UCD and partner institutions in eight different countries have successfully completed nine projects funded under the Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility (Erasmus+ ICM) funding stream.
In 2022, UCD was awarded €183,490 in Erasmus+ ICM funding from the Higher Education Authority to deliver mobility projects with nine partner universities in eight different countries across North and Sub-Saharan Africa, East and Southeast Asia, Middle East and the USA. Three years and 52 two-way student and staff mobilities later, we are taking a look back at the impact that these projects have had on students, staff and the institutions involved.
Addis Ababa University: Training the next generation of humanitarian practitioners
Photo caption: Professor Meskerem Abi of Addis Ababa University during her teaching mobility at UCD
One of the largest of the projects funded in this round was a mobility project designed to contribute to the training of a new generation of humanitarian education practitioners in Ireland and Ethiopia.
Led by Professor Pat Gibbons, Director of the UCD Centre for Humanitarian Action and ProfessorTesfaye Zeleke at Addis Ababa University (AAU), the project focused on the co-development of humanitarian educational content. Pat, Tesfaye and their teams engaged widely within the NGO and university communities in Ireland and Ethiopia, securing engagement from Concern Worldwide, the African Union, and the Ethiopian Ministry for Education.
The project enabled four two-way PhD and eight two-way staff mobilities with the Addis Ababa University (AAU), with each partner gaining insights into the structure and teaching of humanitarian action and exchanging best practices and materials. This in turn has contributed to the development of new modules and left a long-term impact on the teaching of humanitarian action teaching at both institutions.
For AAU, the project actively enabled development agencies and Higher Education Institutions to design systems and processes that will enhance humanitarian response to those most in need. “The fact that Ethiopia is located in the horn of Africa, where the need for humanitarian assistance is severe and growing, underlines the importance of this area of work,” says Tesfaye.
Pat says the project has been beneficial for both UCD and its partners. “AAU develops the capacity to provide localised education and training for staff delivering aid, while UCD benefits by enriching the experience of its staff and students and expanding the global nature of its education.”
University of Ghana: Teaching and research exchanges across humanitarian education, social justice and global health
Also Led by Prof. Pat Gibbons, Director of the UCD Centre for Humanitarian Action, UCD’s first Erasmus exchange project with the University of Ghana enabled six two-way PhD and seven two-way staff mobilities with the University of Ghana (UoG). After a huge response to an open call for student and staff mobility opportunities, a team of teaching and professional staff and PhD students travelled to Ghana in July 2025.
Staff engaged in teaching on topics including social justice including child protection practices, global health teaching and research methods, and socio-digital inequalities, while a member of UCD professional staff delivered sessions on the use of AI in administrative work flows. The UCD Centre for Humanitarian Action hosted a series of visits from researchers and teaching staff at the University of Ghana who collaborated with UCD staff on areas including gender-based violence and the localisation of humanitarian action.
Université de Tunis: French Connection
A project with the Université de Tunis (UT) enabled seven two-way PhD and four two-way staff mobilities and represented UCD’s first teaching and study exchange with a French-speaking university in North Africa. Led by Professor Mary Gallagher of the UCD School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, the project aimed to build a solid foundation for a partnership in French and Francophone Literature by deepening the connections between staff and students at both institutions.
The visiting academics engaged in teaching on subjects including French Tunisian literature and French colonial identities and offered individualised support to doctoral students. PhD students progressed their theses using the resources and facilities at their host institutions to advance their research. “Perhaps most significantly, we have sent a delegation of PhD students and staff to Tunis to collaborate with their North African counterparts on areas including migrant medicine and refugees’ healthcare experiences, the history of Muslim migration to Ireland and comparative educational systems,” said Mary. “It’s exciting to see these new Irish-Tunisian connections take shape.”
Two UCD PhD students who travelled to Tunis have since been awarded funding for a proposal developed in Tunis for a symposium titled 'Migration Beyond Emergency: Testimony, Care, Belonging and Diaspora'. The symposium will be held at UCD May 2026.
University of Connecticut: Transatlantic lecture series
UCD strengthened its collaboration with a Universitas21 network partner through a project with the University of Connecticut which enabled six two-way staff exchanges. Tunisian PhD students mentioned above also had an opportunity to create connections with an academic in French and Francophone Studies from the University of Connecticut (UConn) whose Erasmus+ ICM mobility to UCD coincided with theirs.
Led by Professor Marc Caball, the mobility project with UConn enabled a series of international lectures from visiting professors to take place in UConn and UCD across human rights, literature, languages, law and history. Public lectures were given on areas including Arabic literature post Arab Spring, the history of conflict in early modern Ireland, Chinese conceptions and practices on human rights, and British military history. One of the most impactful aspects of the exchanges was the opportunity for UCD staff to engage with the UConn Human Rights Institute at a time of such active discourse around human rights in the US and globally.
Hokkaido University: Strengthened links in One Health and Public Policy
While Erasmus+ ICM funding is a great opportunity to explore new partnerships, it is also a mechanism for strengthening existing links. The funding enabled UCD to contribute to support well-established partnerships with Hokkaido University in One Health (led by Prof. Stephen Gordon) and Social Policy (led by Prof. Naonori Kodate). The dual focus project around One Health and Public Policy enabled four two-way staff and PhD student exchanges.
Universitas Gadjah Madah: Comparative approaches to politics and international relations
A small exchange project with UCD’s Universitas 21 alliance partner the Universitas Gadjah Madah in Indonesia (led by Prof. Jos Elkink) enabled a two-way teaching exchange in the field of politics and international relations. The exchanges enabled UCD students to gain exposure to peacebuilding initiatives in Indonesia and draw parallels within their own contexts, and for UGM students to gain a deeper understanding of the EU’s dynamic relations with Indonesia.
Hanoi University: Drone training and development studies
Led by Professor Christine Bonnin, a two-way staff exchange between UCD and longstanding partner Hanoi University in the field of geography provided the opportunity for a visiting HANU to undertake hands on drone training delivered by the UCD School of Geography, while an outgoing UCD teaching and training visit to Hanoi provided the opportunity for knowledge-exchange on teaching and learning approaches in Development Studies.
Vietnam National University: French literature links
The smallest project of those funded in this round was with UCD’s longstanding partner, Vietnam National University (VNU). Led by Professor Mary Gallagher, the funding enabled a visiting staff member from VNU to develop links with UCD’s School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics in Franco Vietnamese literature.
Find out more
- Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility (ICM) is a strand of the Erasmus+ programme that enables staff and students to undertake mobility periods in non-Erasmus programme countries. Non-Erasmus programme countries are mainly countries outside of Europe and in the East of Europe.
- Between 2015 and 2025, UCD obtained over €2.1 million in KA171 funding to support the academic mobility of over 500 students and staff between Ireland and partner countries all over the world.
- Read about the experience of Amina Ben Yezza, a student from the Université de Tunis who visited UCD through this Erasmus+ ICM project.
- Find out more about our humanitarian education project with Addis Ababa University mentioned in the article above.
- Read more about UCD's first Erasmus+ exchange project with a Tunisian university as mentioned in this article.
- If you have an idea for a mobility project and are interested in finding out how Erasmus+ ICM funding works, email (opens in a new window)erasmusicm@ucd.ie