Two-step call of proposals invites researchers from sub-Saharan Africa and Germany in public health sciences to an exchange of ideas and the establishment of networks

(06.07.21) While scientific exchange and networking between researchers from sub-Saharan Africa and Germany have in the past primarily taken place in the context of physical meetings at conferences and workshops, the DFG and its partner organisations in the region have had to find ways to adapt joint networking activities to the new realities of international cooperation since the beginning of the pandemic. However, due to unstable internet connections and insufficient bandwidths, events planned in presence could not simply be transferred to virtual formats. This challenge also affected a public health initiative of the DFG and its partner organisations in Zambia and Mozambique, with the original goal to bring public health researchers together at a symposium in Maputo/Mozambique.

Joint considerations on solutions that are largely independent from technical requirements and travel restrictions led to the publication of a two-step call for proposals for the networking of researchers from sub-Saharan Africa and Germany in public health sciences. In a first step, the call invites researchers to submit posters and, at a later stage, to submit proposals for the initiation of international collaboration to the DFG. Researchers from sub-Saharan Africa and Germany will thus be given a platform to discuss communicable and non-communicable diseases and health systems research and to find possible interfaces for bi- or multilateral research collaborations.

• Two-step call for proposals for the networking of researchers from sub-Saharan Africa and Germany in public health sciences

Until 30 September 2021, public health researchers from all over sub-Saharan Africa and Germany can now submit posters that present their expertise and outline potential interfaces for collaborative projects. The posters will then be made available on a platform and participants will be given the opportunity to network on the basis of the posters, to draft ideas for joint research projects and to submit proposals for the initiation of international collaboration to the DFG by 28 February 2022. The networking on the poster platform can thus take place in a self-organised, asynchronous and, if necessary, even offline way and furthermore leads directly into an established funding programme of the DFG. This integrated roadmap will be enriched by a status workshop, which will take place in Bonn/Germany in March 2023 and will convene all funded research teams as well as the respective African partner organisations of the DFG.