Partnerships for sustainable solutions with Sub-Saharan Africa– measures for research and integrated postgraduate education and further training

Fünf Forscher in einem Labor

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

The aim of this integrated approach is to interlink joint work on a research topic and its practical implementation with measures for joint postgraduate education and training. The key areas of the cooperative partnerships are urban development, bioeconomy and resource management (funding period 2016-2021) as well as circular economy, food production and processing, logistics and traffic (funding period 2021-2024). The DAAD is responsible for programme management relating to the postgraduate education and training component; the research collaboration component is managed by the BMBF’s International Bureau, which is part of the DLR (German Aerospace Center) Project Management Agency.

Background

Under the programme, cooperative partnerships between African partners and German universities, non-university research institutes and companies are funded with the aim of tackling global challenges, creating sustainable academic cooperation structures, strengthening regional and continental collaboration, supporting innovation potential and opening up new markets. The focus is on projects that take an integrated approach towards combining joint work on a research topic and its practical implementation with measures for joint postgraduate education and training.

The programme is delivered by the DAAD and the DLR Project Management Agency using funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). It is based on the BMBF’s Africa Strategy, the federal government’s Internationalisation Strategy for science and research from 2008, the BMBF’s International Cooperation Action Plan, the federal government’s Policy Guidelines for Africa from 2014 and the DAAD’s Africa Strategy.

Programme objectives

The aim of the programme is to deliver graduate training coordinated with research aspects in the following topics:

funding period 2016-2021: bioeconomy, sustainable urban planning and raw materials strategy

funding period 2021-2024: circular economy, food production and processing, logistics and traffic.

By linking the components of research and education, the intention is to communicate in-depth knowledge at the African partner universities. At the same time, the capacity for innovation will be strengthened and graduate training supported. The long-term objective is to contribute to the formation and further development of teaching and research capacities in the partner countries. Cross-sectional issues between the three subject areas are also to be addressed.

The results of the supported projects should lead to demonstrable innovative solutions to problems in the three areas mentioned. 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.

Project portraits in the DAAD -Journal

Project InNuSens - New prospects with old vegetable varieties in East Africa

Project SuCCESS24 - Future specialists in resource-friendly waste management

Project WasteDrive - How to turn waste into a sustainable resource

Latest tenders

Latest tenders for the funding period 2021-2024 

 

  • To facilitate exchange and networking among project participants, the DAAD organized a networking event in Bonn on May 16th and 17th, 2023, as part of the "Partnerships for Sustainable Solutions with Sub-Saharan Africa" programme for the 2021-2024 funding period. The two days were dedicated to universities presenting their respective projects, fostering discussions and exchanges, and incorporating new input through lectures. Adapted digital formats were employed to engage African project participants.

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Related Topics

DAAD - Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst - German Academic Exchange Service