Left-right: Director of the Office of External Relations, Partnerships and Communications Dr Demeke Achiso, Academic Vice President Dr Jeilu Oumer, Dr David Mickler, and Ambassador Mark Sawers

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On Friday 17 November 2017, Dr David Mickler (The University of Western Australia) and Australian Ambassador to Ethiopia H.E. Mark Sawers met with the senior leadership of Addis Ababa University (AAU) at their main campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to discuss AAU’s incoming membership of the Australia Africa Universities Network (AAUN).

Dr Mickler welcomed Addis Ababa University to the Network, pointing out that membership of AAUN brings a wide range of research collaboration opportunities as well as other benefits such as enhanced opportunities for bilateral exchanges and mobility between member universities, for example through the Australia Awards Post-Doctoral Fellowship opportunities for AAUN  members.

Ambassador Sawers expressed the strong support of the Australian Government for the Network and emphasised the opportunities that arise by enhanced collaboration with the Australian education sector. AAUN works to facilitate and support these partnerships through activities such as the annual AAUN Australia Forum.

Ambassador Sawers invited AAU to attend Australia’s annual “Africa Week” in Perth, 27-31 August 2018, where AAUN traditionally will hold its annual Australia Forum and AGM on the Monday.

Dr Jeilu stressed his appreciation for the visit and enthusiasm about joining AAUN and mentioned that AAU’s research strengths and areas of interests for collaboration through international partnerships include education capacity building, agriculture and food security, environmental change, public health, natural resources, and the social sciences.

Dr Jeilu further said that AAU is keen to take advantage of potential opportunities for reciprocal exchanges of staff and students among members of the network, including for professional development and research training.

Dr Mickler indicated a number of specific upcoming opportunities for engagement, including the AAUN Africa Forum in Cape Town on 3 Dec 2017, the joint AAUN-ACIAR-DFAT Food Security Forum in Nairobi on 20-22 March 2018, and the AAUN Australia Forum in Perth on 27-28 August 2018, as well as the opening of the next PRDF seed funding round that will open in January 2018.

 

Read the original article on AAU’s website.