New liaison office of the Ghana-NRW University Alliance
Boosting academic exchange
- von Jennifer Meina
- 05.08.2024
With the inauguration of the Ghana-NRW University Alliance’s liaison office in Accra, cooperation between North Rhine-Westphalia and Ghana reached new heights. The office now serves as a local point of contact. The objective of the alliance, which comprises eight other higher education institutions besides UDE, is to enhance academic and research networks across the two regions.
Lead by the University of Cologne, the Ghana-NRW University Alliance has established the office in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, as a central point of contact for academic exchange. It provides students and researchers from West Africa with helpful information about study programmes, grants and application procedures at German higher education institutions. At present, 23 students with Ghanaian citizenship are enrolled at UDE. Another purpose of the liaison office is to support students and researchers from the partner universities in NRW who wish to travel to Ghana. Summer and winter schools are being planned, for example.
‘The Accra office marks an important step in our mission to enhance educational and research cooperation between Ghana and Germany’, Prof. Karen Shire (Ph.D.), UDE’s Vice-Rector for University Culture, Diversity and International Affairs, explained on the occasion of the head of the new liaison office in Accra, Dr. Beatrice Asenso Barnieh’s visit. ‘We are convinced that the local liaison office will help support and recruit gifted students and, in particular, promote academic exchange, which will be beneficial to both countries’, Beatrice Asenso Barnieh added.
In addition to attracting new students and researchers, the office also plays a key part in initiating and realising academic projects and cooperations. Planned measures intended to boost bilateral interaction between institutions in the two countries include joint teaching and research initiatives, and exchange programmes. In addition, information and networking events are planned to enhance contact with Ghanaian universities and research institutions.
Ghana is a particularly attractive partner for long-term projects as it is considered one of the politically most stable and safest countries in the region and English is its official language. Furthermore, the Ghanaian education sector is growing massively at the moment. Several German organisations are already active in Ghana, which means that an infrastructure and expertise are also in place to effectively support cooperation. The alliance is hoping that the liaison office’s sphere of influence will not be limited to Ghana but also have a positive effect on neighbouring countries.
Pictured (from the left):
UDE Vice-Rector Karen Shire during the visit of the head of the new liaison office in Accra, Beatrice Asenso Barnieh
Further information:
Simone Müller, International Office (Non-European Programmes, except Latin and North America), ghana@uni-due.de