Strategic Internationalisation Projects currently being supported by the Office for International Affairs

iKudu Project

An EU-funded Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) project, which will be implemented over a three-year period from 15 November 2019 to 14 November 2022. It is coordinated by the University of the Free State and has the University of Antwerp (Belgium) as co-coordinator. The consortium has been awarded EUR999 881 (approximately R16 million) in funding from the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme. The iKudu project has been conceptualised to develop a contextualised South African concept of Internationalisation of the Curriculum (IoC), which integrates Cooperative Online International Learning (COIL) virtual exchanges. The concept will allow South African partner universities to become the country's leading HEIs in IoC, curriculum transformation, and COIL virtual exchanges. Curriculum decolonisation is understood as a central aspect of curriculum transformation. COIL virtual exchanges will provide an alternative to physical mobility, which cannot be implemented on a broad basis in SA, due to the country’s socioeconomic realities. At the heart of the project is staff capacity development, as it will produce a group of trained teaching staff who will have access to an international and local pool of knowledge, skills, and expertise in the relevant areas.

For more details on the iKudu Project, please consult the project website on the following link: iKudu UFS

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South Africa-Swedish University Forum (SASUF)

On 14 and 15 May 2018, the University of the Free State (UFS) and the Central University of Technology (CUT) joined hands with the South Africa-Swedish University Forum (SASUF). The universities jointly presented at a research seminar with the theme: ‘Urban Rural Dynamic’. The seminar was a side event to the stream ‘Urbanisation in the 21st Century’ of the SASUF Research Week that took place in the same week. Wanda Verster from the UFS Department of Architecture academically chaired this stream of the research week.

SASUF is a collaboration of 30 universities in Sweden and South Africa, together with embassies, civil-society organisations, funding agencies, and ministries in both countries, of which CUT and the UFS are partners. Other themes during the research week included ‘Climate Change, Natural Resources and Sustainability’; ‘Transforming Higher Education Curricula’; ‘Social Transformation Through Change’; ‘Understanding the Burden of Disease’; and ‘Digital Technologies, Big Data and Cybersecurity’. One of SASUF’s main goals is to connect researchers with funding agencies, industry, ministries, and society in working towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

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From the left are: Prof Nils Ekelund from Malmö University in Sweden; Buhleng Masake, Honours student in Spatial Planning in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the UFS; Per Schubert from Malmö University in Sweden; and Wanda Verster, UFS Department of Architecture

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Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET)-US-SA Higher Education Network-University Capacity Development Programme


The University of the Free state is part of two DHET USDP projects. The first focuses on Afro-Montane Research and is coordinated on the Qwaqwa Campus.

The second USDP project focuses on Global health and is co-ordinated on the Bloemfontein campus. The University Staff Doctoral Programme (USDP) which falls under the University Capacity Development Programme (UCDP), is a doctoral training programme which aims to develop a cohort of ten academically excellent competent doctoral staff members (five University of the Free State and five University of Venda) in the field of Global Health, who are in addition highly interculturally competent and capacitated to advance academic collaboration between South Africa and US higher education institutions. The project provides funding for clinicians in the field of Global Health to obtain their PhD qualification.

The issues addressed by the project

Global Health is one of the critical issues for the future of the human species especially in Africa where diseases both infectious and non-communicable, threaten development. The University of Virginia (UVa) and the University of Venda (Univen) have a track record of developing academics who are competent to address global health challenges. In more than a decade of collaboration, the universities have successfully developed global health researchers, some of whom are today internationally renowned scientists. The capacity development initiatives, which included a doctoral split-site programme and postdoctoral fellowship programmes, are ongoing and have made a significant contribution towards transformation. The University of the Free State (UFS) as a research-led university has relevant experiences in master's and doctoral training.

The main objectives of the project are as follows:
  • To increase the number of PhD holders in Global Health at UFS and Univen (five per institution)
  • To strengthen cross-border collaboration between the three partner universities thereby diversifying knowledge paradigms
  • To ensure sustainability of the programme through the conceptualisation of spin-off ventures in research collaborations with colleagues in the various institutions

    The first USDP project is between the UFS / University of Venda (Univen) / University of Virginia (UVa) with a focus on global health. This project is funded by the DHET with R4 610 000. This doctoral training programme aims to develop a cohort of 10 (five UFS and five Univen) academically excellent and competent doctoral staff members in the field of global health, who are in addition interculturally highly competent and capacitated to advance academic collaboration between South African and US higher-education institutions. Co-supervision and academic mobility of PhD candidates and supervisors are core elements of the programme. The UVa will contribute in kind to the project though co-supervision. A successful kick-off meeting was held at UVa in the second week of August 2018. The UFS participants have already been selected. The process of finalising Univen participants is underway. The OIA, through the special-projects portfolio, is rendering specialised project management support for this project.

    The second USDP project is between the UFS (Qwaqwa Campus) / University of Venda / Appalachian State University / Colorado State University / University of Montana, with a focus on mountain research. This project is funded by the DHET with R4 477 000. It focuses on training 10 selected PhD candidates who are staff members at the two partner universities, predominantly from designated groups. They will be co-supervised by experts at three (3) United States (US) universities, namely the University of Colorado, Montana State University, and Appalachian State University. All of these US partner universities, which are also located in mountainous areas, are largely providing their services in kind. Currently, participants who will be benefiting from this project have already been successfully selected, interviewed, and notified of their success.

    Click here for USDP FAQ guiding document

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Links to developments and articles from the project:


           PhD_web-read-more

The USDP programme, a doctoral training programme aimed at read more ...

                                                           Mpho-Magwalivha- (2)

Mpho Magwalivha believes a PhD degree read more...

                                                        Riaz-Seedat-copy

Prof Riaz Seedat, who enrolled for a PhD through read more...

                                                           USDP_web-read-more (2)

Azette Swanepoel, one of the ten USDP candidates, read more...

                                                        Julia-copy (2)

Dr Julia Mafumo believes the relationship between read more...

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