Field study news - Ghana - Kumasi University (KNUST)

Who travelled?

Søren Jeppesen, Assoc. Prof at CBDS as part of the Danish Universities initiative ‘Building Stronger Universities’(BSU)  along with colleagues from University of Copenhagen and University of Aarhus, including two project coordinators (see picture below).

Why?

The BSU initiative seeks to capacitate a number of African Universities (and one Asian) regarding research and research education starting in 2011 and (intended to) continuing for a number of years (see http://dkuni.dk/Internationalt/Udviklingslande ). The initiative focuses on activities in four so-called platforms (Growth and Employment; Environment and Climate; Human Health, and Stability, Democracy and Human Rights). CBS is current active in the Growth and Employment Platform, where Søren Jeppesen and Michael W. Hansen, CBDS, are members of the Steering Committee. They are also each members of a so-called Working Group (Søren in the Working Group for Kwane Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana and Michael in the WG for University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania). Søren Jeppesen also represents CBS in the Danish Universities Working Group on Developing Countries.

The aim of this trip to Ghana and KNUST from 22nd to 26th January 2012 was to discuss the modes of collaboration on PhD courses, training of PhD supervisors, training in research applications and to select four PhD scholars at KNUST as well as to clarify administrative and practical issues.

Expected outcome?

The initiative will enable CBS staff to participate in conducting on PhD courses at KNUST (and potentially also the other African universities), training of PhD supervisors, training in research applications, supervision of PhD scholars and research collaboration based on small grants from BSU. All activities are launched through tenders from the BSU (here the Growth and Employment platform, with secretariat at KU-Life – see www.growthandemployment.dk ) and are envisaged to start over the next coming months.

The KNUST Engineering Guest House at the University Campus, where the Danish BSU involved will stay while in Kumasi – high standard, nice space with good internet facilities and own restaurant. Source: Private Photo by Susanne Amsinck, Project Coordinator of the BSU Environment and Climate Platform (see www.bsuec.org )

The Danish team at KNUST discussed the events to come (from right to left: Christian Pilegaard Hansen, Chairman of the BSU Growth and Employment Platform, Jørgen Olesen, Chairman of the BSU Environment and Climate Platform, Carl Erik Schou Larsen, Project Coordinator of the BSU Growth and Employment Platform and Søren Jeppesen, Member of the KNUST BSU-GE Working group (and CBS). Susanne Amsinck, Project Coordinator of the BSU Environment and Climate Platform, was the fifth member (kindly taking the photo).