UiB strengthens collaboration with the Global South
Tens of millions in funding from NORHED will give UiB the opportunity to be part of eleven joint projects with universities in low and middle income countries (LMIC).
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NORHED (Norwegian Programme for Capaticy Development in Higher Education and Research for Development) gives support to collaborative projects between universities in LMICs and Norwegian institutions of higher education.
More information about NORHED can be found here.
In March the programme received 173 applications, and on 1 July the results were in: 46 projects will receive funding, among them 11 involving UiB.
Click here for a complete list of the projects.
NORHED has the following goals:
- Increasing enrollment in higher education in LMICs;
- Ensure research which can contribute to development in the different countries.
– Heartfelt congratulations!
Ten institutions of higher education in Norway, among them UiB, will try to reach these goals together with 26 selected institutions in Africa, Asia, Latin-America and the Middle East.
“Through these joint projects we have the chance to make a difference in the research in the countries we collaborate with. I think it’s great that we have received funding for so many projects, even though we would have liked to see even more of them getting support. The competition was fierce, so my heartfelt congratulations to those who got funding!”, says Astri Andresen, Professor and Vice-Rector for International Relations at UiB.
Tens of millions awarded
Each project will receive between 7 and 19 million NOK over the next five years. NORHED’s total budget is 150 million.
UiB’s 11 projects are located in 13 different countries. Most of them are in Africa, but there are also partnerships with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Palestine.
The projects involve research on topics which are of particular importance to the LMICs which take part. However Andresen is of the opinion that the Norwegian institutions have as much to gain from the collaboration.
“Through this kind of collaboration on research and education, our knowledge base and our scientific understanding will be strengthened. The collaboration is a win-win situation”, says Andresen.
Norad’s aim is to finalise the contracts before 1 October, after which the projects will get started.
Translated from the Norwegian by Øyvind Gjerstad.
