I have been involved in different projects aiming at building capacity for research and postgraduate training in several African countries and in South-East Asia.
Sida-funded collaboration
All the projects were funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). These were my current roles:
- Project leader for the collaboration between the Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Rwanda, Rwanda, and the Departments of Mathematics, Linköping University and Stockholm University, 2007–2019.
- Project leader for the collaboration between the Department of Mathematics, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and the Departments of Mathematics Linköping University, the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University, Uppsala University, the School of Education, Culture and Communication, Mälardalen University, 2015–.
- Project leader for the collaboration between the Department of Mathematics, Makerere University, Uganda, and the Departments of Mathematics, Linköping University, the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University, Uppsala University, the School of Education, Culture and Communication, Mälardalen University 2015–.
- Project leader for the collaboration between the Department of Mathematics, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique, and the Departments of Mathematics, Linköping University, Luleå University, Stockholm University, the School of Education, Culture and Communication, Mälardalen University, the Department of Statistics, Uppsala University, the School of Business, Örebro University, 2017–.
- Project leader for the collaboration between the Department of Mathematics, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and the Departments of Mathematics, Linköping University and Stockholm University, 2019.
In addition to this, I was the overall coordinator on the Swedish side for the Sida-funded bilateral research programme at University of Rwanda from 2011.
Africa coordinator
I have worked part-time as Africa coordinator for LiU. This assignment ultimately aimed at increasing cooperation between LiU and universities in Africa and is based on the LiU strategy for internationalization, which points out Africa as a prioritized region.
More specifically, this means that I follow and share news and decisions that are of relevance to persons at LiU with an interest in this kind of collaboration. This could for instance be news about conferences or calls that different funders make throughout the year. If there is a need, I can furthermore give support to applications for funding and to new projects.
I also try to get an overview over which projects in Africa that researchers and teachers at LiU are involved. Having this kind of an overview makes it easier for LiU to give visibility to on-going projects and to create networks. Other parts of the assignment involve participation in visits from African universities, agencies and authorities to LiU as well as traveling to partners in Africa.
EACMaR
In September 2019, I was appointed as a member of the regional steering committee for the East African Centre for Mathematical Research (EACMaR). EACMaR was initiated through support from the Swedish Government to build capacity in mathematical research and teaching in the East African region. The support has mainly been through the International Science Programme (ISP) and the Sida bilateral programmes in Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania. EACMaR was officially launched in June 2019. The mission of EACMaR is to promote and coordinate research and postgraduate training in Pure and Applied Mathematics in the East African region in order to meet the needs of the society.
Linnaeus–Palme programme
Previously, I have been involved in a couple of projects with funding from the Linnaeus–Palme programme:
- Project leader for a collaboration between the Department of Mathematics, University of Cape Coast, Ghana, and the Department of Mathematics, Linköping University, 2008-2013.
- Responsible for the mathematics part in a collaboration between University of Nairobi, Kenya, and Linköping University, 2014- 2015.
