For 25 years, Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha and the university have been cooperating successfully in research and teaching. This week, the partners are meeting on the campus of the South African university - and have signed a new cooperation agreement.
The Nelson Mandela University (NMU) in Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth, South Africa, is the only university in the world named after South Africa's most famous freedom fighter. For 25 years, the university on the Indian Ocean coast and the University of Oldenburg have been on friendly terms, cooperating in research and teaching in a wide range of disciplines - from teacher training to sustainability research and marine sciences. To mark the anniversary of the cooperation, an Oldenburg delegation is currently visiting NMU.
"In the spirit of their namesakes Nelson Mandela and Carl von Ossietzky, our universities conduct research and teaching in a socially responsible manner, value diversity and strive to educate students to become responsible members of the global community," said University President Prof. Dr. Ralph Bruder in his welcoming speech. The close cooperation between the two universities is something special, he said. „It strengthens all involved in research and teaching by focusing on values such as diversity and sustainable development.”
NMU is - along with the University of Groningen - a strategic partner university of the University of Oldenburg. Originally named Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, it was founded in 2005 and grew out of three predecessor institutions. Since the beginning of the cooperation with the University of Port Elizabeth in 1998, an important focus of the collaboration has been on educational sciences.
From teacher training to marine science
The partners currently continue this work, among other things, within the framework of the project "Dimensions of Diversity in Teacher Education" funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) - together with the University of Groningen. In addition to the internationalization of teacher training, the project aims to sensitize students to diversity in everyday school life and to impart intercultural skills. During a winter school in the second week of November, student of teacher education and lecturers from the NMU were guests in Oldenburg.
In addition, the universities cooperate with other African partners in the "East and South African-German Centre for Educational Research Methodologies and Management - CERM-ESA", which is dedicated to questions of educational research and promotes the training and continuing education of university teachers.
Other important areas of cooperation include marine sciences, higher education research, digitization, sustainability research, the use of information and communication technologies, and research on the sustainable management of coasts and oceans. In the future, the aim will be to further deepen the collaboration in research, teaching and student exchange as well as to cooperate in additional disciplines. The partners are going to set out their joint cooperation projects in a roadmap.