Invitation to exchange ideas and to network

While scientific exchange and networking between researchers from sub-Saharan Africa and Germany primarily took place in the past in the context of physical meetings at conferences and workshops, the DFG and its partner organisations in the region 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 bandwidth, events planned in presence could not simply be converted into virtual formats.

Joint deliberations on solutions that function as far as possible independently of technical requirements and travel restrictions are now culminating for the second time in the publication of a two-stage call for networking of researchers from sub-Saharan Africa and Germany. In a first step, the call invites researchers to submit posters and, at a later stage, to submit proposals for the establishment of international collaborations to the DFG. Researchers from sub-Saharan Africa and Germany will thus be given a platform to exchange ideas on (interdisciplinary) research questions related to sustainable intensification of agriculture and to find possible interfaces for bi- or multilateral research cooperation.

• Information for Researchers No. 54 | 5 July 2022
  African-German Scientific Exchange: “Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture”

Until 30 September 2022, agricultural researchers from all over sub-Saharan Africa and Germany can submit posters that present their expertise and outline starting points for cooperation 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 poster content, draft ideas for joint research projects and submit proposals for the establishment of international collaborations to the DFG by 28 February 2023. Networking on the poster platform is thus self-organised, asynchronous, mainly offline and leads directly to an established funding procedure of the DFG. This integrated roadmap will be enriched by a status workshop, which will take place in Bonn/Germany in April 2024 and will convene all funded research teams as well as the respective African partner organisations of the DFG for exchange.