Prof Anne Christine Johannessen's period as the SANORD chairperson is now coming to an end. In her greeting letter, she shares some concluding remarks and sends her Christmas greetings to all our members and subscribers. The SANORD Central office wishes to thank her for her important work!

> Read the Chairperson's greeting here

SANORD and the Polytechnic of Namibia (POLYNAM) are proud to announce the next SANORD conference. The conference will be held in Windhoek, Namibia, from 1st to 3rd of December, 2015.

The theme of the conference is “What is the role of Higher Education institutions and North - South collaboration in shaping the UN Development Agenda Post-2015?”  The sub-themes will include e.g. questions of indigenous knowledge, the role of higher education institutions, and sustainability.

More information and a conference website will soon be available. > Read more and download conference flyer here

Delegation from University of Bergen (UIB), Norway visited University of the Western Cape (UWC) to meet with senior management to discuss the status of the MOU between UiB and UWC. The delegation included; Pro-Rector Anne Lise Fimreite, Anne Johannessen (Vice Rector: International relations & SANORD chairperson), Erlend Horn, Gro Lie and Tor Halvorsen.

The Central Office was delighted to have a meeting with the chairperson in person. We would also like to encourage our members to visit us at the University of Western Cape campus if you are embarking on a visit to Cape Town, South Africa!

> Read more

SANORD is proud to announce that 7 theme group projects were awarded for 2014. The SANORD Central Office fulfilled its role and successfully paid out the budgeted funds to all the project leaders.

The SANORD board takes this opportunity to wish all the project team players well with their projects into the New Year. We hope to publish some updates of the outcomes of the projects once we get feedback from our project leaders.

See the summary of projects funded on the SANORD website:

> Read more

Kristín Ingólfsdóttir, Rector of the University of Iceland, announced to her staff at an open meeting recently that she would not run for the post of rector when her second term of five years would end 1 July next year. Ingólfsdóttir was first elected in 2005. > Read more

​​Prof Wim de Villiers, Dean of the University of Cape Town's (UCT) Faculty of Health Sciences, was appointed the new Maties Rector and Vice-Chancellor by the Stellenbosch University (SU) Council earlier today. > Read more

Researchers from Aarhus have now uncovered how parasites that cause the deadly sleeping sickness in Africa absorb an important nutrient from the human blood stream. The result may help the development of more effective drugs to fight the disease. > Read more

The study scholarships are offered through the Swedish Institute and covers tuition fees and living costs for postgraduate programs at Swedish universities. > Read more

Time and place: 11–12 June 2015, Turku, Finland

Deadline for the abstracts: January 30, 2015
Notification of acceptance: March 6, 2015
Early bird registration ends: March 31, 2015

"Futures Studies Tackling Wicked Problems” is an international forum for the philosophies, methods, ideas and concrete examples to find out what is going on in the field of futures research, education and action. The aim is to harness the views of preferable futures and methods for reaching them. The conference will work collaboratively discussing research, initiatives and projects to gather various views and compose ideas to face future challenges.

The call for papers, posters and performances is now open. The deadline for abstracts is January 30, 2015. Notifications of acceptance will be delivered on March 6, 2015. Early bird registration ends on March 31, 2015. > Read more

“The conference, hosted by the University of Johannesburg (UJ), in collaboration with the University of Bergen, Norway, explores the lessons learnt from Norway and how South Africa (SA) can benefit as it continue in securing SA institutions in a manner that advances other institutions, the state and the world,” said Prof Ihron Rensburg, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, UJ.

Themed, Universities and Constitutions: What does research-based knowledge and higher education mean for constitutional democracies?, the two-day international conference in November 2014, strengthened relations between the two Southern African-Nordic Centre (SANORD) member-universities. It explored the power and force of Constitutions, and how they relate to the sometimes volatile environment that comes with higher education and its institutions. > Read more

> Read more (Uni. Bergen)

Traffic accidents are a huge burden on the health care system in Malawi. The University of Bergen (UiB) is a partner in a project to train more surgeons in Malawi. Article by Sverre Ole Drønen.
> Read more

The University of Bergen is developing new knowledge and strengthening anthropological research in Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda in an effort to deal with complexities related to their national borders. Article by Tord Rø. > Read more

The World Social Science Forum (WSSF) for 2015 was launched recently at UKZN’s Unite Building.

The DVC and Head of the College of Humanities, Professor Cheryl Potgieter, said the College was excited to be a part of the upcoming Forum in terms of UKZN’s Memorandum of Understanding with one of the hosts of the Forum, the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

The WSSF, from 13 – 16 September 2015 at the Durban International Conference Centre (ICC), will involve policy makers and shapers comprising scientists, politicians, activists, civil society organisations, activists, labour and business leaders.  They will gather to focus on real-life issues - inequality and injustice - under the theme of: Transforming Global Relations for a Just World. > Read more

The College of Humanities welcomed 50 new lecturers who have recently been appointed in the College.

Nationally the number of Black African academics within the university system is low and the number of African Black Professors is even lower. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Cheryl Potgieter, said the College is committed to increasing the number of Black academics in the system and thus build the next generation of academics. > Read more

DUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Ahmed Bawa, was recently invited to the United States of America to make a presentation on his ideas and thoughts about the role of universities in building social justice and more equal societies.

Prof Bawa made his presentation at the Anchor Institutions Task Force Annual Conference (AITF) held at the University of Chicago, USA, following an invitation by the Anchor Institutions Task Force, a group comprising of university leaders, community based organisations, health institutions, communities, foundations and non-governmental organisations. > Read more

SANORD Central Office wishes all our members and subscribers a pleasant holiday season. Looking forward to the new year full of interesting news and events! Our next newsletter will be published in February 2015.