© DAAD

Strengthening Partnerships for Excellence: The 2024 Centres of African Excellence Networking Conference in Cape Town

The 2024 Centres of African Excellence Networking Conference in Cape Town brought together over 60 project representatives from across Africa and Germany to explore building and sustaining higher education partnerships founded on mutual respect, transparency, and trust. Participants shared best practices in project management, discussed strategies for enhancing digital capacities through the DIGI-FACE platform, and examined approaches to achieving long-term sustainable impact.

The conference provided a platform to explore how the Centres of African Excellence have built partnerships grounded in mutual respect, transparency, and trust, while also addressing the daily challenges they face. The aim was to identify strategies, success factors, and practical steps to further develop and strengthen sustainable, equitable partnerships.

The outcome? Inspired by the paper on “Equitable Scientific Cooperation Worldwide” published by the German Commission for UNESCO , the DAAD committed itself to taking concrete actions to promote equitable cooperation within their network.

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is supporting the establishment of a new Centre of Excellence for Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems and Applied Agricultural and Food Data Science in South Africa. The University of Hohenheim as well as three South African and one Malawian partner university are involved in the project. Funding totalling almost 6.5 million euros until 2029 comes from the Federal Foreign Office (AA), the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL).

From January 2025, the DAAD will fund projects that contribute to the further qualification of young scientists in agricultural and nutrition research in South Africa as part of the new “African-German Centre of Excellence for Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems and Applied Agricultural and Food Data Science”. The second important component of the programme is the promotion of the transfer of research results to the economy, politics and civil society in southern Africa. As part of the programme, two chairs will also be established at South African partner universities. The university partners in South Africa are the Universities of Western Cape, University of Pretoria and University of Mpumalanga as well as the University of Lilongwe (University of Agriculture and Natural Resources) in Malawi. The National Research Foundation is supporting the establishment of the centre on the South African side with funds from the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI).

The new centre of excellence is a joint project of the DAAD and the three federal ministries involved. It stems from the Federal Government’s round table on the “Internationalisation of Education, Science and Research” with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. The AA finances the basic operation of the new centre of excellence, the BMBF funds a chair as well as German doctoral students and postdocs and the BMEL supports the doctoral programme for African doctoral students and postdocs. Funding for the second chair is provided by South Africa.

A workshop was held from 26 to 28 August in Cape Town, South Africa, as part of the joint initiative by the BMBF and the German Federal Foreign Office to establish a new African-German Centre for Just Energy Transition in South Africa under the DAAD programme Fachzentren Afrika – Centres of African Excellence. This multi-institutional, practice-driven, and transdisciplinary project focuses on education, research, and knowledge transfer, with the workshop defining key priorities for the Just Energy Transition (JET). Organised by the DAAD, the three-day workshop brought together German and South African experts to collaboratively establish the thematic focus of the new centre.

The workshop kicked off with an inspiring keynote address by Steve Nicholls, Head of Mitigation at South Africa’s Presidential Climate Commission (PCC), on the topic “Collaborative Research Partnerships on Energy and Climate Change.” This keynote set the tone for many of the discussions over the three days.

Representatives from South Africa’s Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), the National Research Foundation (NRF), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the DLR Project Management Agency, German Embassy in Pretoria and DAAD representatives such as Lars Gerold, Head of Section, Ilona Daun, the project manager, and Anja Munzig from Team P31 were all in attendance to shape the focus of the upcoming call for proposals to be published in April 2025.The workshop was officially opened by Tanja Werheit, the German Consul General in Cape Town. In her opening remarks, she highlighted the challenges of the Just Energy Transition and praised the strong tradition of scientific cooperation between South Africa and Germany.

The new DAAD centre will focus on disciplines within Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) while incorporating interdisciplinary and practice-oriented elements to make a meaningful contribution to achieving a Just Energy Transition. It will be established through a partnership between one or more South African and German universities. Jointly funded by the German Federal Foreign Office (AA) and the BMBF, the centre will receive annual DAAD funding of up to €1 million, with an initial ten-year project duration. Additionally, plans are underway for the NRF to establish a chair at the partner South African university, aligned thematically with the centre’s focus areas.

A highlight of the workshop was a visit to the Atlantis Special Economic Zone for Green Technologies (ASEZ), located in the former township of Atlantis, now part of Cape Town. ASEZ representatives showcased their contributions to South Africa’s energy transition, emphasising the promotion of skills development, support for small businesses in Atlantis, and the importance of community engagement in the transition process. The visit provided insight into the significant social challenges tied to South Africa’s energy transition, which require comprehensive societal and political responses. The new African-German Centre for Just Energy Transition aims to contribute to addressing these challenges, promoting sustainable solutions through collaborative research and innovation.

The DAAD In-Country/In-Region scholarship programme supports the training of future professionals and managerial staff in developing countries, in particular university teachers. The programme aims to foster strong, internationally oriented higher education systems in Sub-Saharan Africa with the capacity to contribute to sustainable development. For this purpose, scholarships for development-related studies are awarded to individuals who plan to pursue a career in teaching and/or research at a higher education institution in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The target group for scholarships are graduates and postgraduates from Sub-Saharan Africa with a first academic degree if applying for a Master’s programme, or with a Master’s degree if applying for a doctoral programme who want to pursue Master’s or PhD courses in their home country / with a residence permit (so-called In-Country scholarships) or in another Sub- Saharan African country / without a residence permit (In-Region scholarships).

Programmes on offer:

Master of Science in Aquaculture and Fisheries Science at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR)

The Aquaculture and Fisheries Science Department (AQFD) at Bunda College traces its roots back to a single course, “Aquaculture and Wildlife Management,” offered by the Department of Animal Science from 1974 to 1993. Responding to the growing demand for aquaculture expertise in the SADC region, a draft Aquaculture curriculum was developed in 1991, with Aquaculture courses introduced as options within the Animal Science Department by the 1994/95 academic year. Since then, students from across the SADC region have enrolled in diploma and degree programs in Agriculture with a focus on aquaculture.

PhD in Computer Science at the Namibian University of Science & Technology

The Namibian University of Science & Technology offers prospective doctoral candidates a comprehensive PhD in Computer Science program designed to address the increasing demand for skilled scientific researchers. Covering diverse fields such as Communication Networks, Software Development, Mobile Development, Information Security, and Forensic Computing, the programme ensures students gain in-depth knowledge and expertise in their chosen area. Under the guidance of experienced staff members, candidates will engage in research projects to hone their methodological skills, including qualitative, design, mixed-mode, and quantitative research methodologies. By enrolling in NUST’s PhD program, students embark on a journey towards becoming proficient researchers equipped to tackle complex challenges in the field of Computer Science.

Master and PhD in Development Studies at the University of the Western Cape

The Institute for Social Development, based at the University of the Western Cape, is committed to shaping the future of development studies through innovative research and postgraduate programmes. The ISD offers structured coursework Honours and Masters degrees, alongside research-focused Master’s and PhD programmes. The diverse curriculum exposes students to critical inquiries into contemporary social, economic, and political dynamics, providing interdisciplinary skills and knowledge. Whether individuals are interested in policymaking, activism, research, or academia, the programmes are designed to prepare them for a rewarding career in the field of development. Joining the global community of scholars, professionals, and students allows engagement in impactful research, collaboration on solutions to global challenges, and development into transformational leaders. Discover more about the programs and partnerships by downloading the brochure, ensuring not to miss the opportunity to be part of the ISD community and make a difference in the world.

Master Urban Studies – Southern Urbanism at the University of Cape Town

The African Centre for Cities (ACC) offers a transformative learning experience in understanding and addressing pressing urban crises. The interdisciplinary master’s programme offers a unique blend of coursework and research opportunities at the University of Cape Town. In just 18 months, students can immerse themselves in guided seminars, hands-on experimentation, and independent thesis research, all conducted in English. Dive into topics like food security, climate change adaptation, and economic inclusion, shaping the cities of the Global South.

Master of Science in Molecular Biology and Human Genetics (MBHG) at Stellenbosch University

The Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics (MBHG) at Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences offers an innovative MSc programme focusing on tuberculosis (TB) and inherited genetic disorders research. Through a thesis-based curriculum, students delve into cutting-edge molecular techniques, bridging the gap between basic research and clinical applications. Graduates gain expertise in core areas such as molecular biology, bioinformatics, and statistical analysis, preparing them for impactful careers in scientific research. Join us to advance knowledge, develop new technologies, and improve healthcare outcomes through rigorous research and collaboration. Apply now and become a leader in molecular biology and human genetics.

Photo by: Ruth Knoblich

From January 8 to February 3, 2023 the South African-German Centre for Development Research (SA-GER CDR) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) hosted a summer school for students from the international Masters Programme in Development Management (MADM) intake 2022-24. During these weeks both MADM groups (20 students from MADM in Bochum and 7 students from MADM at UWC) enjoyed time and coursework together in Cape Town. Part of the study programme was the course “How to conduct a field survey” and “Actors in Development Cooperation”. A trip around the Cape Peninsula was part of the programme during one weekend.

The 27 students of the current MADM cohort originate from 21 countries: Afghanistan, Egypt, Kenia, the Philippines, Gambia, Mexico, Georgia, Brazil, Syria, the Ukraine, Columbia, Nigeria, Peru, Indonesia, Myanmar, Ghana, the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Pakistan, South Africa, and Germany. Nine students of the Bochum group are DAAD EPOS-scholarship-holders, four students of the Cape Town group receive funding through the SA-GER CDR scholarship-programme. One student is holder of a DAAD-Leadership for Africa stipend, one student is holder of a DAAD-ACEH Scholarship of Excellence Master, and one student is financed via DAAD-COLFUTURO.

Since the year 2000 the Institute of Development Research and Development Policy (IEE) offers the international MADM at the Ruhr University Bochum. Since 2002, the programme has also been offered in collaboration with the UWC in Cape Town under the roof of SA-GER CDR. The aim of the 18-month programme is the training of professionals to meet the increasing need for experts in programme and project management that has emerged in international development cooperation. The course equips students with interdisciplinary substantial knowledge about the theory, methods, and practical experiences in the management of development projects and policies. Students develop their Master project based upon a solid theory and methods training, and gain practical experience in data collection during extensive field work in the respective target countries.

The two MADM twin groups of one intake met twice during these 18 months: during a summer school in Bochum in September, followed by the summer school in Cape Town in January thereafter. On February 3, the Bochum group travelled back to Germany where students started with their 3-months long internship period in German development institutions. Their colleagues from Cape Town who completed their internships in Germany already by the end of last year returned to UWC campus in order to start with their second semester programme.

Please find more information about the MADM programme and all SA-GER MA programmes here and here.

Written by: Ruth Knoblich

The South African-German Centre for Transnational Criminal Justice (2008 – 2018) was one of seven Centres of African Excellence, supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the German Foreign Office.

The Centre was based on a co-operation between Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and was housed in the Law Faculty of UWC. It offered the LL.M.- and PhD-programme “Transnational Criminal Justice and Crime Prevention – An International and African Perspective”. Within this period, the Centre graduated 127 Master’s and 13 PhD students.

After the funding period ended, the centre was re-established in 2020 and is now known as the African Centre for Transnational Criminal Justice. Through its research and academic events, the Centre provides a platform for critical and engaged scholarship that responds to the myriad of challenges confronting the African continent in a rapidly changing and interconnected world.

Global challenges can only be mastered through cooperation. This belief is the basis of the DAAD’s programme to promote the establishment of eight Global Centres dedicated to climate & the environment, as well as health & pandemic prevention, using funding from the Federal Foreign Office. International and inter-disciplinary networking among the Centres, collaboration with stake holders from the areas of politics, business and the civil society, and the transfer of research findings into practical applications are the key focus areas of the programme.

The Transnational Centre for Just Transitions in Energy, Climate & Sustainability (TRAJECTS) works on climate change mitigation in the two focus areas of fossil-fuel phase-out and changes in land management and ecosystem protection.

The university cooperation between the Technical University Berlin, the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, the University of Cape Town, the Universidad del Magdalena and the Berlin University Alliance aims to offer locally embedded, yet globally aware perspectives on the urgent transitions necessary to protect the Climate and Environment in the field of fossil fuel and land management. For this, demand- and policy-oriented research and teaching on the two principal processes of socio-technical transitions with a deeply inter- and transdisciplinary approach will be applied. With its main hub in Colombia, two Hubs in South Africa and Germany and global network of over 40 institutions in civil society, academia, think-tanks, public administration and business, it aims to become a leading hub of sustainability teaching, research and action.

Measures: 

• Development of joint study modules on just transitions in energy, climate & sustainability and renewal of existing programmes
• Master- and PhD-scholarship programmes, thesis excellency award and internships
• Joint virtual lectures series and a virtual lab
• Forums for dialogue with non-university actors
• Set-up of a transdisciplinary network with universities, non-university research institutions and organizations from civil society, politics and business

The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) is Africa’s first network of centres of excellence in mathematical sciences. It enables the continent’s youth to shape the continent’s future through Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) education- training Africa’s next generation of leaders. AIMS South Africa is one of the centres of excellence for training, research and public engagement in Cape Town, South Africa. AIMS South Africa was established in 2003 as a partnership project of the following 6 universities: Cambridge, Cape Town, Oxford, Paris Sud XI, Stellenbosch, and Western Cape.

AIMS is a call to action to:

• Empower Africa’s youth to shape its future
• Solve global challenges
• Drive economic self-sufficiency

The DAAD funds In-Region PhD scholarships at AIMS South Africa. The In-Country/In-Region Programme Sub-Saharan Africa aims to foster strong, internationally oriented higher education systems in Sub-Saharan Africa with the capacity to contribute to sustainable development. To this end, scholarships are granted for development-related Master or Doctoral studies for individuals who plan to pursue a career in teaching and / or research at a higher education institution in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The DAAD also funds two research chairs at AIMS South Africa: Dr Bubacarr Bah and Dr Marc Sedjro. Dr Marc Sedjro’s German Research Chair with specialization in Partial Differential Equations and Calculus of Variations, in collaboration with the Communication and Information Theory Chair at TU Berlin, also offers three PhD and two postdoctoral positions at the AIMS South Africa research centre in Cape Town. These positions are made available and funded by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) to promote international academic exchange as well as educational co-operation with developing countries.

In 2021, two new research chairs at AIMS Rwanda have received funding. More on the research chairs here:

Research Chairs at AIMS Rwanda

The South African-German Centre for Development Research is one of the ten African-German Centres of Excellence funded by the DAAD. By establishing Centres of Excellence at leading African universities, the DAAD aims to create modern educational capacities of supra regional influence. The improvements in the educational quality and the greater research capacity available at these world-class hubs will enable the next generation of leaders to acquire training in line with international standards.

Three institutes are cooperating in research and teaching activities within the field of development research under the roof the SA-GER CDR: the Institute for Social Development (ISD) and the School of Government (SoG) at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, and the Institute of Development Research and Development Policy (IEE) at the Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany.

The South African-German Centre for Development Research at the University of the Western Cape trains the next generation of executive elites in Master and PhD degree programmes related to Development Studies. Students of the Centre are given the preparation needed to meet the specific economic, social and political challenges which will arise in the course of the region’s development processes. For further information on these programmes please refer to the Centre’s website as well as to the websites of the three institutes involved:

Programmes at the SA-GER CDR

In March 2020 the global Corona virus influenced teaching at the Centre. Read more about online teaching at the Centre here:

Online Teaching at the SA-GER CDR

The East and South African-German Centre for Educational Research, Methodologies and Management is one of the ten African-German Centres of Excellence funded by the DAAD. By establishing Centres of Excellence at leading African universities, the DAAD aims to create modern educational capacities of supraregional influence. The improvements in the educational quality and the greater research capacity available at these world-class hubs will enable the next generation of leaders to acquire training in line with international standards.

The Moi-University, Eldoret and Nairobi, the Nelson Mandela University and the University of Oldenburg are project partners at CERM-ESA, with the Uganda Management Institute and the University of Dar es Salaam serve as networking partners.

In view of the need for excellence in educational research, training and management in Sub-Saharan Africa related to the processes of empowerment and advancement of educationists and educational institutions, CERM-ESA focuses on:

• Research: Advancing and expanding excellent innovative educational research on methodologies, instruction techniques and management strategies for African
  contexts;
• Teaching: CERM-ESA academic programme which includes a Master’s programme in educational research, annual Research Schools and mentored online modules, as well as an exchange programme for lecturers and students;
• Capacity Building: The CERM-ESA capacity building programme for academic and administrative university staff is open to all partners of the DAAD-funded Centres of African Excellence;
• Professional Teacher Development: Supporting teachers and principals to develop professionally and advance their competencies in relevant areas of educational practice, curriculum implementation and school management in their local contexts.

Read more about the Centre’s academic programmes here:

Programmes at CERM-ESA

In March 2020, the Centre played a pivotal role in a Kick-Off Meeting of the Digital Initiative for African Centres of Excellence (DIGI-FACE) project. Read more about the meeting and project here:

DIGI-FACE Kick-Off Meeting

In December 2018, the DAAD Information Centre Johannesburg and CERM-ESA collaborated on a Science Talk at the 2018 Science Forum South Africa. Read more about the Science Talk here:

2018 Science Forum

The African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) is Africa’s leading scholarly institution for research and teaching on human mobility. Established in 1993, ACMS is an independent, interdisciplinary and internationally engaged institution focusing on the relationships amongst human movement politics, poverty, and social transformation. While oriented towards southern Africa, the Centre conducts collaborative scholarly and policy-oriented work across sub-Saharan Africa, and has partnerships in Asia, Europe and the Americas. It offers Africa’s only post-graduate degrees in migration and displacement studies and provides training to students and professionals on a number of topics – including the sociology of migration, mobility and health, human rights, and research methods.

While maintaining its scholarly independence, the Centre regularly partners with organisations in government and civil society in identifying data needs, conducting research and shaping policy. Centre staff are also regularly called on to provide expert advice and commentary to international organisations, governments, and the media.

SADC-QA Workshop 1 in Johannesburg: A remarkable start to the second cohort

© Uni Potsdam

The first in-presence workshop in the framework of TrainIQA in the SADC region (part of the ‘Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies’ (DIES) programme offered by DAAD and HRK) on Internal Quality Assurance had a remarkable start. The training course is coordinated by the University of Potsdam in Germany.

Held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from the 19th to the 24th of March 2023, the Workshop marked the beginning of the second cohort (2022/2023) of the SADC-QA TrainIQA programme. Following the fully digital cohort of 2020/2021, participants were excited by the opportunity to engage in inspiring face-to-face discussions and develop connections with quality managers and leadership from 30 Higher Education Institutions representing 12 SADC countries (Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe), as well as with some alumni present in the event.

The participants are Quality Assurance Officers or lecturers with tasks in Quality Assurance at Higher Education Institutions from the SADC region. The workshop ended with an Opening Conference, which included the presence of the leadership representatives of the respective participants. The main goal of the training was to raise awareness about the significance of Quality Assurance in Higher Education Institutions. Additionally, participants had the opportunity to showcase their individual institutional change projects in the field of Quality Assurance to their respective leadership representatives. Each project was developed by the participants under the mentorship of TrainIQA trainers during the year-long training program comprising three in-person workshops.

The participants were presented with great opportunities for joint project development and the exchange of ideas, promoting collaboration among individuals from various countries in Africa. The workshop featured an international team of trainers, each bringing their unique perspectives and expertise on Quality Assurance in Higher Education. Their contributions significantly enriched the training experience, promoting comprehensive learning and growth.

The organization and coordination of the workshop was overseen by the University of Potsdam, while the University of Johannesburg warmly hosted the event in Johannesburg. This collaborative effort was made possible through the great contributions of partners such as DAAD – German Academic Exchange Service, HRK – German Rectors’ Conference, SARUA – Southern African Regional Universities Association, and EUA – the European University Association.

The training programme covered essential topics related to quality assurance, including the introduction to quality concepts and the development of quality assurance systems in higher education institutions. The thorough content certainly served as a foundation for participants to enhance their institutional practices and drive positive change within their respective universities.

Looking ahead, anticipation is high for the upcoming SADC-QA Workshop 2, scheduled to take place in Potsdam, Germany, in August 2023. The success of the first Workshop has set a promising precedent, leaving participants eager to continue their journey towards further growth and excellence in Quality Assurance within the SADC region and setting the stage for another enriching and transformative experience.

Author: Mr Marcel Faaß

When a devastating fire started in Cape Town on 18 April 2021, attacking parts of the University of Cape Town (UCT) and burning down the Jagger Library – one of the most important libraries for the African continent, housing published and unpublished materials known for their research, cultural value and heritage at the university – Tina Löhr decided to fly to Cape Town through her own initiative and at her own expense only a few days after the fire broke out. Her initiative has now resulted in a larger project that actively supports the restoration work of the Special Collections Department of the UCT libraries.

Tina Löhr is originally from Solingen, but moved to Cologne in 1998, where she studied paper conservation until 2003. Before that, she did an apprenticeship as a bookbinder and an internship in paper conservation, which is a requirement for the field of study. After completing her diploma, she stayed in Cologne and still works there independently and self employed. She has always been fascinated by the material of paper and books in general, therefore her choice of studies.

Paper restoration is about preserving cultural assets in the form of books, paper, graphics, i.e. everything that has paper as a carrier material, and bringing it into a form in which it will survive the next decades or centuries without further damage. Accordingly, the aim is not to restore a work to its original state, which Löhr says is a widespread misconception. Rather, the aim is to stop the decay caused by low quality materials or the climate in which they are kept.

She is currently in Cape Town for a restoration project funded by the German Foreign Office, assisting with the restoration of damaged works in the Jagger Library, developing long-term preventive concepts and working on training and workshops for colleagues on site. In an interview, she talks about her work in Cape Town and shows how work is currently being done to restore the damaged objects.

Interview: Conducted by Eva Thamm, DAAD Lecturer at UCT

Ms Löhr, your specialisation in this area is very helpful for the disaster that hit the Jagger Library at UCT last April. Please tell us how you heard about the fire and what happened next.

I heard about the fire in Cape Town from a Facebook travel group and friends. Because of my internship that I did in 2000 in a museum in Durban, and several holidays in the country, I felt very connected to South Africa. I then contacted Dr. Dale Peters, with whom I did the internship back then, and asked her about the situation at UCT in Cape Town. I wanted to know if I could possibly help in any way. She then added me to a WhatsApp group where there were several conservators and professionals from all over the world discussing whether or how to support. As I was in the middle of the German lockdown at the time, I then quickly decided to fly to Cape Town. On Friday, just six day after the fire started, I took a flight and was already on site on Saturday.

What exactly happened when you got to UCT, and what did your work look like?

I made it my task to determine certain decision-making levels and developed a triage. This involved three decision-making questions: Can certain objects be air-dried? Do objects need to be frozen? Or can objects go straight back into archiving if they are not damaged? This triage was important to ensure that things could be sorted quickly. A lot of works were frozen because of the mold. In the process, I often had to answer questions about what happens in the freezer and after defrosting it again later. In this context I had to make important decisions for the restoration of the works. At UCT, I then met Mary Minicka, who works at the Western National Archives in Cape Town. She is apparently the only paper conservator on site who works according to European standards. There was also support from two students from the University of Pretoria and their lecturer Isabelle McGinn.

How exactly did this short stay lead to the current project, which is why you are here now? And how did you help to conceptualise the project?

I was still in contact with the university, especially with Ujala Satgoor, the director of the library. At some point I got the message that she was trying to set up a project in which I was supposed to provide support back on site. After the project application to the German Foreign Office was made, everything went very quickly and now I have been here since the beginning of January.

Basically, setting up certain workshops was the idea when I came back. Also, the training of staff members was part of the idea, so they could continue working on the restorations independently afterwards. The delayed delivery, the lack of space to store the objects and the whole administrative act for this workshop facility are now unfortunately delaying this process. Therefore, although I have not yet set up the workshop, I have at least already worked on objects that were stored in containers in the meantime. The condition of the large formats stored there in the form of maps and architectural plans was unclear before the defrosting, as isolated power cuts increased the risk of mold developing.  So, I sorted these objects into different levels, processed some of them and thus prepared them for restoration, so to speak, which can then be done by guided restorers when I am no longer here.

Do you have a team to work with at the moment?

Right now, I have two interns (Jabulile Ntuli and Daniéle Knoetze) who were also with me last year shortly after the fire. They will stay for two weeks. There are also two staff members from UCT who are supposed to assist with conservation, but so far, they have mainly been busy moving the objects from the university grounds into the temporary workshop. There is clearly a clear lack of space. I have therefore worked intensively on preparing and creating concepts and, together with Mary Minicka, have developed a guideline and performance specification for conservation that should help other conservators in the country. There is obviously a lack of professional background in paper conservation, so it is important to set certain standards in the treatment of paper objects. I am also working on creating workflows that describe how archive staff should handle archival materials. Basic treatment criteria and instructions for action thus make it easier to deal with damaged things.

How do you assess the current progress of the restorations? Is there a time trend for the final completion of the restoration work?

It always depends on what you mean by restoration or recovery. Either you are dealing with usable objects that don’t need to be restored, or you are restoring objects so that they no longer show any damage at all. To restore them on this level is of course the perfect case, but it will be almost impossible. At the moment there are still about 1,000 boxes in the freezer containers, and also large formats, the number of which cannot be quantified. In total, up to 13,000 boxes were taken out of the cellars of the library. In addition, maps, posters and architectural drawings were secured from 90 cabinets. Of these, I have thawed and processed about 1500 plans and maps in the last five weeks. Now about 500 are still waiting to be restored, but that’s definitely already a lot what has been done so far. Depending on the standard, and how you can continue to do the restoration, this process could take up to 10 years.

What would have to be done continuing from here for the successful restoration of the contents of the Jagger Library, what would you recommend?

First of all, the space, i.e. the working space, needs to be set up in order to be able to restore the objects properly. All the objects that are now waiting to be processed need space. And when they are restored, you also need storage space again. At the moment the space is not there, but that would now be an actual priority. You also need a specialist, a paper conservator with trainees or assistants. The most important thing for the next weeks is to clean the things that I have now defrosted. The things that are still in the freezer containers also need to be defrosted, cleaned and restored because the users also want to use these things again. This is actually a big pressure that has come up because there are already many requests for the files and documents that have been damaged.

You talked about the lack of space. Maybe you can briefly describe what the working environment looks like right now and what needs to be done for a suitable working space.

We currently have a mixed use of the rooms that the university has rented. These rooms are supposed to be the restoration workshop, but right now they are mostly storage areas for the archive materials that have been moved out of the university and of course need to be stored somewhere. And there are no shelves or compactus facilities yet where the stuff can be stored. And if this room is to be used as a workshop, it has to be empty, the carpet has to come out because carpet is difficult to clean. For restoration, you need surfaces that are easy to clean, because hygiene is important. I have already worked out the concept for the workshop, and thought through the materials and equipment as well. You don’t need much, but you do need a bit of space, you need working tables, work surfaces and equipment.

If you compare the scale of this disaster with the collapse of the City Archive in Cologne, how would you rate this in comparison?

In terms of capacity or quantity, the City Archive in Cologne had much more archival material stored. And above all, the things there were not just wet, but rather silted up, because they were in the groundwater. No fire was extinguished there, but the building collapsed and then the works were damaged by debris, mud from the groundwater or stones. Here in Cape Town, it’s basically “only” the moisture from the extinguishing water, but the way it’s dealt with is identical, i.e. freezing to stop mold growth and then reworking the things afterwards. The restoration process is identical.

What would need to be done in terms of prevention in relation to any security arrangements at the Jagger Library to avoid future disasters?

An archive or library usually has its own emergency plans. The point of these emergency plans is to consider in advance where the nearest cold storage is or who the contact person at the fire brigade is who knows that valuable objects are stored in the burning building. This creates awareness and prevents, for example, not using a powder extinguisher, but using other extinguishing agents to put out the fire. We are also creating such an emergency plan as part of the project. This, along with other measures such as the correct storage or packaging of objects, will be a big topic in the planned workshops that are to take place in March or April for staff members of relating institutions. For this, we are also developing video elements that can be used for later training and to sensitise inexperienced archives or libraries in the country.

Are you happy with the way things have gone so far? And would you like to continue the project and remain involved after this time?

Yes, I am happy and would like to continue to be involved in this project. I notice that even small things that I do or tell my colleagues are met with gratitude. I would have liked to have trained someone on site during this time, and I would have liked to hand over what I am doing here, but it will now lie fallow for a bit until the newly advertised position for restoration is filled. In any case, I would like to continue to accompany the project and be available to answer any questions. That’s why I’ll be happy to come back again if necessary. That is important to me, because I have the feeling that this is as well my project now.

What would you like to see happen in the future? For the last week and the general future of the project.

That is difficult. Because of course you have ideas in advance about how everything should go, and at the beginning I wished for much more. But now, under the given circumstances, it couldn’t be better. What I would like to see, however, is more focus on restoration and conservation. Conservators and archivists usually have different wishes. But I have often said that now is a new starting point of the library, also with the help of the money that was acquired through the disaster and with the help of the public’s attention. Everything can be done better, especially in terms of storage and the choice of materials. However, due to time pressure or unavailability in South Africa, substandard materials continue to be ordered in isolated cases, and that sometimes is quite sad for me. We also need to develop more sensitivity for materials in general, so that we can say: If the box costs R100, but the better one costs R150, then I will invest in the better box because the objects can then be stored properly in it for 20 years longer. That is a fundamental wish that one always has in my profession. And I also wish that I will remain a part of this restoration project, and that everyone here will feel free to contact me when I am gone. I want to continue to be available for everyone and support however I can.

For more information,Papierrestaurierung Köln – Diplom-Restauratorin Tina Löhr (diplom-restaurierung.de)

© Wits-TUB-UNILAG

The Wits-TUB-UNILAG Urban Lab held its annual summer school at the School of Architecture and Planning at Wits on 15-19 May 2023. The purpose was to bring together the trilateral partners of the urban lab, i.e., TUB (Technical University of Berlin), Wits, and UNILAG (University of Lagos), into a collaborative learning environment and strengthen intra-disciplinary post-graduate education.

The aim was also to enable capacity building, skills transfer, collaboration, co-production and broadening of inter-disciplinary knowledge among the urban management masters students at UNILAG and Wits. We hosted four masters students and four PhD students from Wits, and four masters students and four PhD students from UNILAG. Due to challenges with securing visas, the masters students from UNILAG had to join the sessions online from Lagos. We were also joined by Professor Dan Inkoom from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana) and Dr Nadine Appelhans, David Bauer and Lucas Elsner from TUB.

The main theme of the summer school was ‘Coming into the city from the periphery’. We used this theme to interrogate accessibility from the periphery to Johannesburg through public transportation, in particular, the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) network (Rea Vaya), which connects the CDB to other districts and nodes, as well as former townships. In assessing mobility as well as the accessibility of the city centre, we used the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to analyse how the Rea Vaya BRT system provides or hinders opportunities for the emergence of sustainable cities and communities (Goal 11), decent work and economic growth (Goal 8) and reduction of inequalities (Goal 10). We used Soweto as our case study of the urban periphery.

On the first day (15 May) students were welcomed by our Head of Department, Professor Nnamdi Elleh, Dr Anja Hallacker from the German Academic Exchange (DAAD) office for southern Africa and Dr Mahomed Moolla, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Wits.  On the second day (16 May), Rehana Moosajee, Director and Co-founder of Barefoot Facilitator had extensive experience with the conceptualisation of the BRT system as she was the 2006-2013 Member of the Mayoral Committee for Transport City of Johannesburg. An official from the City of Johannesburg Transport Department also gave an overview of the BRT system. The day culminated in Professor Dan Inkoom’s presentation at the Faces of the City Seminar. The day’s proceedings provided a contrast to the experience students were embarking on the following day using the Rea Vaya Bus from Wits to Soweto and back, laying bare the differences between the conceptualisation, implementation and actual lived experiences.

The fieldtrip to Soweto departed from the Wits BRT station, with a stop at Thokoza Park in Soweto. Here, Tshepo Tshoadi, an established tour guide, led a walk-about, which included Freedom Square, Hector Peterson Memorial Site and the Ubuntu Kraal where we had South Africa’s favourite pap and grilled meat. The tour gave the students a sense of the environment, housing typology, infrastructure and socio-economic context of the three different areas. Most of all, students were able to experience how residents of Soweto moved through the township through the Rea Vaya bus system.

For the remaining two days, the masters students worked on their assignment, analysing whether the BRT system was hindering or providing opportunities to access the city from Soweto, also connecting their Soweto experience to the SDGs. The PhD students participated in a PhD Clinic, reflecting on their research progress. In the afternoon of the last day, the masters students had the opportunity to present their fieldwork experience and assignment. The summer school closed with a farewell dinner at the Indaba Hotel.

The summer school was made possible by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Thank you for the close cooperation within the Wits-TUB-UNILAG Urban Lab team at all three institutions. A special thanks to Wits PI’s Prof Sihlongonyane and Prof Huchzermeyer for their guidance and support. Thank you to the Head of School, Prof Nnamdi Elleh for his continued support. To the project coordinators, Lucas Elsner and Taki Sithagu, thank you for stitching together the summer school. David Bauer assisted with innovative interventions and Nkosilenhle Mavuso assisted with the fieldwork. To Zakiyyah Ayob, thanks for managing all the logistics. The guests and speakers mentioned above gave the summer school an elevated standing. The masters and PhD students conducted themselves with keen interest and respect, making the Wits-TUB-UNILAG Urban Lab team proud.

Written by: Wits-TUB-UNILAG Team

The Wits-TUB Urban Lab, launched in the context of a cooperation between the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and the Technical University of Berlin, has been training students and doctoral candidates in development approaches towards the sustainability of large urban areas since its inception in 2016.

The bilateral graduate school, based at the University of the Witwatersrand, is funded by the DAAD programme, Bilateral SDG Graduate Schools, in which 6 other graduate schools worldwide are also funded. The programme, launched in 2016 in response to the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda in which 17 Sustainable Development Goals are stipulated and funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, seeks to establish and expand key structures at universities in developing countries with the goal of transforming these universities into driving forces for sustainable development, both locally and globally.

A total of 41 Master and 6 PhD scholarships have been awarded to South Africans and other African Nationals for study and research at the Wits-TUB Urban Lab since the inception of the programme.  A further component of the project are the annual summer schools, hosted in Berlin in 2017 and in Johannesburg in 2018, that promote the international collaboration of African and European students on projects surrounding socioeconomic and structural transformation issues in the urban field over the course of one week. This allows the students to catch a glimpse of what life is like in the partner university’s city and to acknowledge that, in spite of different contexts, the problems in urban areas are similar.

Following several curriculum workshops in close collaboration with the Habitat Unit at TU Berlin, the Wits-TUB Urban Lab has implemented curriculum reform at the University of the Witwatersrand. This has resulted in the restructuring of its interdisciplinary Master degrees into various fields under a Master of Urban Studies, and conceptualisation of a new field, namely the Master of Urban Studies in Urban Management, and the further enhancement of the PhD programme. The School of Architecture and Planning, under which the Wits-TUB Urban Lab falls, further benefits from staff exchanges from other African countries and the Habitat Unit at TU Berlin, Germany thanks to the cooperation funded by the DAAD. The partnership also makes field trips to other African countries and Germany possible for the PhD scholarship holders, further promoting transnational and transdisciplinary approaches and solutions for problems facing urban areas today.

The Wits-TUB Urban Lab is actively establishing partnerships with other organisations in urban and sustainability fields and procuring internships and placements at various organisations all over Africa for its students. In 2019, the graduate school looks forward to the launch of their new Master degree, the upcoming summer school at TU Berlin and the application process for the 2020 scholarships. The DAAD Information Centre Johannesburg is committed to assisting the Wits-TUB Urban Lab with the marketing of its scholarships and degrees. Be sure to follow our social media and keep a close eye on our website for more on this exciting project between Europe and Africa.

The interdisciplinary Graduate School ‘Performing Sustainability’ is a collaborative training network for graduate students by the University of Hildesheim (Germany), the University of Maiduguri (Nigeria) and the University of Cape Coast (Ghana).
The program focuses on cutting-edge research that brings together performance, arts, and cultural methods to address sustainable development as stated by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A specific focus lies on issues of peace and conflict resolution.

The DAAD Bilateral SDG Graduate Schools aim to provide the infrastructure for fostering cooperative efforts among German higher education institutions and their counterparts in Latin America, Africa and Asia. They resonate with the UN Agenda 2030 call upon the world community to build global partnerships in order to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are formulated as joint objectives for the world community and cover a broad range of themes and social issues. Their ultimate goal is the generation of well-being and peaceful and inclusive societies while at the same time preserving our planet.

Between the years 2016 and 2020, the research training group ‘Performing Sustainability, Cultures and Development in West Africa’ has set itself the goal of developing international research approaches in the field of cultural studies on the SDGS with a focus on peace and conflict studies for doctoral and master students in West-Africa.

Within the first three years, twelve PhD and six Master students will be qualified through a structured PhD program. Throughout their academic careers, all students will continually mediate and share the knowledge they have gained. Following the University of Hildesheim’s emphasis on the theory-practice interaction, program participants are invited to begin working on projects in the educational, socio-cultural, or cultural policy fields to help their society achieve SDG 16.

Scholarship holders hailing from Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Cameroon, Niger, and Germany are conducting research on the role of culture and arts in conflict resolution, peace processes, and sustainable development in West Africa, such as the role of theater and film in refugee communities, the effects of migration and displacement on tangible and intangible cultural heritage, cultural policy, and cultural management.

The SDG-GS has produced 11 Ph.D. and 12 Masters scholars from Ghana and Nigeria since its inception in 2016. The current SDG-GS cohort includes six Ph.D. students at the University of Cape Coast, as well as six Ph.D. and six MA students at the University of Maiduguri.

In the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic, the research training group ‘Performing Sustainability, Cultures, and Development in West Africa’ has launched the second phase of their project, with the aim of increasing local visibility and impact through local projects, internationalizing universities and curricula through online co-teaching methodology and the expansion of PhD double degrees. Other goals include actively transferring Graduate School activities into local university structures to ensure sustainability after DAAD funding and bridging the gap between academia and practice through collaboration with key NGO partners who are implementing the SDGS on the ground. These additional objectives strongly encourage working toward academic sustainability, particularly in the areas of research and capacity building.

The DAAD has selected an innovative project for funding under its SDG-Partnerships programme. Titled “Community Engagement in Higher Education in the Southern Africa Region (CESAR)“, this initiative brings together three institutions: the Centre for Business and Technology in Africa (CBTA), the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in Cape Town, and the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Windhoek.

CESAR’s primary focus is on community engagement, aiming to strengthen the bonds between academic institutions and local communities. The project partners will collaborate to develop strategies that enhance community involvement, address societal needs, and promote sustainable development.

The project’s main objective is to support the achievement of specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through community engagement and social entrepreneurship initiatives in South Africa and Namibia. CESAR will concentrate on SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) will serve as the foundation for all project activities.

CESAR will address three key areas:

Teaching: The project will introduce community engagement forms, including Service-Learning, as a pedagogical approach to teachers, lecturers, and university partners.

Research: CESAR will support Quintuple Helix partnerships through research activities and collaborations with universities, government, society, and industry partners.

Management: The project team will engage with university management and administrative staff on processes, policies, structures, and procedures related to community engagement.

An international, transdisciplinary team of university staff and their external community, government, and industry partners will collaborate through capacity-building workshops and knowledge exchange activities.

Each partner institution has a specific role in the project:

Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) will leverage its expertise in architecture, planning, construction, and land, livelihoods, and housing to conduct subprojects within communities.

Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) will utilise its Centre for Water and Sanitation Research and Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering to conduct local projects. These will provide input for CESAR workshops and support the sustainability of local initiatives. CPUT will also provide expertise in community engagement.

Flensburg University of Applied Sciences (FUAS) will coordinate the project, liaise with DAAD, and provide expertise in entrepreneurship, higher education pedagogy, curriculum development, project management, financing of green energy projects, and industry involvement.

Staff members from all institutions will participate in workshops held at CPUT, NUST, and FUAS, focusing on various project activities and supporting partner universities in their endeavours.

This collaborative project represents a significant step towards integrating community engagement into higher education in Southern Africa, aligning academic pursuits with sustainable development goals and community needs.

Members of Fulda University of Applied Sciences visit South Africa

In 2020, the Fulda University of Applied Sciences in Germany and the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa successfully applied for Erasmus + grants. As a result of the pandemic, many activities had to be postponed. Since the end of the pandemic, the partnership between the two univesities has flourished.

During the week of March 13-17, Maria Campuzano (Erasmus Coordinator at Fulda University) and Carola Ossenkopp-Wetzig (Overseas Exchange Coordinator) came to visit the UFS to deepen the ties between the two institutions and to talk about further development of the cooperation.

The topics discussed included academic staff and student exchanges, joint research projects, and expanding the cooperation to other departments. Furthermore, interaction with the local community for Fulda Social Work and Public Health students were discussed, to gain a deeper understanding of the country and the culture.

The week has been a valuable experience for both sides. Getting to know the colleagues and location facilitates deepens the partnership.

“I was impressed by the university and the diverse South African culture and the welcoming spirit of the people“, said Carola Ossenkopp-Wetzig..

We are confident that a lot of further exchange and research activities will happen.

Author: Carola Ossenkopp-Wetzig

About the Erasmus+ funding programme

The aim of the Erasmus+ programmes to support the educational, professional and personal development of people in education, training, youth and sport, to contribute to sustainable growth, quality jobs and social cohesion, to drive innovation and to strengthen European identity and active citizenship.

In the period 2021-2027 Erasmus+ will continue building on its successful and broad experience focusing on three horizontal priorities: inclusion and diversity, digital transformation, environmental sustainability

Opportunities for organisations

Excellence Centres for Exchange and Development – exceed

The exceed programme – Excellence Centres for Exchange and Development was launched in 2009 with the aim of bringing together the involvement of German higher education institutions and their partners in developing countries and raising its public profile. The initiative also aims to make research and teaching cooperation between higher education institutions in Germany and in countries of the Global South more accessible to development cooperation.

During the 2020-2024 funding phase, the programme aims to establish research priorities on topics relating to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the participating higher education institutions.

African Centre for Skill Enhancement and Skills Support(ACCESS)

The African Centre for Career Enhancement & Skills Support (ACCESS) is an initiative of the University of Leipzig. The primary areas of investigation are the growing level of education in Africa and the stagnated employment prospects. Collaboration with companies, universities and students are important in developing new teaching strategies with the goal of increasing chances of employability for African students.

The network acts as an interface for the higher education institutions of the African continent as well as partner organisations involved in development cooperation in the Global South. The centre works in four thematic areas: capacity-building to promote employability at higher education institutions, promotion of higher education business, employability research in the African context as well as the already established African German Entrepreneurship Academy.

In cooperation with IRGIB-Africa University, KNUST, Mount Kenya University, University of Ibadan, University of Tunis, INES-Ruhengeri, ACCESS increases the opportunities for African students in the global labour market and connects them with companies that can benefit from their expertise.

DAAD Lehramt.International programme

The DAAD seeks to increase the international mobility of teacher training students, facilitate practical experience at educational establishments abroad and enter into an intensive dialogue with the federal and regional governments, as well as higher education institutions, in order to raise awareness of the required changes and of the need for international teacher training.

With funding provided by the DAAD, the project “Global Awareness for Future Teachers” facilitates the development and deepening of the TüSE’s strategic internationalization goals. These internationalization goals are closely aligned with the excellence strategy, which was successfully applied for in 2019, and therefore also with the University of Tübingen’s internationalization strategy. They include systematically promoting a global awareness education for teaching students in all subjects, increasing the internationality of the lecturers responsible in the teaching degree programs, connecting to the European university network CIVIS, as well as continually developing partnerships with countries of the global South. Application goals will be achieved through activities in project areas A-E.  Area A includes work meetings with network partners; area B includes information measures, the awarding of mobility grants, a support concept during the stay abroad, as well as the implementation of a summer school; area C includes teacher exchanges; area D includes visibility measures; and area E includes quality assurance measures.

Participants: University of Tübingen, Tübingen School of Education; Aix-Marseille University, University Witwatersrand, University Botswana

International Study and Training Partnerships (ISAP) are institutional cooperative structures between German and international universities, in which groups of highly qualified German and international students can complete a fully recognized part of their degree programme at a partner university.

JLU’s sociology department has been focusing on the southern African region in both teaching and research for about 30 years. Research has been conducted on social consequences of HIV in the region, problems of food security, and climate change impact.

Student excursions to Namibia and Botswana, which have been directed for many years, has been one of the most important activities to address these issues. All these activities were strongly based on the personal commitment of the involved colleagues and students. To this background, the recent history of a more focused institutional cooperation not only marks a conceptional turning point in the department’s strategy, but is only due to the contingencies of travelling and its encounters generated by chance.

When a car full of Giessen sociologists drove past the North-West University Potchefstroom campus in 2012, it quickly became clear that the interfaces in research interests, student exchange and the wish for a long-term collaboration were rather strong.

In 2013, a workshop at NWU with colleagues from both universities demonstrated the enormous potential for this collaboration, resulting in a successful application to the DAAD’s ISAP program.

Since 2014, NWU and JLU have cultivated and constantly expanded the ISAP exchange. After starting with only one NWU campus and two students per university, all three campuses are now active, with four students being sent abroad each year.

Meanwhile, two JLU professors have been awarded as extraordinary professors at NWU (Prof. J. Ahrens, 2018; Prof. A. Langenohl, 2021), various research initiatives and collaborative publications have begun from here, both partners are expanding PhD cotutelle supervision, and NWU has served as an important platform for building futher cooperations in the region, such as the University of Botswana (UB) or the University of Fort Hare (UFH).

Project Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Jörn Ahrens

The most recent development in the International Study and Training Partnerships (ISAP) cooperation history between Justus Liebig Universität Giessen (JLU), North West University (NWU) and University of Botswana (UB) is the successful grant approval for a DAAD-funded SDG Partnership – „Planetary Utilization of Sustainability Strategies” (PLUS).

Here, JLU will serve as coordinator of a network with 8 partners in southern Africa (NWU; UB; University of Fort Hare (UFH), Universidade Pedagógica Maputo, Mozambique; Namibia University of Science & Technology) and Latin America. Over the course of 4 years we will implement a network for discourse and cooperation as both focus regions are facing substantial social and ecological transformation which will increase already existing social inequality and which will also propel conflicts about resources and distribution. The network will reflect on such contemporary conflict lines, and therefore predominantly refer to approaches that will explicitly respond to the critique of hegemonic epistemology and to alternative concepts for intervention. As such, southern Africa and Latin America will not just serve as paradigmatic topographies for the current impact of global challenges, but as corrective for dominant orders of knowledge and problem definitions.

Project Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Jörn Ahrens

The programme “Partnerships for sustainable solutions with Sub-Saharan Africa” supports cooperative partnerships between African partners and German universities, non-university research institutes and companies.

The results of the supported projects should lead to demonstrable innovative solutions to problems. By forging close links with teaching, it will be possible to directly incorporate these solutions into graduate training and thus into capacity building. This will establish significant new perspectives at the African partner universities.

The ‘Telemetry-based road condition assessment of unpaved Roads’ is a joint collaboration between the Bergische Universität Wuppertal and the Namibian University of Science and Technology.

Namibia is one of the most sparsely populated regions in the world. The population is distributed over a very small number of urban centres, which are only connected to each other by asphalted roads. Large parts of the country, especially the tourist attractions and farms that are important for the national economy are only accessible via partially paved roads.

Gravel roads degenerate much faster than paved roads due to driving, traffic and weather conditions. This means that vehicles are exposed to greater wear and tear, increasing the risk of accidents. Considering how large the road network is, roadside inspections aren’t feasible, thus new technological possibilities must be developed to solve this problem.

With the help of parameter time series collected over the entire project period, forecasting models will be developed, which will enable a more efficient use of resources for the maintenance of the infrastructure.

The long-term goal of this project is to improve the quality of education both within the framework of the project and through the implementation of new courses in the curricula of the two partner universities. This can be done through the cooperation with local companies and authorities, as well as the creation of interdisciplinary competence networks. As a result, Namibia will be in a position to further develop as a technology and innovation in the sub-Saharan region.

Prof. Dr. Bert Leerkamp at the Bergische Universität Wuppertal serves as project coordinator. Read more about this exciting project here.

The TALC (Tool for Analyzing Language and Communication) project is a joint collaboration between the Leibniz Universität Hannover and the University of Pretoria, with researchers from the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University contributing as well.

The TALC project develops a hard- and software tool which enables recording as well as (semi)automatized transcription and linguistic analysis of natural speech samples. Researching speech and language development is transformed digitally on the interface of linguistics, computer linguistics, speech and language pathology / pedagogy and computer science:

• Big data access is possible by making the process of recording, transcription and analysis more applicable
• Knowledge drawn from data is based on longer sequences of natural communication
• Transferring results into intervention is facilitated by analyzing individual environments for speech and language acquisition
• TALC data can provide an alternative in evaluating change in everyday communication (as demanded by the ICF)

From 11 – 12 February 2020 researchers from both Germany and South Africa held a workshop at Campus Future Africa at the University of Pretoria that aimed to compare views of various disciplines in the project, such as Speech and Language Therapy, (Computer)linguistics, Engineering and Computer Science, on the topic of “transcription and analysis of (child) language data.” Interdisciplinary interfaces were identified and connected the German and South African pilot study.

The project is now expanding its funding through the DAAD programme, PAGEL – Partnerships for the Health Sector in Developing Countries, that supports high-quality training and continuing education opportunities in the medical field. In addition, development-related professional networks between students, alumni, and experts in the health sector are to be established. Sustainable development structures are expected to also develop between the participating universities.

Building a (very) long-term bilateral collaboration, by Du Toit Strauss (NWU), Frederic Effenberger (GFZ) and Nina Dresing (CAU)

Last year we were delighted to be informed that our proposal “Joint South Africa-Germany space weather studies during solar cycle 25 and beyond”, submitted under the Alexander von Humboldt group linkage programme, was successfully funded. This bilateral and multi-institutional proposal combines expertise from the North-West University (NWU) and the Space Science Division of the South African National Space Agency (SANSA; represented on the proposal by Rendani Nndanganeni) in South Africa, and the GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) in Potsdam and Christian-Albrechts Universität (CAU) zu Kiel in Germany. In addition, all four team leaders are also still considered early career scientists. The main research emphasis is on investigating the nature of the local region of space that can influence our everyday life, and how this relates to variability of the Sun. Examples of such events are large solar storms knocking out satellite transmissions, or astronauts experiencing abnormally high levels of cosmic radiation during manned spacecraft missions. In general terms this is referred to as space weather and one day, perhaps not in the too distant future, we will have daily space weather reports in the media, similar to what we have now for terrestrial weather.

These research collaborations with strong international ties do not happen overnight and we are by no means an exception. We are the second generation of bilateral scientists, growing up (in terms of our science careers) within a successful and long-term South Africa – Germany bilateral project; all four of us were doctoral students during a phase of three, three-year bilateral projects between the NWU, CAU, and the Ruhr Universität in Bochum (RUB) funded through the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa and the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) in Germany. Students became friends, friends became colleagues, and colleagues become research associates in their own rights. Such close research partnerships, built on mutual trust and respect, cannot be developed overnight, and we are extremely grateful for the opportunity to be part of such a project, but also to lead the next phase in its evolution.

A big part of any bilateral program is travel and especially so for doctoral students. During a recent visit to Germany in early 2019, several South African doctoral students had the opportunity to visit Germany. Some share their experience in this newsletter. For some, it was their second visit, and for others their first trip outside of South Africa. However, all of the students returned with additional motivation to pursue their studies, having been exposed to new ideas and fresh perspectives. For most students, such a visit also triggers a mental change in thinking of their research future, with many wanting to return for a longer stay in Germany, and several already taking up German language classes in preparation thereof.

Hopefully these students will one day be the third generation of researchers in this long-term, and very successful, South Africa-Germany collaboration.

Written by Du Toit Strauss

The collaborative and research education hub “HEdIS” that seeks to bring together the practical and research orientated aspects of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) for supporting South Africa’s sustainability efforts, was launched at Nelson Mandela University (NMU). The Hub for Education on ICT for Sustainability is a collaborative project of Nelson Mandela University, in Port Elizabeth, the University of Cape Town and Carl von Ossietzky University, in Oldenburg, that will run through the South African universities’ computing science departments over four years.

In the framework of the programme SPACES II, (Science Partnerships for the Adaption to Complex Earth System Processes in the Region of Southern Africa) of the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), researchers from Germany, South Africa, Namibia and Angola conduct scientific collaboration projects to investigate climate processes, the global climate change, and their consequences in the region of Southern Africa. Sustainability is one focus of this research. Sustainable research requires early support for young experts in research and education at universities and research institutes, including industry-related ones, in Germany and the participating African countries South Africa, Namibia, and Angola. Good networking, close coordination and long-term cooperation between the scientists of these nations are of equal importance.

The accompanying DAAD scholarship programme Capacity Building/Development (CaBuDe) aims at developing the required capacities. The programme will enable scholarship holders from Southern Africa to do research, to network and to be (further) educated in Germany, in order to become experts for the sustainable scientific-technical cooperation between their home countries and Germany. The same applies to the short-term research scholarship holders from Germany under this programme.

The South African Land Degradation Monitor (SALDi) project is one example of a SPACES II project currently being conducted in Southern Africa. In this project, geographers at Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) are coordinating a new joint research project that is studying changes in landscapes and soil conditions of South Africa. Other partners in the project include the German Universities of Augsburg and Tübingen, the German Aerospace Center and, in South Africa, the Agricultural Research Council, South African National Parks, the universities of Pretoria, Stellen­bosch and Bloemfontein, as well as the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

Prof Dr Jussi Baade at the Friedrich Schiller Univeristy Jena serves as project coordinator. Read more about this exciting SPACES II project here.

The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAF) has also written a small article on the SALDi project in their Quest Magazine, Issue 15.2. The magazine can be downloaded here.