UNU-WIDER is the first research and training centre established in 1984 in Helsinki by the United Nations University (UNU).

UNU-WIDER offers a PhD Internship Programme that gives registered doctoral students an opportunity to utilize the resources and facilities at UNU-WIDER for their PhD dissertation or thesis research and to work with UNU-WIDER researchers in areas of mutual interest.

During their time in Helsinki, PhD interns prepare one or more research papers and present a seminar on their research findings. PhD interns may also have the opportunity to publish their research in UNU-WIDER’s working paper series.

UNU-WIDER only receives online applications for the PhD Internship Programme twice each year. Deadlines for submission of applications are 31 March and 30 September 23:59 EET each year.

> More information available on the UNU-WIDER website

Students and staff from universities across the country preparing to depart for studies funded by Erasmus Mundus were recently hosted at CPUT for a pre-departure conference.

The conference is a valuable tool in preparing students for the rigours of academic life in a foreign European country as well allowing students to network with one another. > Read more

Uppsala University has been awarded the Coordinating role for a new Erasmus Mundus Project called INSPIRE (INternational Science Promoting Innovation and entREpreneurship).

INSPIRE will have 125 scholarships for South African master students, PhDs, Post-docs and Staff to study at a European partner university. The scholarships cover travel costs, insurance and a monthly allowance (EUR 1000-2500 depending on level of studies).

More information will soon be published on the University of Uppsala's website. > Read more

More information on the INSPIRE project > Read more

Deadline for applications: 15 September 2014

There are fifty open vacancies for fixed-term doctoral candidate positions at the University of Turku from 1 January 2015 onwards. The call for applications is from 15 August to 15 September 2014.
> Read more

SANORD is making available 7 partial scholarship opportunities for students from the Southern African institutions of higher education and research. Successful students will spend 3 to 5 months at a Nordic SANORD member institution in order to work towards the completion of their master’s degree.

Deadline for applications: 31 October 2014.
> Read more

This is a call for university departments and academic disciplines as partners in planning and implementing the "Future Consciousness, Anticipation and Values - Definitions, Meanings and Connections to Futures Research"-course (6 cr) together with the Finland Futures Academy.

The course will be implemented by Finland Futures Academy (FFA) and Museology and European Ethnology (School of History, Culture and Arts Studies), University of Turku, in cooperation with the European Regional Foresight College and the European Millennium Project Nodes Initiative, ERFC/ EuMPI.

The course will take place at the University of Turku during May-December 2015, and it is offered to master's and postgraduate students. Underlying the course is also the idea of sharing teaching resources, learning modes and course contents between the partner universities.

Interested institutions should express their interest by the end of December 2014. > Read more

Deadline for abstract submission: 15 September 2014
The Seminar: 12-13 November 2014

As part of the Developing Finnish Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation between Europe, Africa and the LAC Region (FinCEAL) project, the Finnish University Partnership for International Development (UniPID) will convene a two-day seminar to discuss and reconsider the different cross-cutting issues of international research, innovation and development cooperation addressing global challenges. > Read more

Deadline for the submission of abstracts: 11th September 2014
Place and date of the workshop: Cape Town, 9th–11th February 2015

The workshop –"The democratic developmental state-Southern African and Nordic experiences”– is organised by the Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (CROP), SANORD, UiB Global at University of Bergen, and the School of Government at the University of the Western Cape.

The aim of this workshop is to encourage academic discussion based on empirical findings, case studies, cross national comparisons, in addition to theoretical discussion as to what a democratic developmental state model could mean in different cultural, economic, and political contexts. > Read more

UniPID (Finnish University Partnership for International Development) commented on the evaluation of Finland's support to the higher education institutions' development cooperation. UniPID's vice chair Jeremy Gould presented UniPID's statement on the HEI ICI and NSS programmes' evaluation report in the seminar organized by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Tieteiden talo, Helsinki, on June 16, 2014.
> Read more

UniPID’s FinCEAL project and the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) held a seminar on food security titled "Creating transformational partnerships for food and nutrition security" on 4 June 2014. The seminar report and the presentations can now be read online.
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Professor Anne Christine Johannessen gave the opening speech at the SANORD symposium at Karlstad University. Her speech has now been published at the SANORD website.
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In this article, published in The Mail & Guardian, professor Jonathan D Jansen, rector of the University of the Free State, points to a lack of urgency among decision-makers in higher education to address gender equity with greater zeal; he also highlights the failure of higher education institutions to create a more enabling environment for gender empowerment. > Read more

At the SANORD Symposium in Karlstad SANORD decided to join forces with SUHF (The Association of Swedish Higher Education). The overall purpose of this collaboration will be to promote mutual learning between the Swedish and African Higher education institutions (HEIs).

The more immediate aim is to organize a conference in 2015 together with African partners. More information will be posted on SANORD website in due time.

Are you looking for research partnerships from Finland? Check out UniPID’s FinCEAL Infobank for Finnish researchers and research projects focusing on Africa and/or Latin America and the Caribbean.

>FinCEAL Infobank website

Our intern Chia Chou leaves the Central Office today after spending 5.5 months in the office.  Chia was involved with the data base management, website management, SANORD Newsletter and Social Media.  The Central Office would like to thank her for the role she played and the valuable contributions she has made to the further development of the operations of the organization.
> Read more