​In November, Stellenbosch University (SU) hosted the The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities on the Stellenbosch campus for knowledge exchange and to discuss further collaboration.

Representatives from the Universities of Bern, Oslo, Warwick, Groningen, King’s College London, Université Paris Cité, Uppsala University and Babeș-Bolyai University were present. During this time, SU also signed official agreements with the Universities of Warwick and Oslo that cemented our institution’s commitment to explore new ways to engage and create bilateral opportunities for staff and students.

The partnership with the University of Warwick will include student exchange, joint supervision, research activities, conferences and other academic meetings on subjects of mutual interest. Although SU and Warwick have collaborated in the past, no formal agreement existed before this year. SU and the University of Oslo has a long-standing partnership, and the new agreement will form a cluster of excellence in energy.

The programme during The Guild’s visit included engagements on research strategies and the funding environment in higher education in South Africa.

Prof Wim de Villiers, SU Rector and Vice-Chancellor, gave an overview of SU and provided local and global context for SU’s positioning in the higher education landscape. Prof Hester Klopper, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Strategy, Global and Corporate Affairs, highlighted SU’s internationalisation strategies and collaboration with our European partners.

Furthermore, the directors of our two transdisciplinary schools, Prof Guy Midgley, director of the School for Climate Studies, and Prof Kanshu Rajaratnam, director of the School for Data Science and Computational Thinking, gave overviews on their various environments and engaged with Guild members on possible partnerships in the future.

Other speakers included Prof Jackie du Toit from the Future Professors Programme, and Prof Edward Kirumira, director of the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), who highlighted the ISO LOMSO Fellowship at STIAS.

Founded in 2016, The Guild comprises 21 of Europe’s most distinguished research-intensive universities in 16 countries and is dedicated to enhancing the voice of academic institutions, their researchers and their students.

According to an official statement, “The Guild is committed to the pursuit of excellence, the importance of truth-seeking and trust-building as the foundation of public life, and the creation of new knowledge for the benefit of society, culture and economic growth”.

The visit on the SU campus took place in the lead-up to vice-chancellors and university presidents from more than 30 universities across Africa and Europe who met for the first summit between the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), and The Guild in Cape Town.