The Guild

The inaugural Africa-Europe Clusters of Research Excellence (CoRE) conference, hosted by Stellenbosch University, took place from September 29 to October 2, 2024. Bringing together more than 250 academics from 49 institutions across 27 countries in Africa, Europe, and beyond, the conference served as a pivotal platform for fostering international collaboration and advancing cutting-edge research initiatives.

The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities (The Guild) have launched three new Africa-Europe Clusters of Research Excellence (CoRE).

At their recent summit in Brussels, the Vice-Chancellors and Presidents of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities (The Guild) have launched seventeen research clusters that aim to transform the nature of collaborative research, foregrounding equity as a precondition for excellent and impactful research to address our common societal challenges.

Since 2018, the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities have established a close partnership, at the heart of which has been a joint appreciation that we can – and must – address global challenges affecting the African and European continents much more effectively if we develop new, long-term partnerships based on equity.

The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities are intensifying their unique partnership, as Vice-Chancellors and Presidents of the two networks laid the foundations for new types of partnerships, grounded on equity and inclusion.

The Vice Chancellor of Stellenbosch University, Professor Wim de Villiers, has indicated that his University has had excellent bilateral relations for many years with several European universities, including those in the Guild of European Research-intensive Universities (The Guild).

Just ahead of the EU-AU summit, The Guild and African Research Universities Alliance’s (ARUA) panel discussion, organised on 14 February 2022, provided a timely outlook on what is needed to further strengthen African universities and African-European university collaborations in the long-term.

Through the proposed AU-EU Innovation Agenda, announced on 14 February ahead of the AU-EU summit, universities are assuming a central place in the development of AU-EU relations.

Africa has many development aspirations, at the top of which is structural and institutional transformation. This transformation is what will facilitate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other aspirations.