The Guild of European Research Intensive Universities (The Guild)
Since 2019, ARUA and The Guild have developed a close partnership founded on a shared recognition that African and European networks can—and must—respond more effectively to global challenges affecting both continents. Central to this partnership is a commitment to developing new, long-term collaborations grounded in equity.
Working together, ARUA and The Guild established the Clusters of Research Excellence (CoREs): bespoke, academically led partnerships involving institutions from Africa, Europe and beyond. Since 2023, the initiative has grown from 17 to 22 active Clusters across a diverse range of thematic areas of importance to both continents. The 22 Clusters bring together more than 250 researchers from over 60 universities and research institutes in 42 countries. Find out more about the partnership
ARUA and The Guild, in 2026 joined forces with Enabel to launch a new Africa-Europe Partnership to strengthen research on Mpox and Lassa fever. The pilot research initiative was under the AU-EU Health Partnership, which aims to build Africa’s capacity in translational research and vaccine development for these diseases. Under the mobility scheme consisting of multiple short research stays, the fellows spent time in leading African and European institutions, including the University of Ghana, the University of Ibadan, Makerere University, University of Bern, Radboud University Medical Centre, University of Glasgow, and Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Find out more about the experiences of the fellows.
