B4: Research project funding with African partners

Jani Haapakoski, Oulun yliopisto
Aiheet: 2. Yhteistyö, Aloittelija

The African continent has gained strategic importance in policy-making in the EU and the member-states in the recent years. The Foreign Ministry of Finland has drafted a new strategy for cooperation with African countries that emphasizes political and economic cooperation but also capacity-building in education and research. Although funding for education and research activities, especially with regards to Higher Education, have been rather scattered and discontinuous, some attempts towards a more established practices have been made in Finland and the EU.

In the proposed session, we’ll include two talks addressing research funding with African countries. The first talk will be a useful glance at available research funding opportunities from domestic, EU and international sources. The second talk will address the practical experiences in running a project with African partners focusing on the possibilities and challenges of the cooperation.

The session is aimed at pre-grant research administration experts at the Finnish HE institutions interested in initiating or expanding engagement with the HE sector on the African continent.

Speakers:

• Maaria Manyando, Project Coordinator, The Global Innovation Network for Teaching and Learning (GINTL), The University of Helsinki
• Ville Myllynpää, Research Funding Specialist, The University of Turku