HP today named 12 universities across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) that will each receive an HP Mobile Technology for Teaching Grant for equipment and training valued at around EUR 55,000. The number of grant recipients has doubled this year, marking an expansion of the grant program to Central & Eastern Europe and Africa.

The Technology for Teaching grants enable universities to pioneer the use of mobile technology in education and explore ways to redesign core courses in maths, science, business and engineering using mobile technology. The grants contribute to embedding technology in the classroom, improving the exchange between teachers and students.

The institutions chosen this year to receive HP Mobile Technology for Teaching Grants will be given a standard package: classroom sets of HP Tablet PCs, HP printers, cameras and projectors, as well as stipends and wireless technology for faculty use. The grant awards also support the participation of a faculty representative at the annual HP Technology for Teaching Worldwide Higher Education conference, to be held in early 2007.

The recipient universities will become part of a larger community of practice, joining faculty from around the world in exploring innovations in teaching through the effective use of technology. For HP, these grants are a catalyst for ideas that can lead to improving student success in higher education.

“Research has shown that technology has the potential to transform education when integrated with emerging models of teaching and learning. When used appropriately, computer technology stimulates increased teacher-student interaction and encourages cooperative learning and problem-solving,” said Gabi Zedlmayer, vice president of Global Citizenship, HP EMEA.

As one of this year’s winners, the Department of Information Systems at the University of Veszprém, Hungary, plans to use the HP Grant to enhance and personalise student-teacher interaction in Healthcare Information Systems courses. Previously, it has been difficult for teachers to properly present medical information systems due to the lack of mobility in traditional computer labs.

The HP Tablet PCs will allow students who are developing software applications for use in the healthcare environment to test their applications in real, clinical settings. Software developed specifically to support the handwriting and INK annotation capabilities of the HP Tablet PC will become part of the overall campus telemedicine pilot system.

From 2004 to 2006, HP has contributed a total of million in Technology for Teaching Grants to more than 650 schools worldwide. Over the last 20 years, HP has contributed more than billion in cash and equipment to schools, universities, community organizations and other non-profit organisations around the world.

Since the inception of the HP Technology for Teaching initiative, grant recipients have reported a positive influence on teaching and student learning as a result of the program. For example, students at the National University of Ireland have used HP technology to build an industry standard internet auction site and have been awarded a grant for a second time this year.

“Students have gained a unique insight into the real world complexities of internet software development. They have gotten a chance to apply their technical, business and language skills, and experience the challenges and excitement of working as part of a large team,” explained Dr. Jim Duggan, Engineering Professor, National University of Ireland.

For 2006, the twelve recipient universities in EMEA include:

• Cadi Ayyad University, Faculty of Sciences Semlalia, Morocco
• College of Telecommunications & Information Technology (CTIT) of the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC), Ethiopia       
• Mansoura University, Egypt  
• University of Veszprém, Department of Information Systems, Hungary
• Moscow State University, faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics (grant dependent on final pricing and fulfillment channel), Russia
• Institut informatiky – Vyööí odborná ökola, s.r.o., Czech Republic 
• Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
• Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal       
• Department of Electronics, Informatics and Systems, University of Calabria, Italy  
• Grupo de Ingeniería de Organización, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
• National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland (also received a grant in 2004)
• University of Derby, England

The grants run for 12 months, and at the end of this period, the universities continue to use the equipment they have received and can re-apply to have the grant extended. In addition, HP is encouraging grant recipients, past and present, to form a community of practice by holding conferences and organising online sessions with grant winners and education experts.

“One of our goals is to make the projects sustainable. We also want to create a closer relationship among the university recipients,” explains Zedlmayer. “So each year, HP hosts the HP Technology for Teaching Worldwide Higher Education Conference, bringing together grant recipients from around the globe.”

The Technology for Teaching grant represents one of many HP programmes and investments in education which are designed to make a positive impact on student achievement. The goal is to make contributions that lead to long-term improvements through systemic changes in schools and universities. More HP education information can be found at http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/grants/focus.html.

HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company’s offerings span IT infrastructure, global services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. For the four fiscal quarters ended April 30, 2006, HP revenue totaled .9 billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at www.hp.com.