With Africa-UniNet an instrument has been created to enable and strengthen existing and new interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research cooperation between Austria and African countries.
Africa-UniNet was initiated by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) and launched by the Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in Education and Research (OeAD-GmbH) and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) in order to create a long-term, stable basis for cooperation between Austrian and African universities and research institutions. Africa-UniNet intends to promote new contacts and deepen existing scientific cooperation.
Africa-UniNet promotes excellent research based on mutual knowledge exchange. It creates a space for international cooperation between researchers and with other actors by financing cooperative research projects. While the thematic scope of the projects is not restricted, they set out to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the same time they enhance the scientific foundation of the involved institutions and reinforce the formation of the network itself by promoting new partnerships between Austrian and African universities and research institutions and by strengthening existing ties. Overall, they form the basis of a strong and profound Austrian-African Research Network – the Africa-UniNet.
Africa-UniNet endeavours to provide infrastructural and administrative structures that promote partnership-based cooperation between actors on a personal and institutional level. Projects can be submitted and coordinated by non-Austrian and Austrian partners alike. The General Assembly – in which all member institutions have equal voting rights – co-determined the orientation of the following financing measures within the Africa-UniNet statutes and in accordance with the special guideline of the Federal Ministry of Finance GZ 41.906/0003-V/7/2018 "Measures for Internationalisation".
Call open: 1. August 2020 - 30. September 2020