RIR Minutes 29th of April 2026

The Council backed using up to 20% of KA131 for strategic non‑EU mobility focused on six target countries, with calls to open soon and funding from August 2026. North2North demand exceeds resources, so LTU will continue to seek more Government support. LTU secured SEK 45,000 from the Sweden–Japan Foundation for student mobility to Japan. Departments advanced non‑EU partner plans, and LTU’s internal webpage on Responsible Internationalisation has been updated – a new addition was the national policy and guidelines, plus LTU’s internal standing on MoUs.

Key topics:

• Erasmus KA131: 20% for non‑EU mobility: Council agreed to strategically use up to 20% (~SEK 800k for 2026, more for 2027) of KA131 for non‑EU mobility focused on six countries (UK, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, Canada, South Africa) to maximise impact across ~32 student/staff slots, with an annual review.
• KA131 implementation steps and rules: International Office will inform the Council of staff application procedures by 31 May 2026 and announce opportunities before Midsummer; funding starts ~1 Aug 2026, and some outside‑EU staff mobility requires an Erasmus inter‑institutional agreement and a 5‑day minimum.
• Scope and exclusions: Australia and Singapore are excluded from subsidised destinations to prevent demand overload and because existing mobility is functioning without subsidy; Latin America (e.g., Chile, Brazil) and additional African partners may be considered in future cycles.
• North2North (UArctic) funding push: Demand exceeds current national funding (~SEK 0.5m); Maria asked Pär to continue advocating for SEK 1m in the 2027–2029 budget while LTU flexibly reallocates student funds to staff to support more Arctic mobility (e.g., Arctic Congress).
• Sweden–Japan Foundation mobility grants: LTU secured SEK 45k (3x15k) to support mainly master’s thesis exchanges (prioritises Kyushu but open to other partners), with intent to expand future applications to include PhD and admin mobility.
• Department partner strategies: SBN is revising its partner‑selection method beyond co‑publications (due to ethical concerns) to count broader researcher ties mapped to four pillars; HLT proposes criteria‑led selection (teacher education/health fit) to ensure relevance; SRT elevates Space with Cranfield, University of Tokyo, and METU and is encouraged to leverage UNIVERSEH for a joint approach to Tokyo; ETKS targets interest clusters (Australia, Canada, UK, Singapore), plans delegations (e.g., CBS, Vasa, St. Gallen, UCT via Erasmus), and is engaging inbound interest from UT Austin and NC State. Feedback from TVM will be announced at a later date.
• Responsible Internationalisation: Sweden’s national RIR guidelines (from March 2026) align with LTU’s funnel/TrustCollab model emphasizing proportionality and shared judgment; LTU is viewed as a leading university on the subject matter and was invited to showcase its process on numerous occasions.
• MOUs/LOIs policy: LTU will generally avoid non‑binding MOUs/LOIs in favour of concrete project agreements, allowing exceptions only when funders require them or for clearly strategic cases; heads of department remain the decision owners under delegation rules.
• Risk and due‑diligence processes: TrustCollab continues cross‑functional assessments (security/legal/ethics/immigration) for visiting researchers and collaborations; a new China Tracker license and incoming head of security (Sara) will further strengthen due‑diligence.
• Discussion for next meeting - onboarding and culture workshop/seminar for international employees re Swedish values, mentality – for strengthen integration efforts beyond knowledge of language