DAAD Regional Office for Africa - June 2013
nairobi
newsletter
AvH Ambassador
Boga meets German
President in Berlin
On 6th June, Kenyan
Professor Hamadi Iddi
Boga had the opportunity to meet the German President
Joachim Gauck in
Berlin.
Scientists from all over
the world had come to
the German capital for
an Alumni Conference
of the Alexander von
Humboldt Foundation
(AvH) among them
politicians, researchers and Nobel Prize
Winners.
Prof. Boga is not just
one of the DAAD
Alumni but Principal of
Taita Taveta University College and Ambassador of AvH as
well.
The microbiologist
already obtained a
DAAD scholarship for
his Master’s at Kenyatta University. Later,
he proceeded to do his
PhD at University of
Konstanz from 1996 to
2000 with a DAAD
PhD scholarship.
Read the full story
(German only)
Kenya: African Cities of the
Future: Governors, Kenyan
DAAD Alumni and German experts try to chart the way
of the Governors or their representatives of 10
Counties from all parts of Kenya greatly enhanced the dialogue.
The occasion was also very welcome to launch a
year of celebrations of the 40th anniversary of
This year’s Kenya DAAD Scholars Association (KDSA) and DAAD Africa conference on the DAAD Regional Office for Africa. The First
May 30th and 31st interrogated how to plan
KDSA Chair and today’s VC of the Technical
and design “African Cities of the Future:
University of Kenya Prof. Dr.-Ing. Francis Aduol
Smart, Sustainable, Participatory.” The meet- impressively looked back to four decades of coling brought together professionals from unilaboration.
versities, research institutions, parastatals
and the civil society who included more than The main topic of discussion was what County
160 KDSA members, among them senior
Governors need and what universities can offer
university administrators and experts in the
to them and vice versa. It became very clear that
field especially from the University of Leipzig in the current phase support in strategic and
and the German Institute for Urban Develop- spatial planning for the Counties will be a key
area of cooperation - and the training of the
ment. The conference was honored by the
presence of H.E. Margit Hellwig-Boette, Ger- new staff of the county administration skills.
man Ambassador to Kenya. The contribution To be continued on page 2
Editorial
DAAD
Regional Office for Africa
P.O.Box 14050-00800
Nairobi, Kenya
Director:
Christoph Hansert
Editor:
Anja Bengelstorff
Contact:
+254 733 929 929
[email protected]
http://nairobi.daad.de
Salim Mvurya, Governor of Kwale, and Prof. Dr. Manfred Roeber, University of Leipzig, came together with DAAD and Ford Foundation
Alumni and other local experts in Nairobi to look for ways to make African cities sustainable and inclusive.
newsletter June 2013
page 2
Continued from page 1
REMINDER:
EQUIPMENT GRANT
PROGRAMME
Many young scientists
returning to their home
country after completing periods of study
and research in Germany would like to
continue research
work started there in
cooperation with their
German host institution of higher education. They want to use
their qualifications
acquired in Germany
to be able to engage in
new developmentrelevant research or
teaching projects for
their home country.
However, they are
often faced with the
problem that their
home institution of
higher education does
not have the necessary scientific equipment.
The Equipment Grant
Programme for institutions of higher education in developing
countries sponsored
by DAAD and funded
by the Federal Ministry
for Economic Cooperation (BMZ) addresses this point:
Returning scientists
or alumni of German
institutions of higher
education who have
already returned to
their home country
and are active at an
institution of higher
education or comparable academic institution there are eligible
to apply for scientific
equipment for carrying out their current
teaching and research
projects.
Get more information
on the programme
here.
The partnership should be achieved by creating a meeting space and subsequently signing
Memoranda of Understanding between one
to four Counties and the next University. Concrete needs formulated by the Governors were
the use of Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) for improved spatial planning or the
sharing of postgraduate research work on
their County from Universities all over the
Country. The National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI)
was tasked to provide a respective electronic platform together with the Kenya Open Data
Initiative. NACOSTI CEO Prof. Abdulrazak confirmed that they perceive this as a very doable
idea. Last but not least Governors urged for more internships of students in County administrations. Prof. Some, CEO of the Commission for University Education assured that CUE will
support internships by allowing them to be credited - if properly organized.
The Alumni are grateful to DAAD, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, UN-HABITAT and the IFP
of Ford Foundation for their support.
Annual General Meeting of the Kenya DAAD Scholars Association (KDSA)
The conference was preceded by the AGM of the Kenyan DAAD Alumni. The members selected a new National Executive Committee: Prof. Simon Onywere (KU) was confirmed as chairman; Secretary: Dr. John Obiero (JOOUST); Treasurer: Dr. Stellamaris Muthoka (Egerton U);
Vice Chair: Dr. Florence Indede (Maseno U); Assistant Secretary: Dr. Alex Khaemba; Assistant
Treasurer: Dr. Fridah Kanana (KU); Members: Dr. Francis Orata (MMUST), Dr. Grace Cheserek (Moi U) and Dr. Bernards Okeyo (Pwani U). The Alumni are indebted to their former members of the NEC, Dr. Solomon Derese (UoN), Prof. Joy Obando (KU) and Prof. Halimu Shauri
(Pwani U), and thank them for their service in the concluded term.
DAAD Annual Cocktail
During the DAAD Annual Cocktail at the German Ambassador’s
residence DAAD not only bade farewell to the host, outgoing Ambassador Margit Hellwig-Bötte, with a big and delicious cake she
shared generously with her guests. DAAD also said goodbye to
Prof. Christian Borgemeister, Director-General of ICIPE, who leaves
Kenya for
ZEF Bonn.
Also returning to Germany are DAAD
lecturer at KU, Dr. Georg Verweyen, and
Andrea Sasse, Cultural Attaché at the
German Embassy. We appreciate their
work and collaboration and wish them all
the best in their new positions. More
than 70 scholarships for postgraduate
studies and higher education management training were awarded during this
occasion.
Ambassador Hellwig-Bötte, DAAD Regional Director Christoph Hansert
and NACOSTI CEO Prof. Shaukat Abdulrazak and happy PhD
scholarship holders Grace Ngatia, Walter Alando and Fred Ongarora.
newsletter June 2013
page 3
URGENT! Upcoming application deadlines!
31 July at DAAD Office Nairobi:
Master Courses in "Public Policy and Good Governance"
The programme offers very good graduates with a first university degree (not older than six years) the chance to obtain a Master’s degree in disciplines that are of special relevance for the social, political and economic development of
their home country. The scholarships are offered both for young graduates without professional experience and for
mid-career professionals. more info
-
- Development-related Postgraduate Courses (formerly: Postgraduate Courses for Professionals with Relevance to Developing Countries)
The courses, mainly at Master’s level, are open to candidates with a very good first degree (not older than 6 years), at
least one year work experience and preferably a study leave from the employer.
more info
(Application Deadline at DAAD Bonn: 31st August)
30 September at DAAD Office Nairobi:
- PhD scholarships to Germany (additional online application from 15 July 2013)
Six scholarships open to all fields of study for excellent Master degree holders (not older than six years); additional 20
scholarships available in conjunction with the Government of Kenya via NCST
more info
Kenya: First East African
Conference on German Studies
The first conference on German Studies in Eastern Africa took place from 27th to 28th June at the GoetheInstitut Nairobi. The conference which attracted over
thirty participants from Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Germany and Kenya was funded by the DAAD
and was jointly organized by the German Studies programme, University of Nairobi and the German Section, Makerere University, Uganda.
The conference theme was “German Studies in East
Africa and Sustainability: new scientific concepts, new
ideas”. Over 15 academic papers were presented and
graduate students from the DAAD funded Master’s programme at the UoN also presented their envisaged research projects. Areas covered included Intercultural
German literature, Translation Studies and German as a
Foreign Language. A highlight of the conference was a
public reading of the book “Das Dossier Robert” by its
author Dr. Karsten Dümmel, and a round table
discussion with employers chaired by DAAD Office
Director Christoph Hansert.
In addition, a facebook project jointly run by students
of Kenyatta University (German Studies) and University
of Leipzig (African Studies) was presented.
The participants were invited to a cocktail by the
Austrian Ambassador to Kenya, H.E. Mag. Christian
Hasenbichler on 28th June. The DAAD Regional Office for
Africa also organized a cocktail on the 29th June where
Mr. Oliver Schwart of the German Embassy and Christoph Hansert awarded five Summer School DAAD scholarships to Kenyan students of German studies.
As a result of the conference, it was unanimously agreed
that a regional association of scholars and teachers of
German Studies in Eastern Africa should be formed, and
a steering committee was duly appointed. The conference proceedings are to be published later this year, and
we are all looking forward to the second conference in
2015.
DAAD Lecturer Dr. Shaban Mayanja, GI Nairobi Director Johannes Hossfeld and
DAAD Africa Office Director Christoph Hansert welcome the participants at the
Goethe Institute Nairobi
newsletter June 2013
New BMBF Funded
ICT partnerships
between German and
Sub-Sahara African
With funds of the Federal
Ministry for Education
and Research (BMBF)
DAAD promotes the development of common
university courses between African and German universities in the
field of applied Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
The cooperation aims at
implementing ICT Master’s courses with crosscultural and management
components as well creating a sustainable development of African higher
education institutions.
University of Apllied
Sciences of Neu-Ulm
(HNU) together with
Kenya Methodist University and University
of the Western Cape
(South Africa) developed
a joint Master programme
in Health Information
Management. Within this
programme the international students will attend
courses in all three countries of the partner universities. The start for this
Master course is planned
for October 2013. Professors Burk and Jacob of
HNU introduced the concept during an Afternoon
Tea at the DAAD Regional Office on June 5.
Also University of
Oldenburg is cooperating with African Universities in Tanzania, Ghana
and Mozambique to
progress an international
network of science and
research. The project is
called EMIS and includes
the study programmes for
Environmental Management Information Systems and additional Professional Training Programmes of Sustainable
and Environmental Informatics.
Tanzania: Joint TCUDAAD team hosted by
Universities
Together with the Tanzanian Commission
for Universities (TCU) from 6th to 9th of May,
the Director of DAAD Regional Office for Africa, Christoph Hansert, and Programme Officer Anja Bengelstorff visited six key Tanzanian Universities, mainly to inform about the
joint PhD scholarship programme with the
Tanzanian government and to promote higher
education cooperation with German universities.
The first university to be visited was Sokoine
University of Agriculture in Morogoro, which
is not only known as being the best training
and research institution for agricultural subjects in Tanzania, but is also a stronghold of
DAAD alumni. The next stop was Mzumbe
University, a university just outside
Morogoro, that has initiated a Master course
in Health Systems Management in collaboration with the German University of Neu-Ulm.
The University of Dodoma in central Tanza-
page 4
nia was a surprise: the most ambitious academic project of the Tanzanian government
presented itself to the visitors as a brand new
university of 19.000 students, surrounded by
a breath-taking scenery, equipped with modern technology - and with an urgent need for
well-trained lecturers. Visits to Muhimbili and
Ardhi Universities and the University of
Dar es Salaam, and a meeting with the
Permanent Secretary marked the end of a
journey to the heart of Tanzania.
The Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam
and the DAAD Africa Office Director present the letter to establish a new DAAD long term lecturership in Regional Legal Studies
at USDM’s Tanzanian German Centre for EA Legal Studies
(TGCL) - Foto: DAAD
Germany: Chancellor Angela Merkel invites DAAD
On the left side Dr. Dorothea Rüland, Secretary General of DAAD, and the Director
of the DAAD Regional Office for Africa, Christoph Hansert, together with global
experts and German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel - Foto: Bundesregierung
On 5th June the German Chancellor
Dr. Angela Merkel invited experts
from all over the world to the First
International Germany Forum at
the German Prime Minister’s Office
in Berlin. Among the guests were
the DAAD Secretary General, Dr.
Dorothea Rüland and the DAAD
Office Directors from Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Nairobi.
Under the slogan “What matters to
people – wellbeing and progress” different concepts of quality of living were discussed. Will
people be happier because of more and more growth? What is happiness or well being beyond
economic success? Is the Bhutanese “Gross National Happiness Commission” on an innovative
path by measuring happiness regularly with population surveys?
It was common sense, that health and the quality of family relations are key factors for happiness. During the discussion, yet, some differences between the North and the South came up.
Whereas developing countries take a fair distribution of goods and opportunities as very
important people from the North pay more attention to the environment.
newsletter June 2013
IDIES International
Deans’ Course Africa
2013/2014
The Regional Office
would like to congratulate the eight Kenyan
academics who will
take part in the DIES
International Deans’
Course Africa 2013/14
after a very rigorous
selection process. The
new course participants are Yudha Ayodo
(Kibabii UC), Peter
Barasa (Moi U), Florence Indede (Maseno
U), James Kombo
(Daystar U), Esther
Magiri (JKUAT),
Renson Mwangi (KCA
U), Christine Onyango
(TTUC) and Losenge
Turoop (JKUAT).
The International
Deans’ Course Africa
2013/14 is jointly organized by DAAD,
the Hochschule
Osnabrück,
the German Rectors’
Conference (HRK),
the Centre for Higher
Education (CHE) and
the Alexander von
Humboldt Foundation
(AvH). This intensive
training course is part
of the DIES programme (Dialogue on
Innovative Higher Education Strategies)
which is jointly coordinated by DAAD and
HRK.
The key objective of
the course is to bring
together a group of
about 30 deans, vicedeans, and heads of
departments – many
of them alumni of
DAAD and Humboldt
Foundation – from universities of the African
region and to prepare
them for the challenges
of holding a dean’s
position in an everchanging higher education landscape.
page 5
Kenya: E-resources Training for DAAD Scholars
Participants of the workshop are exchanging on how to use Mendeley and Zotero - Foto: DAAD Nairobi - Foto: DAAD Nairobi
From 27th to 30th May, 25 DAAD Scholars from Kenya and all over Africa currently pursuing
their Master or PhD at Kenyan universities and international research centres, met each other
for the first time in Nairobi and participated in the e-resource training workshop jointly organized by
the DAAD Regional Office and the Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa (ITOCA).
The facilitators from ITOCA enlightened participants on free access to 7.000 full text journals
and 8.000 E-books, as well as review and reference management. The free access had been
negotiated for scholars in Sub Saharan Africa by e.g. the Gates Foundation and WHO with key
publishing houses like Springer. The training began with an overview as well as learning about
search strategies for academic research.
The 2nd and 3rd day were filled with introductions to open access databases like HINARI, OARE,
AGORA and hands-on exercises by finding relevant articles and creating a bibliography according
to the participants’ field of research, using Mendeley and Zotero reference software to manage
their collection of articles. An introduction to The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library (TEEAL),
which can be used offline by academic institutions from income-eligible countries, as well as the
right referencing of online sources and “cite as you write”- practices gave more important insights.
After an introduction into HINARI, OARE and AGORA the participants
worked tirelessly to refine their very own research papers - Foto: DAAD
The last day was dedicated to raise awareness regarding copyright, licensing and
plagiarism issues. Another session dealt
with the use of information self-services like
RSS feeds and alert services according to
the motto: let relevant information come to
you, instead of you looking for it. This very
intense week, full of new information and
impressions was winded up by participation
in the DAAD Alumni Conference on Smart
Cities and at the Annual Cocktail and Scholarship hand over at the German Ambassador’s Residence.
newsletter June 2013
page 6
Research Ethics Workshop at Makerere University, Uganda
The first day of the workshop organised jointly by the DAAD lecturers Dr. Georg Verweyen of Kenyatta University,
Kenya and Dr. Mirjam Gille of Makerere University, and AUGA the Ugandan Association of Germany Alumni was
well filled with presentations and discussions on different types of plagiarism, how to detect them or to avoid them in
the first place. The most surprising type of un-ethical research is the second hand literature review where all quotes
and references from one or two well written reviews are “recycled” into the plagiators‘ own work without him/her ever
seeing the original sources.
A key message of the workshop was: Software like PlagScan is
a useful tool to highlight suspicious parts of a text, but it takes a
skilled reader to decide if a sentence or a paragraph was plagiarised!
The second day was open to the interested public and was honored by among others the director of research and graduate
training, the director for quality assurance and a former vice
chancellor. Together with more than fifty colleagues and graduates they got an idea of the worrying status quo in research ethics
and discussed the way forward for individual researchers, supervisors and university administrations.
Rwanda: Third East African
Quality Assurance Forum
This year’s forum on “Networking for Quality Higher
Education in East Africa” took place from May 13 to 17
in Kigali, Rwanda. It attracted a record audience of
over 100 Deputy Vice Chancellors for Academic Affairs, top level officials of the East African University
Commissions, Quality Assurance Directors and experts
from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and
Germany. It took place in the frame of the DIES
programme of DAAD and HRK.
QA Directors Prof. Anne Nangulu (left, Moi University) and Dr. Bernadette
Sabuni (right, MMUST) discussing the workshop on quality assurance
Links
Find the original presentation shown at Makerere University
here.
Find the one page research ethics guideline for applications
here.
Find the extended guideline for supervisors on how to trace
plagiarism here.
The texts are all free to use as long as you mention the author
"CC BY-SA" under this link.
The forum was officially opened by the Rwandan Minister
for Education, Dr. Vincent Biruta. Besides appreciating
efforts by the Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA)
towards establishing a regional quality assurance framework, he also encouraged universities to implement robust
internal quality assurance systems since the primary responsibility for quality lies with the institutions themselves.
Others who addressed the forum were Prof Mayunga
Nkunya, the Executive Secretary of the IUCEA; Mr Christoph Hansert, Director DAAD Regional Office for Africa; Mr.
Thomas Böhm from the German Rectors Conference (HRK)
and Dr. Innocent Mughisa, the Director of Academic Quality
of the Rwandan Higher Education Council (HEC).
The forum was preceeded by a training workshop on how
to conduct graduate surveys. The facilitators were drawn
from Germany and East Africa, included Barbara Michalk
from HRK; Petra Pistor and Sylvia Ruschin from DuisburgEssen University, Omar Egesah from Moi University and
Ladislaus Lwambuka of University of Dar es Salaam. Prof.
Mulinge Munyae from United States International
University, Kenya provoked an intensive discussion when
he presented findings from a empirical research on the
quality of postgraduate degrees. During the General Assembly of the East African Higher Education Quality Assurance Network (EAQAN) members resolved to start an East
African quality assurance journal and to hold a quality assurance conference in 2014 in Arusha, Tanzania.
newsletter June 2013
Kenya: New Herder Lecturer at
TTUC, Voi:
Prof. Dr. Volkmar Kreissig
Prof. Dr. Volkmar Kreissig came to Kenya
to promote interdisciplinary work between
universities here and in Germany
While searching on the internet, I came across the announcement of a Herder
Senior-lectureship at the
Taita Taveta University College in Voi. My first personal
meeting with Prof. Hamadi
Idi Boga - the principal of
TTUC - in Germany confirmed: I would find good
working conditions in Voi
and new scientific
challenges.
By now, we already started
to develop a network with
German and African universities for the support of new
study courses in the field of mining and sustainable
management of resources.
I hold a doctorate from the Technical University/Mining
Academy of Freiberg, Saxony, in business management
dealing with decision making in the field of raw materials.
page 7
The second PhD I earned at the Technical University
Dresden in Philosophy connected with French alternative economic concepts. I have nearly 100 scientific
publications to my name.
In Germany I started my academic career at the
University of Applied Sciences Mittweida in business management, as assistant and then associate
professor. Later I joined the University of Technology
Karl-Marx-Stadt/Chemnitz and the University of
Applied Sciences Dresden (HTW). I served as a director of a research institute in Chemnitz, a pro-dean
and headmaster of the rector’s office. I am also experienced in academic and scientific project management
and I took part in practical development of new universities. These experiences I want to use at the TTUC in
Voi.
In Kenya, I want to develop courses in resource management as a new field of study and also as a component of the new discipline of mining in Voi. I always
wonder: Why not work more interdisciplinary with
other university colleagues? Therefore, I met colleagues in Freiberg, Dresden and Zittau/Görlitz who
are willing to collaborate with African university colleges, especially with TTUC. I started with development
of practice oriented projects of Master students in
tourism, SME's in agriculture and other branches.
Ethiopia: Pilot workshop to mentor outstanding female students
Only 10% of the DAAD scholarship applications in Ethiopia
are coming from women. One reason might be a low self esteem and perceived quality of their intended PhD proposal.
After last year’s pre-selection DAAD Regional Office Director
Christoph Hansert discussed this exceptional situation with
DAAD Alumni in Ethiopia. It was resolved that special mentoring workshop for women should be organised to tackle this.
Thus, on May 7th 2013 the new DAAD Information Centre
Ethiopa and top Ethiopian DAAD Alumni organised a one
day workshop for outstanding female students at Addis Ababa
University .
The workshop aimed at enabling young women to write a scientific research proposal and apply for a DAAD scholarship.
There is a need for encouraging young females and besides
About 30 women discussed the essential contents a good PhD proposal is
scientific issues also train them on how to be assertive in demade of
fending their intended proposal. Subsequent to the workshop
the Vice Director of DAAD Addis Ababa Dr Jana Zehle, Prof. Yalemtsehay Mekonnen (Addis Ababa University), Dr.
Guday Emirie (College of Social Sciences, Addis Ababa University) and Dr. Sewalem Tsega (OSSRES) have continued to mentor participants individually.
newsletter June 2013
page 8
Tanzania: International Conference on Constitutional Reforms
Presentations and contributions to the discussions were given by certain scientists and politicians who were or still are part of the recent constitutional development in
Eastern Africa - Foto: TGCL
On 24 May 2013, constitutional law experts from Tanzania and Kenya came together in Dar es Salaam for a knowledge
exchange on constitutional reform processes. The conference was hosted by the DAAD-funded Tanzanian-German
Centre for Eastern African Legal Studies (TGCL) in cooperation with Africa wide Rule of Law Programme the German
Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS). TGCL Project Leader
Professor Ulrike Wanitzek of University of Bayreuth and KAS
Programme Officer Richard Shaba opened the conference, both
highlighting that a successful constitution-making process requires the consideration of the people’s views. In his welcome
remarks, the German Ambassador to Tanzania, H. E. KlausPeter Brandes, underscored the importance of a constitution as
the bedrock of democracy.
The keynote speech on “The Independence of the National Electoral Commission of Tanzania (NEC) as an oversight Constitutional Organ” was delivered by Hon. Justice Damian Lubuva,
Chairperson of the Tanzanian NEC. He emphasised the deci- Over 150 local and German experts took part in the conference on constitutional progresses in Tanzania and Kenya - Foto: TGCL
sive role of structural and functional independence of the NEC for
the electoral process. Commenting on the keynote speech, Professor Gamaniel Mgongo Fimbo (University Dar es Salaam) criticised that NEC Commissioners are being appointed by the President who also acts as the chairman of a political party. Insights from the constitutional reform process in Kenya were presented by Catherine Mumma, Commissioner
of the Kenyan Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution.