By Mazvita Thondhlana
In September 2023, Rhodes University joined partner universities from Kenya and the Netherlands for a Summer School hosted by Maseno University as part of the ongoing EU funded Creating Postgraduate Collaborations project [https://postgradcollaborations.com]. The Summer School focused on developing skills in grant development and management. The Summer School was in line with the goals of supporting international cooperation projects based on multilateral partnerships between organisations.
The Summer School comprised three teams. Team A and Team B spent the week developing collaborative funding proposals, using existing European Union funding calls to ensure authentic learning. Team A used the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions to develop a proposal on food systems. Team B looked at the Capacity Building in Higher Education Strand III funding call to develop a proposal on doctoral education in East and Southern Africa. Team C focused on the grant management cycle.
Seven colleagues from Rhodes University attended the Summer School, Prof Sioux McKenna, Prof Chrissie Boughey, Dr Kirstin Wilmot, Dr Gamu Chakona, Dr Mazvita Thondhlana, Ms Siphokazi Mankayi and Mr Siya Mtembu. Team A, with its focus on food systems, included Dr Chakona from the Environmental Learning Research Centre and Team B, with its focus on doctoral education, included Professors McKenna and Boughey from the Centre for Postgraduate Studies (CPGS), Dr Wilmot from CHERTL, and Dr Thondhlana, who is a Rhodes University postdoctoral fellow. Ms Mankayi from CPGS and Mr Mtembu from the Research Finance Office participated in Team C with training on support for institutional research grants.
Team A developed a proposal that looks at indigenous food systems and integrated approaches to their study, including a focus on climate change, gender, and the use of co-creation of food system knowledge from farm to fork. Team B’s focus on doctoral education was adopted as this level of higher education has been identified in both Kenyan and South African policy as a key lever towards building the knowledge economy and contributing to human development. If successful, the grant that was used as the basis for Team B’s activities in the Summer School on grant development will enable a systems-level partnership between Kenya, South Africa, and Europe. The proposal calls for transformation in doctoral education in Southern and Eastern Africa, including policy development around curriculated doctoral programmes, recruitment and funding, governance and quality, and internationalisation.