Tempus is one of a number of European Community Programs designed to help the process of social and economic reform and/or development in the Partner Countries. The Tempus program focuses on the development of higher education systems in these countries through co-operation with institutions from the Member States of the European Community. The program is based on the understanding that higher education institutions are of particular importance for the social and economic transition as well as cultural development; they are also pools of expertise and of human resources and provide for the training of new generations of leaders.

The TEMPUS program is designed to help the transition and reform processes through a range of mechanisms addressed to the higher education sector, such as  helping institution:

• to establish new courses, or reform existing ones,
• to restructure by introducing modern techniques for University management and academic planning,
• to design and implement reform policies and the development of strategies.

The Tempus program works in three distinct but inter-linked ways:

• By co-financing, through grants, projects and activities;
• By encouraging co-operation between institutions and between countries;
• By encouraging exchanges, of individuals and of know-how, between the Member States and the Partner Countries, and between the Partner Countries themselves.

The Tempus program awards three sorts of grants:

• Joint European Projects
• Structural Measures
• Accompanying Measures

Two basic families of countries participate in the Tempus program:

• The 27 Member States of the European Community
• The Partner Countries: Western Balkan Countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro; Eastern European and Central Asian Countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan; and the Mediterranean Partners, of Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Israel (on self-funding basis), Tunisia and Kosovo (under UNSC Resolution 1244).

 Information on the Program and documents for downloading may be obtained at the following website: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/tempus/index_en.php

Eligible countries wishing to collaborate with institutions in Cyprus can sent their proposal to the National Contact Point (NCP) at pgiorgoudes@moec.gov.cy to be disseminated to interested institutions or other parties for expression of interest in the topic of the particular proposal.