Network Meeting of the DAAD Centres of Excellence took place in Windhoek/Namibia

From 14 - 17 March 2012, Dr. Gabriele Bäcker and Britta Niklas took part in the network meeting of the DAAD Centres of Excellence (DAAD-magazine) at the Namibian-German Centre for Logistics. On 17th March 2012, the opening ceremony of the meeting took place in the Polytechnic Hotel School close to the campus of the Polytechnic of Namibia. During the Meeting the topic " Governance, Institutions and Legal Pluralism" was discussed in order to learn from each other´s experience in the management of the cetnres.

New scholarship holders at our Centre!

We want to welcome six new scholarship holders at the Development Research Section of our Centre at the University of the Western Cape. Whereas Coretta Jonah and Eria Serwajja are taking part in our phd programme, Grace Geletsu, Erik Mariga and Zororo Mavindidze are studying the MA in Development Studies and Kabaso Kabwe is studying the MA in Public Administration.

The DRD Offers DAAD Merit Scholarships for Excellent Students

The DRD offers DAAD merit scholarships for excellent students on the Master's (Master in Development Studies and Master in Public Administration) and PhD level. The next deadline for submission of applications is 31 July 2012. For more information see scholarship section and the information about study programmes at the DRD - here especially the "How to apply" part.

MA Students meet the South African President Jacob Zuma at the budget speech

Two of our Master students, Winnie Sambu and Seyfe Tadesse, were invited to participate at the South African budget speech, which was held at the South African Parliament in Cape Town on 22nd February 2012. This gave them the unique opportunity not only to gain first-hand experiences in development policy issues but, in addition to this, to meet the South African President, Jacob Zuma, face-to-face!

Read more: MA Students meet the South African President Jacob Zuma at the budget speech

Congratulations Dr. Tsodzo

The Centre congratulates Dr. Charlton Tsodzo, who successfully defended his PhD thesis on Tuesday, 20th December 2011. He is the first graduate of the International Development Studies Doctoral Programme of the Centre! He wrote his thesis on "The Role of Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Improving Health Outcomes in Developing Countries: The Case of the SimPill Technology & Tuberculosis Treatment in South Africa". The PhD thesis was supervised by Prof. Dr. Werner Voss. The second supervisor was Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein.

14 Master Students Graduated

On 9 December 2011, 14 new Masters graduated from the Bochum Programme of Development Management at the Development Research Division of the South African - German Centre for Development Research and Criminal Justice. Congratulations to all of you!

Academic Publication Workshop Set Up to Increase the Centre´s Research Output and Visibility

The DAAD Lecturer Iris Vernekohl from the Development Research Division of the Centre is offering an “Academic Writing and Publication Workshop”.

The publication workshop series is open to Master and PhD students from both division of the Centre, is limited to 20 participants, and takes place Tuesdays, 10.00-13.00, from 6 September to 25October.

Read more: Academic Publication Workshop Set Up to Increase the Centre´s Research Output and Visibility

Summer School Invitations for Kabaso Kabwe and Eria Serwajja

Kabaso Kabwe - one of our Master students - was awarded a DAAD scholarship to take part in the Summer School "Democratic Governance and Civic Engagement" at the University of Osnabrück/Germany, which takes place from July 4 - July 23 2011.

Eria Serwajja - one of our phd students - was invited to participate in the "Brown International Advanced Research Institutes 2011" at Brown University/US, which takes place from June 4 - June 18 2011.

Congratulations!

Welcome to the Development Research Division

The South African-German Centre for Development Research and Criminal Justice is the only centre in South Africa chosen for support by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as part of their current "African Excellence" initiative. In addition to the centre at the UWC, this initiative established four other African-German centres of excellence which are based in Ghana, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as in Tanzania and Namibia. The establishment of such centres of excellence is a cornerstone in the DAAD programme for Africa for which funding is being provided by the German Federal Foreign Office.

The goal of the African Excellence programme is to contribute significantly to the raising of the quality and relevance of education in selected fields at the chosen African universities, in particular by expanding the teaching and research capacity of such institutions and by promoting effective forms of networking between themselves, their German partners and other research institutions. The new centres will aim to provide postgraduate students with state-of-the-art education and training of the highest international standards, whilst at the same time promoting high quality, collaborative research and innovative forms of international cooperation.

In its postgraduate teaching and research activities, the DRD will build upon the long-established cooperation between the UWC and the Ruhr University of Bochum.

On this website you will find information about:

• the objectives of the DRD
• the cooperating institutions at the DRD
• the academic programmes offered at the DRD
• scholarship opportunites

We hope that you'll find all the information you're looking for. For further questions please don't hesitate to conctact us.

Academic Co-operation with the UNIMA in action!

As one of the first measures of the new Agreement on Academic Co-operation with the University of Malawi, Steven Dunga - a Phd student, and Davies Luhanga, Ekari Chauluka, Atamandike Chingwanda and Harry Kamdima - 4 Master students of the Economics Department of the Chancellor Colleague are taking part in the "Project Cycle Management Module" and two other Moudles, offered at the Development Research Division of the Centre at the University of the Western Cape. Whereas Steven Dunga is staying for a period of 6 weeks, the 4 Master students received scholarships for a period of 3 months.