Stellenbosch and Groningen take next steps towards comprehensive partnership

The University of Groningen (UG) and Stellenbosch University (SU) have engaged in a strategic / comprehensive partnership. Over the last two years, the two universities have been working together to intentionally expand their strategic partnership.

Stellenbosch University is one of 9 universities that are part of the University of Groningen's Strategic Partnership Framework (SPF), in which closer cooperation with well-established partner universities outside Europe is pursued in as diverse a range of disciplines as possible. The SPF aims to increase the impact of international collaboration on the quality of research and education.

Delegation visit

On 1 and 2 December a delegation from the University of Groningen visited Stellenbosch University. The delegation was led by Prof. Jouke de Vries, President of the University of Groningen. It consisted of UG colleagues representing the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, the Faculty of Economics and Business, University College Groningen, The Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Science and Engineering and the Department of International Strategy and Relations (ISR).

Areas of collaboration

During the two days, counterparts from UG and SU had the opportunity to engage with one another and to discuss areas of collaboration to further strengthen the partnership between the two universities. The programme was broken up into various sessions: Strategic overview sessions, general information sessions and meetings between the respective academic thematic groups. The topics that were discussed included:

• The nature of a strategic partnership from the perspective of the respective universities
• Interdisciplinarity at the respective universities focusing on trans-disciplinary schools
• Learning and research
• Postdoctoral programmes
• Joint collaborative academic programmes
• Funding strategies

Objectives

One of the goals of the visit was to evaluate the outcomes achieved of the partnership up until now. At the end of the two days various action points were identified which will guide the next steps in terms of the key objectives and the partnership. The partnership has seven key objectives:

• Joint PhD programmes
• Joint postdoctoral fellows
• Non-degree student mobility
• Applying for external funding
• Academic matchmaking
• Sharing best practices in terms of educational innovation and partnership visibility

Book Launch

On the evening of 1 December, the book, Advanced Introduction to Financial Inclusion, was launched at the Stellenbosch Business School. The book is co-authored by Prof Charles Adjasi, Prof Robert Lensink (ambassador for the SU-UG partnership) and Calumn Hamilton, MSc. The book launch was an opportunity to feature the collaborative research done by UG and SU academic staff members and give further visibility to the partnership.

Agreements signed

To formally reconfirm the commitment between the two universities, a new comprehensive student exchange agreement was signed on the first day of the delegation visit, as well as a renewed framework for the joint supervision and awarding of a joint doctoral degrees (PhD).