University of Glasgow and the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) have held a one-day virtual event on the theme, “Enhancing Knowledge Transfer and Exchange in African Higher Education and Research”.
SOAS University of London in partnership with the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) is hosting leading figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) for a discussion on vaccination inequality in an interconnected world. Contributing to the conversation will be the Chief Economics Commenator of the Financial Times.
The year began with a lot of promise for ARUA. There was rapidly growing interest around the world in what ARUA was doing to enhance the performance of African research universities, both in the region and globally. The network was set to build on various initiatives from the previous year, which had led to significant agreements and collaborations with leading global research and funding organisations. It was this growing worldwide interest in ARUA that led us to begin working closely with the Guild of European Research Universities, and to collaborate in the mobilisation of resources to support research and innovation in partnership with the European Union and the African Union.
Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Makerere University in September 2017. Prof. Nawangwe is a Registered Professional Architect with research interests in Vernacular Architecture and Informal Settlements.
He has chaired boards of several national, regional and international boards of professional organisations including the Board of the Centre for Tobacco Control in Africa (CTCA) and the Resilient Africa Network (RAN).
He becomes the third Board Chairman of ARUA.
The ARUA Board at its virtual meeting held on January 12, 2021, elected Professor Barnabas Nawangwe, Vice Chancellor of Makerere University as its Chair. It also elected as Co-Chair Professor Sizwe Mabizela, Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University.
The news that an effective vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 will be introduced imminently was welcomed with great enthusiasm worldwide. The consensus is that access to vaccines for low-income countries is a global responsibility.
The ARUA 2021 Biennial Conference will bring together experts from universities, research institutions, government, industry, civil society, international organizations, etc., to discuss the different steps that African economies need to take in order to face global public health challenges squarely. In reflecting on the prominent lessons from the handling of previous and current pandemics, the medium to long term implications of measures and steps taken to contain the spread of the virus in Africa will be the focus of the conference. This will be done in recognition of the interconnectedness of the various issues involved in dealing with a pandemic.
The consultancy is being commissioned by the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, to engage two consultants to review and advise on how best to achieve ARUA goals and objectives with globally competitive collaborative PhD programs. One consultant will be engaged for the (1) Natural Sciences, and the other for the (2) Humanities and Social Science disciplines.
Ernest Aryeetey, Eivind Engebretsen, Åse Gornitzka, Peter Maassen and Svein Stølen
The gigantic global scientific efforts to develop a vaccine to mitigate the devastating impact of COVID-19 on societies have reached a point where the mass production and use of effective vaccines are a reality.
ARUA’s African Centre of Excellence for Inequality Research (ACEIR) (hosted by University of Cape Town) has launched an Inequalities Diagnostics Report for Ghana. The launch event took place on 27th November 2020. The report, which is the second to be published on inequality trends by AECEIR, was the result of a partnership between the ACEIR Ghana node, (based at ISSER, University of Ghana) and Agence Francaise de Développement (AFD).