What the call is about: The German Government via its Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) released a call to fund research partnerships between German Research institutions and partners in Subsaharan Africa. One of the main goals is to build African ICT study courses and to fund exploratory measures / pilot measures in “Applied information and communication technologies (ICT)” via German-African research partnerships.
The prospective study courses should take place predominantly in the partner country in Subsaharan Africa and primarily involve Master’s degree programmes. This part of the call will be managed by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
The three areas eligible for funding under this call for proposals are:
- Exploratory measures over a period of up to six months, including meetings of experts and thematic workshops
- Pilot measures over a period of up to 24 months, including measures to expand research capacity (participation by African scientists in qualification measures and/or continuing training of research managers, special equipment grants for African partners, etc.).
- ICT study courses: Initial and continuing training measures may receive funding of a maximum of €150,000 per course and year, including scholarships, over a period of up to 24 months within the framework of the development and implementation of German-African advanced post-graduate study courses in the field of applied information and communication technology.
A special aim is to encourage reliable networking between German and African scientists and researchers from other countries (e.g. through trilateral collaborations with other industrialized or emerging countries).
For more information (also in French and German), links and contact persons, see http:/
In the following, please find two personal recommendations for interested institutions:
As a German institution, how can I find educational partners in Africa for the call?
You might wish to check respective ICT-related capacity-building education networks in Africa. I would recommend check the network “ict@innovation – Creating Business and Learning Opportunities with Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in Africa”, a joint initiative by FOSSFA / GIZ with funding by the German Government. Through this African expert network, you will have access to over 500 ICT multiplier all over Africa, which work at universities, training institutions and other educational institutions as well as the business community. Many participants of the ict@innovation community are professors, trainers and lecturers and have a broad experience in building ICT courses These have been further strengthened through two ict@innovation training-of-trainer initiatives, which established local courses on “African Open Source Business Models” and “Linux System Administration” in over 13 African countries.
To access the ict@innovation community, check http:/
The website has a special expert and institution search by country, check the buttons “Find IT-Organizations” and “Find IT-Experts” on the left-hand navigation bar.
How can I participate as an African institution?
As the funding will be channeled through “German universities, non-university research institutions and companies cooperating with partner institutions in Africa” (see call), it seems advisable for African institutions to partner up with suitable German institutions and contact them to form partnerships and apply. For more information on this issue, please refer to the respective contact persons named in the call.
For the study course component:
Contact person at the DAAD for specialist questions is:
Mr. Cay Etzold
Head of Division Eastern and Southern Africa / 413
Phone: +49 228 – 882 686
Fax: +49 228 – 882 9686
E-Mail:
Contact person at the DAAD for administrative/financial information is:
Ms. Heide Albertin
Assistant Head of Division Eastern and Southern Africa / 413
Phone: +49 – 228 – 882 275
Fax: +49 – 228 – 882 9275
E-Mail:
For the Exploratory measures / Pilot measures
Internet: http:/
Ms. Petra Ruth Mann (Southern Africa)
E-mail:
Phone: +49-228-3821 -1461
Ms. Nina Helm (West Africa)
E-mail:
Phone: +49-228-3821 -1546
Mr. Stefan A. Haffner (Central and Eastern Africa)
E-mail:
Phone: +49-228-3821 -1899
For administrative/financial information, please contact:
Ms. Stephanie Neumann,
E-mail:
Phone: +49-228-3821 -1848
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Note: This text was first published on the blog of Balthas Seibold at the Alumniportal Germany (www.alumniportal-deutschland.org/en/). Check the blog ( register or login first). All blog entries represent the personal views and ideas of Balthas Seibold.