Tore Saetersdal, currently the Head of UiB Global and a delegation from TUC headed by their DVC for Education, Jarle T. Bjerkholt visited UWC on 27 October 2014 to explore teaching and research collaboration opportunities, and student and staff exchanges. Our TUC colleagues had fruitful meetings with the Prof Mike Davies-Coleman, the Dean of Natural Science, Prof Burtram Fielding, the Acting Director of Research & Medical Biosciences Department, Prof James Njenga, the HoD of Information Systems and Leolyn Jackson, the Director for International Relations.

In addition the delegation also met with the SANORD secretariat who briefed them about SANORD and its operations. > Read more

As highlighted in our previous newsletter, Uppsala University has been awarded the Nordic coordinator'a role for a new Erasmus Mundus project INSPIRE (INternational Science Promoting Innovation and entREpreneurship). The coordinator in the Southern region is the University of Western Cape.

INSPIRE is an Erasmus Mundus Action 2 project (with financial support granted by the European Commission) that grants scholarships to South African students and researchers to undertake a full degree or an exchange in some of the best universities in Europe.

The first call is now open for South African students. This call features full master's and PhD degrees only.

The application deadline is November 1st.

The project also has a brand new website, where you can find up-to-date information! > Read more

Deadline for applications: 14th November 2014

The Faculty for the Future program, launched in 2004, awards fellowships to women from developing and emerging economies to pursue PhD or Post-doctorate studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines at leading universities worldwide.

The foundation is now accepting new applications for the 2015–2016 Faculty for the Future Fellowships from September 10th to November 14th, 2014. > Read more

Time: 9-11 February 2015
Place: Cape Town

An international workshop titled “The democratic developmental state - Southern African and Nordic experiences” will be organised in Cape Town 9-11 February 2015 by the Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (ISSC & UiB), SANORD, UiB Global (UiB) and the School of Government of the UWC.

The call for applications has closed. More information on the workshop can be found here: > Read more

Deadline for abstracts: 28th February 2015
Conference date and place: 3-5 August 2015, Kariba, Zimbabwe

The University of Zimbabwe's Faculty of Arts is making a Call for Papers under the theme: Africa’s intangible heritage and land: AMulti-disciplinary approach. The Conference envisages making a landmark contribution towards African studies from an African perspective.

Africa’s intangible heritage and land constitute one source of contestation and debate among various stakeholders and scholars of different persuasions and interests. These contending issues should be discussed and documented for Africa’s and African sustainable development, and the betterment of humankind.

> Read the complete call for papers in the latest UZ Weekly

The University of the Western Cape’s staff and students gave retiring Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Western Cape, Professor Brian O’Connell, an appropriately gigantic – and heartfelt – send-off at the Rector’s Farewell Festival on 23 October 2014. There is also a special Facebook page where you can leave your greetings to the Rector. > Read more

> UWC Rector Farewell on Facebook

Karen Heebøll will assume her duties as University Director at the University of Southern Denmark on 1 November. She is 47 years old, has a master’s degree in political science and is leaving a position as Municipal Director for the Care Services, Health Services and Labour Market departments in Fredericia Municipality. > Read more

A new International Journal of African Higher Education has been launched, drawing on experts in the region and internationally to chart the development of a sector undergoing rapid expansion and massive change.

The journal is published by the International Network for Higher Education in Africa, INHEA, jointly hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal – UKZN – in South Africa and the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College in the United States, in cooperation with the Association of African Universities.
> Read more

The Vice Chancellor and Principal, Prof Cheryl de la Rey, has been appointed as the Chairperson of the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) by the Minister of Science and Technology, Mrs Naledi Pandor.
> Read more

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Eric Betzig, William E. Moerner and Stefan W. Hell. The trio has done groundbreaking work in developing high resolution microscopy.

The University of Turku Doctor Honoris Causa Stefan W. Hell, one of the three recipients of the Prize, worked at the University of Turku as a researcher in the 1990s and has stated that the development of resolution began in Turku, in the Unit of Medical Physics, in 1993.
> Read more

The most extensive university ranking in the world, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE), has ranked the University of Turku among the top 400 universities in the world.
> Read more

Professor Maxi Schoeman, head of the Department of Political Sciences at the University of Pretoria, is currently the eleventh incumbent of the Claude Ake Visiting Chair at Uppsala University in Sweden, where she has been offered a calm environment in which to pursue her research on human security issues for a period of three months.

Professor Schoeman has been exploring the challenges facing South Africa in its efforts to address the inequities of the past ever since the end of apartheid. As the Claude Ake Visiting Chair in Uppsala she will look deeper into issues related to human security and will focus specifically on South Africa’s involvement in and contribution to peace missions on the African continent. > Read more

The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) announced the appointment of Prof Mike Wingfield as new President on 10 October 2014. IUFRO’s International Council elected him during a meeting at the 24th IUFRO World Congress, which was held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.

Prof Mike Wingfield follows up Prof Niels Elers Koch who served IUFRO – the only worldwide organisation devoted to forest research and related sciences – as President for the past four years.
> Read more

Nordex, the German wind-turbine manufacturer, has established the Nordex Education Trust which holds a 20 percent shareholding in its South African operation to help uplift communities and strengthen the value of Nordex as an international partner in the development of South Africa’s renewable energy market.

Today the Trust reached many significant milestones and achievements, which includes the appointment of its third Trustee, Dr. Sindiswa Stofile, a professor in Educational Psychology at the University of the Western Cape, and they also supported and joined a Nordex Trust beneficiary, the Chaeli Campaign who celebrated their 10th Anniversary. > Read more