"I wish all readers an exciting year and greater appreciation of the developments in SANORD in 2015. As we move on in 2015, we need to strengthen our South-North-South partnerships and ensure increased involvement of the generation of new academics in the joint projects. All are encourage to register and participate in the Namibia meeting. Let us all meet in Windoek."

SANORD is proud to introduce the Board members who will be serving on the board from 1 January 2015–31 December 2016.

We especially welcome Prof John Saka, University of Malawi as the new chairperson, Prof Eva Åkesson, Uppsala University as Vice Chairperson and the University of Eastern Finland who also joined the board this period.

We take this opportunity to thank University of Jyväskylä who stepped down in December 2014 after serving their full term. > Read more

Deadline for Abstract submission: 30 April 2015
Conference dates: 1–3 December 2015

SANORD (Southern African-Nordic Centre) and the Polytechnic of Namibia (PoN) are proud to announce the next SANORD conference that will be held in Windhoek, Namibia, from 1- 3 December, 2015.

The conference theme is “What is the role of Higher Education institutions and North - South collaboration in shaping the UN Development Agenda Post-2015?”

The call for abstracts is now out. The deadline for submitting abstracts is April the 30th.  > Read more
> Conference website

A delegation from the University of Oslo, Norway, visited the University of Western Cape on the 10th of February. The purpose of the visit was to strengthen relations with the University of Western Cape within research and education and to explore areas of future cooperation. The delegation also visited the SANORD Central office to discuss possible membership. > Read more

SANORD Theme group funding was awarded to seven joint projects in North-South collaboration. One of the projects is the “Simulation for sustainability education (SISU-EDU)”, a collaborative between University of Turku, University of Cape Town and Rhodes University.

The partner institutions bring together their expertise in research and development of new educational methods and tools in the field of sustainability and development education and training. > Read more

Please note that the most up-to-date conference information can be found on our conference website.

Deadline for Abstracts: 1 March 2015
Registration deadline: 1 March 2015
Conference time: 15–16 June 2015
Place: UiB Global, Jekteviksbakken 31, Seminar room 240

This conference opens the discussion about academic cooperation vs. academic competition. Is it really so that academic collaboration with so-called weak and vulnerable universities in the South may be detrimental to competition for those who are rated high?

This conference is in particular oriented towards contextualising the Norwegian NORHED program (The Norwegian Programme for Capacity Development in Higher Education and Research for Development) but not limited to this. > Read more

Application deadline: 22 March 2015

TRECCAfrica addresses one of the world’s greatest environmental challenges: food security in the face of climate change, resource depletion and loss of forests, wildlife and environmental services.

Applications from African citizens (including Diaspora) are now invited for full degree Master’s degree scholarships, short term Masters and doctoral exchange scholarships (for applicants currently enrolled in a Master’s or doctoral programme in the home university) and staff exchange awards (only for TRECCAfrica partner university academic and administrative staff.) > Read more
> TRECCAfrica website

Application deadline: 15 March 2015

INSPIRE Call 2 (open to both EU and South African nationals) is open until the 15th of March 2015. In this second call of the INSPIRE project we offer 125 scholarships for students, researchers or staff to participate in an exchange or a full degree. It is open to all South African nationals either currently registered as a student, researcher or staff at a Higher Education Institution or with an already completed degree. For EU nationals this call is open to all registered students, researchers or full-time members of staff interested in applying for an exchange.

> Visit the INSPIRE website for more information on e.g. eligibility criteria and application procedure.

Time: 1–2 October 2015
Place: Emerald Resort, Vanderbijlpark

The first ever biannual symposium on teacher education for inclusion: linking research to practice is set to take place on 1 and 2 October 2015 in Vanderbijlpark. The symposium is hosted by North-West University’s (NWU's) Optentia Research Programme, located on the Vaal Triangle Campus, in collaboration with the Faculty of Education on the Potchefstroom Campus. > Read more

Time: 27–29 April 2015
Place: Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) in Arusha, Tanzania 

Learning together for Change is a conference organized by The Association of Swedish Higher Education (SUHF). As a member of the International Association of Universities (IAU), SUHF has decided to contribute to IAU’s very important work and involvement in the UNESCO led Education for All movement. > Read more

Karlstad University has been awarded the StudyPortals Award for Outstanding International Student Satisfaction 2014. The award is based on thousands of reviews and opinions from international students in Europe. Karlstad University was ranked No. 1 in Sweden. > Read more

Norway's largest public institution of research and higher learning, the University of Oslo (UiO), has identified South Africa as a key strategic partner for increased future collaboration. To further this goal of building a closer relationship with South African partners, a delegation from the university, including the rector and 10 deans and directors, visited South Africa in early February. > Read more

Moringa trees are known as ‘miracle’ trees because of their many uses as food and as a source of oil. Seeds from the trees are also used to purify water. The special properties of the protein in the seeds have been studied by a group from Uppsala University in collaboration with the Polytechnic of Namibia, Windhoek, and the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France.

New results published in the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science suggest that Moringa seeds could be used for separation of different materials rather than just removal of all impurities. > Read more

The dedicated research and development programme at the UFS on spineless cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) – also known as prickly pear – has grown steadily in both vision and dimension during the past 15 years. > Read more

Cactus pear Photo: Charl Devenish

In a first of its kind study in South Africa, Wendy Carvalho-Malekane, lecturer in the Department of Humanities Education, researched how young adults in post-apartheid South Africa construct an identity, with the emphasis on individuals with a biracial heritage. > Read more

The UWC team of Kessler Perumalsamy, Toni Dammert, Raeesa Ebrahim and Hendrik Theron have won the South African Regional round of the Philip Jessup International Moot Competition. Not only did they win all their rounds, but they also won the trophy for the best memorials (written heads of argument). Mr Perumalsamy was the best oralist and Ms Dammert the second best oralist. > Read more

Students from the Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Unit (ACRU) excelled at the Square Kilometre Array South Africa (SKA SA) postgraduate bursary conference held in Stellenbosch. > Read more

Dr Albert van Jaarsveld is the new Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and assumed duty on the 2 February 2015. He was until recently Chief Executive Officer of the National Research Foundation. > Read more

Picking up the baton from his predecessors, Professor Tyrone Pretorius was inaugurated as UWC’s 7th Rector and Vice-Chancellor in the University’s 56th year of existence. > Read more

Professor and Vice-Chancellor Tyrone Pretorius announced the appointment of three new members of the UWC Senior Executive Team. The newly appointed members are Professor Vivienne Lawack as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Frans Swanepoel as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), and Ms Nita Lawton-Misra as University Registrar. > Read more

Professor Noel Keenlyside has been awarded a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). He is the first University of Bergen researcher to be awarded this prestigious grant. > Read more

Prof Naomi Morgan, lecturer at the UFS Department of Afrikaans and Dutch; German and French, received the prestigious Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres award at the French Embassy in Pretoria on Monday 26 January 2015. > Read more

Kristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir, Professor at the Faculty of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland, has been accepted to the Club of Rome, that works on identifying the most crucial problems that will determine the future of humanity. > Read more

South Africa must engage more with other countries internationally in tourism business, and universities must also engage with other universities globally to address issues of the global community. This was the message by the Minister of South African Tourism, Mr Derek Hanekom, when he addressed international travel and tourism industry leaders at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) on Monday, 16 February 2015. > Read more

Deadline for proposal submission: 15 May 2015
Conference date: 19-21 August 2015
Place: Port Elisabeth, South Africa

International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA) will be holding its 19th annual conference with the theme "Knowledge generation across borders". The call for proposals is now open.         > Read more

The African higher education summit is predicated upon the recognition that higher education has a central role to play in the political, social and economic development of Africa. > Read more

A New framework for funding of tertiary institutions that is meant to create a transparent allocation of resources will be implemented this term. Article by By Ndanki Kahiurika. >Read more