The Linnaeus-Palme programme

Please note! From autumn 2022 there are no new calls in the programme. Granted projects are not affected.

The Linnaeus-Palme Programme supports collaboration between Swedish universities and Universities in low- and middle income countries (according to OECD:s Development Assistance Committee). The programme, financed by Sida, supports reciprocal teacher and student exchanges between the cooperating institutions on bachelor and master level (not PhD-level). As well as other activities to build capacity or strengthen the partnership. The first part, Linnaeus, enables Swedish teachers and students to teach and study, respectively, in developing countries. The second part, Palme, offers teachers and students in developing countries the chance to teach and study in Sweden.

The overall goal of the programme is to strengthen Swedish HEIs co-operation with HEIs in low- and middle-income countries, contribute to institutional capacity building and broaden the interest to work with development cooperation among young people. Participating teachers will teach in an international perspective, which will provide them with valuable experiences and knowledge to use in the classroom. The students get an academic education, international experience, understanding for other cultures and broadened knowledge in their subject area among other things.

There is one programme part for planning trips, Linnaeus-Palme Planning, and one for teacher and student exchange, Linnaeus-Palme partnership.

Calls and general financial aspects

There is an annual call for each programme part that interested Departments can apply for. Detailed information about each programme part and current calls are available on the individual page of each programme part:

•  Linnaeus-Palme planning
•  Linnaeus-Palme partnership

The funds are considered to complement other international partnerships and exchanges at the university and do not provide comprehensive financing. Each university is expected to finance certain costs such as the salary of participating teachers, but also indirect costs. Eligible costs should be reasonable and follow the principles of responsible financial management, in terms of resource management and cost-effectiveness.

All projects that are granted teacher and student exchanges also receive a grant for project administration. There is a possibility to apply for extra funding for language Courses for teachers, Palme teachers and student’s visa trips, for evaluation tripsaAs well as other activities to build capacity or strengthen the partnership. In both programme parts support for participants with disabilities are available (see below).

There is an audit requirement for the final report of projects that have been granted more than 100 000 SEK (2018)/300 000 SEK (from 2019). An external authorised auditor who is independent and qualified must perform the audit. Further instructions are available on the page for Linnaeus-Palme partnerships and in UHRs information for the call.

There is also a possibility to transfer funds to the partner university in both Linnaeus-Palme planning and Linnaeus-Palme partnerships. Future transfer of funds need to be stated in the application and requires an agreement between the project owner and the partner university before the funds are transferred.

Support for participants with disabilities

In cases where you as a participant need educational support or special adaptations during your time abroad you have the opportunity to seek a special grant for additional costs that may arise. Note that the grant only applies to students with permanent disabilities or illness. The home institution applies for the support. Prior to submitting the application, the project participant discusses the individual support needed with the disability coordinator at the home institution and the international and project coordinator of the Department, respectively.

“Additional costs” refers to the extra costs that will affect the department or individual students and that are not financed in other ways, for example:

• transport
• teaching materials
• accommodation
• Assistant / companions
• medical follow-up, physiotherapy
• medical examination in the host country

There is a special form for the application (available in Swedish) that needs to be submitted before the participants starts the mobility.

The home institution is responsible for that the time spent abroad is adapted to the participants’ individual needs. To make sure that all parties involved in the mobility are aware of the needs an "Agreement on support for participants with special needs" is signed. The document describes the individual needed for the mobility and which support the institutions involved will provide. All documents are available on UHRs individual pages for each of the programme parts. 

Information, application support and questions

Complete information, English translations of certain documents and link to the application system is available at the page of each programme part. Please read the information carefully before applying.

If you want feedback on your application or have questions about the Linnaeus-Palme programme, please contact the Application and Project Support at the International Centre (see contact information).

You can also contact UHR directly at linnaeuspalme@uhr.se