Online co-operation
Online co-operation
An important instrument of our co-operation, which goes far beyond educational research and educational science, is the online platform DIGI-FACE - Digital Initiative of the DAAD funded Centres of Excellence in Africa (www.digiface.org), which has been developed and operated jointly with Nelson Mandela University and Kehl University of Applied Sciences since 2019. We have developed approx. 20 digital interdisciplinary competence development courses for the network of 15 DAAD-funded centres of excellence, which are anchored in various academic disciplines, and their more than 30 participating institutions in sub-Saharan Africa. They are aimed at
Master's students and doctoral candidates
e.g. Quantitative Research Methodologies I & II, Achieving Research Coherence, Academic Written and Graphic Presentation
In addition to these Creative Commons-licensed training modules, the DIGI-FACE team supports the Centres of Excellence in creating their own online teaching/learning formats(https://www.digiface.org/about-african-excellence/ ). Online university programmes are often an essential component of the partner institutions, especially if they work in socially and politically unstable contexts.
Other tools on the DIGI-FACE platform are used for networking (blog, members, alumni), publishing (publications) and project management (project management & event tool).
Other DAAD-funded programmes related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals have joined DIGI-FACE and use the platform for their own courses and events. With more than 3,000 registered users in 70 institutions and 131 countries, most of which are in sub-Saharan Africa, DIGI-FACE now has a broad network representing a wide range of academic disciplines.
In 2024, we were commissioned by the DAAD In-Country / In-Region Scholarship Programme to develop and offer courses for the interdisciplinary competence development of all DAAD scholarship holders in sub-Saharan Africa. Every year, 200-300 master's and doctoral students from a wide range of disciplines and institutions from Senegal to Tanzania, Mali to South Africa, will have the opportunity to complete the six-week interactive modules developed for them:
These modules were developed together with the DIGI-FACE team, in particular with the partners from South Africa. The first 12 cohorts successfully completed the modules in November 2024. Both the synchronous and asynchronous teaching are conducted transnationally by a South and East African-German team.
