Activities with ASEAN's dialogue partners
ASEAN-EU University Network Programme (AUNP)

The ASEAN-EU University Network Programme (AUNP) is a higher education co-operation programme, jointly financed and implemented by the ASEAN University Network (AUN) and the European Commission (EC).

The AUNP aims at enhancing co-operation between higher education institutions in the two regions, to promote regional integration within ASEAN countries, and to strengthen the mutual awareness of European and Asian cultural perspectives.

The general management and coordination of the programme is ensured by the Delegation of the European Commission in Thailand and the AUNP Programme Management Office (PMO).

The AUNP has two main strands:

• The Network Initiatives Strand, a series of conferences, meetings, technical assistance missions and workshops on Higher Education issues, Network Initiatives, which are to contribute to the discussion on ASEAN and EU higher education issues, designed to bring representatives of ASEAN and EU higher education institutions (HEI) together to exchange views, share experiences and to transfer benefits in the field of higher education co-operation. For further information, previous and ongoing initiatives.

• The Partnership Projects Grant Support Strand: under 2 calls for proposals, 20 ASEAN-EU higher education co-operation projects in the areas of Common Applied Research, Curriculum Development and Human Resource Development were selected for funding.

No further calls for proposals are foreseen.

For more information on ongoing projects, general statistics and information on alternative funding possibilities, click here.

For any further information concerning AUNP, please contact AUNP PMO.


Current Status

The ASEAN-EU University Network Programme (AUNP) was officially launched with the signing of the Financing Agreement between the European Commission (EC) and the AUN in January 2000. The programme, however, was implemented in April 2002 until January 2006. The AUN and the EC provided financial support for the programme comprising two major activities, namely, Partnership Projects and Network Initiatives. The AUNP is managed by the Programme Management Office (PMO) located at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. Since the Financing Agreement clearly stated the duration of the AUNP for 6 years, as such, the AUNP was already terminated in April 2006.

All activities of the Network Initiatives, 3 Round Table Meetings, 2 Rectors’ Conferences, Technical Assistances to the AUN, were successfully implemented as stated in the Financing Agreement. On the other hands, under the Partnership Projects, 20 collaborative projects were granted financial support from the European Commission to conduct research for a maximum duration of 2 years. All 20 projects were terminated in January 2006.

The Technical Assistances (TA) to the AUN aims at sharing experience and knowledge that the European institutions may have with ASEAN counterparts. TA was launched under 2 specific areas; Credit Transfer System and Quality Assurance. European experts were recruited to assist AUN Member Universities by ways of conducting workshops and surveys.

In line with a request from participants to see the continuation of the ASEAN-EU Network and Partnerships after the end of the AUNP, the AUN Secretariat committed itself to launch ‘the ASEAN-EU Rectors’ Workshop’ which has the same structure as the ASEAN-EU Rectors’ Conference of the AUNP. The Workshop aimed to bring rectors/ vice-chancellors of higher education institutions from both ASEAN and the EU to discuss and share knowledge with each other under the topic of mutual interest. Co-organised with Commission on Higher Education, Thailand, the Workshop was organised in Bangkok on 22 July 2006, back-to-back with the World University Presidents Summit event.

List of Publications of the AUNP:

      - Proceedings on the First AUNP Round Table Meeting: Quality
        Assurance on Higher Education

      - Proceedings on the Second AUNP Round Table Meeting: Higher
         Education Autonomy in ASEAN and the European Union

      - Proceedings on the Third AUNP Round Table Meeting: Regional
        Co-operation in a Globalising World

      - Proceedings on the First ASEAN-EU Rectors’ Conference: Higher
        Education and Sustainable Development

      - Proceedings on the Second ASEAN-EU Rectors’ Conference:
         Borderless Education: the Perspective of Universiites in ASEAN
         and the European Union

      - Proceedings on Workshop on Credit Transfer in ASEAN and the
         European Union

      - Proceedings on the AUNP Grantholders’ Meeting

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