Areas of responsibility
Maria is responsible for external funding for education at UiA, including promoting relevant project calls internally, guiding the design of project structures and partnerships, and ensuring overall quality in grant applications. She also coordinates UiA’s internal network for externally funded education projects and oversees administrative routines and services connected to them.
Maria’s experience in higher education and external funding spans institutional, national, and European levels, providing her with an understanding of how different funding progammes and partnerships function across different higher education systems and settings. Before joining UiA, she worked at the Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI), serving as one of the national contact persons for Erasmus Mundus, European Universities and Jean Monnet actions. This national level experience complements her institutional background from both Finnish and Norwegian universities.
In addition to her current role at UiA, Maria continues to work part time as an external evaluator of international education grant proposals. This role has further strengthened her insight into what characterises a successful project proposal, as well as innovative practices in education and partnerships across different regions and contexts — insights she draws upon when supporting UiA’s applicants.
Her areas of expertise include the strategic use of external funding instruments for education development, joint degrees, international partnerships, micro-credentials and skills development, education innovation, and the leadership and coordination of education projects. Maria operates professionally in English, Finnish and Norwegian. She holds a master’s degree in public management with a specialization in higher education management and systems.