KNUST-TUM Partnership for Innovation and Sustainable Development

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana is one of the leading universities of the African continent. After a long-time cooperation in the future-oriented areas of water and energy research, environment, mobility and global health, KNUST and Technical University of Munich (TUM) entered a sustainable and strategic partnership at the end of 2018.

TUM.Africa Talent Program 2024

New call for nominations for the TUM.Africa Talent program 2024. You will find more information and all important documents in the TUM Wiki, where nominations by TUM professors and Junior Fellows can be uploaded.

Partnership highlights

TUM.Africa Talent is a research exchange program that brings together talented and highly motivated doctoral candidates from the sub-Saharan Africa region with professors and doctoral candidates at TUM. With this program, first launched in 2022, TUM aims to strengthen its long-term institutional relationships in the region and support a strong, growing TUM.Africa Talent network. Calls for Nominations for TUM.Africa Talent are published annually by the TUM Graduate School.

Student and staff mobilities between KNUST and TUM have been funded every year since 2016 thanks to the “international dimension” of Erasmus+. Further information on the mobility calls at TUM are available on the TUM IC website for teaching opportunities outside of Europe and continued education and training worldwide with Erasmus+.

In October 2018, a delegation led by Prof. Juliane Winkelmann, TUM Vice President for International Alliances and Alumni, launched the strategic partnership for innovation sustainable development in Kumasi. The letter of intent institutionalizes and expands the previous collaboration between the two universities.

As a next step for further development and strengthening of departmental collaborations, proposals for joint projects have been accepted for the TUM Global Incentive Fund call since the beginning of 2019.

KNUST and TUM support existing and new project ideas within a common action framework comprising the key areas of teaching, research, and entrepreneurship.These existing collaborations as well as future projects will advance this partnership. In the long term, this partnership will contribute to a deeper understanding of global challenges and to developing technical and scientific solutions using entrepreneurial approaches.

Selection of joint projects of TUM and KNUST

aCar Mobility

The concept of the electric utility vehicle aCar sustainably addresses the needs of the Sub-Saharan African population by bringing mobility to people in isolated rural regions, and improving their access to health care, information and education facilities. The project is funded by the Bavarian Research Foundation (BFS).

Clinic partnerships

The university hospital rechts der Isar in Munich and the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital have been in a partnership with funding provided by BMZ and Else-Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung since 2017. Both university hospitals cooperate on a broad spectrum to ensure sustainable innovation in both research and patient care.

ADLAND

In the ADLAND consortium, scientists are working on the conceptualization and practical implementation of responsible and intelligent land management in Africa. This scientific initiative by the Chair of Land Management and Land Tenure was implemented with funding from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

TUM Seed Center

The TUM SEED Center aims to contribute to sustainable development by offering higher education and conducting research at the intersection of sustainable energies and entrepreneurship in the Global South. The TUM SEED Center collaborates closely with leading technical universities in Africa, India, Indonesia, and South America.