGE project was set up to facilitate this and aims to help UK and Russian HE institutions develop dual award programmes that lead to mutually recognised qualifications.
The project is sponsored by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), is managed on a day-to-day basis by the British Council and is supported by the National Training Foundation.
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To increase collaborative effort between Russian and UK universities leading to dual degrees or other mutually recognised academic qualifications. |
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To increase the awareness of the higher education systems in the two countries and to build the basis of future sustainable partnerships between collaborating institutions. |
The BRIDGE project started on 1 June 2004 and was divided into four stages to run until March 2008. Activities to support UK-Russia partnerships are now continuing until March 2010.
In BRIDGE 1, bids were invited from institutions that already had partnership experience with Russian HE institutions and were looking to further develop courses. Eight proposals were approved for the development of dual Masters programmes with institutions mainly in Moscow or St Petersburg.
In BRIDGE 2, applications were encouraged from institutions with little or no experience of collaborative work in Russia, to develop new partnerships. Funding was available not only for full Masters and undergraduate programmes, but also for postgraduate level Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes. There are now a total of 17 active BRIDGE 2 partnerships, including eight Masters programmes, one undergraduate award and eight CPD programmes.
In BRIDGE 3 (2006 / 2007), applications were again encouraged from institutions with experience of collaborative work in Russia. The Steering Committee approved grants for 12 projects: three Masters programmes, one undergraduate award and eight CPD programmes.
In 2006 / 2007, the Science and Technology strand of BRIDGE granted seed corn funding to eight research co-operation partnerships and also funded one project to develop a Masters programme and one CPD.
In BRIDGE 4, two Masters and five CPD programmes leading to dual awards were funded. In addition, one Masters and two CPDs were funded under the Science and Technology strand.
In 2007 / 2008, in the second round of funding for research, the BRIDGE Science and Technology strand funded eight research co-operation partnerships.
In 2007 / 2008, the Scottish Executive funded a partnership to develop CPD programmes.
There will be no further funding opportunities for dual awards or research co-operation.
If your institution is interested in collaborating with a Russian HE institution, but does not currently have an existing partner, the British Council has developed a partnering website: www.bridgeproject.ru. The aim of this site is to promote direct links between Russian and UK universities interested in finding a partner for BRIDGE activity. UK HE institutions can register their details and also search for potential partners.
If you would like to discuss registering on this website or a potential partnership with a Russian institution, please contact the BRIDGE Project Team, British Council Manchester, or Olga Barnashova, British Council Moscow.
For more information about the BRIDGE project, please contact:
BRIDGE project
Bridgewater House
British Council
58 Whitworth Street
Manchester M1 6BB
United Kingdom
Telephone +44 (0) 161 957 7120
Fax +44 (0) 161 957 7561
E-mail joanna.collins@britishcouncil.org
Information for Russian institutions can be found on the British Council Russia website or by contacting Olga Barnashova, Russian BRIDGE project manager:
Telephone +7 095 782 0200
E-mail olga.barnashova@britishcouncil.org
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