Uppsala University participates in four new research clusters between universities in Africa and the EU

Uppsala University participates in four new research clusters between universities in Africa and the EU. The research clusters aim to build fair, interdisciplinary research collaborations that tackle urgent global societal challenges.

The two university networks The Guild of Research Intensive Universities (The Guild) and the African Research Universities Alliance (Arua) have designated 17 Clusters of Research Excellence.

Three research clusters are coordinated by researchers at Uppsala University together with researchers at universities in Africa. In addition, researchers from Uppsala University are part of an additional cluster coordinated by other universities.

– This is an exciting initiative, there are very good conditions for doing something really good. The collaborations we are involved in from Uppsala are based on already established contacts, but at the same time mean something completely new. There is also a dynamic in this with great opportunities for more new clusters in the future, says rector Anders Hagfeldt.

The four clusters connected to Uppsala University focus on societal challenges within:

Food environment and health .
Migration and health.
Artificial intelligence and computational science.
Health, gender and sexuality.
Shared responsibility for coordination
The purpose of the research clusters is to develop scientific collaboration in an equal and sustainable way in areas with global societal challenges. An important part of the new forms of cooperation is that the responsibility for coordinating the clusters is shared equally between universities in Africa and the EU respectively.

– Political leaders from Africa and the EU have identified science as an important area of ​​cooperation between the continents. The Africa/Europe Clusters of Excellence will contribute significantly to making that vision a reality. We hope they will inspire more researchers and institutions to address our societal challenges jointly and equally in our deeply unequal world, says Jan Palmowski, general secretary of the university network The Guild.

The research clusters are supposed to be part of the EU’s Global Gateway. Through the Global Gateway, the EU invests in infrastructure around the world in order to meet its goals for sustainable development, combat climate change, develop a better healthcare system and strengthen the global economy.

Research cluster with connection to Uppsala University
Each research cluster is based on a societal challenge within the framework of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda. The clusters have been developed by the researchers themselves where they identified and formulated interdisciplinary visions in response to urgent societal issues.

1. Food environment measures to promote health

The cluster focuses on research, education and policy work on food environments to promote health. The triple burden of undernutrition, overnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies is a critical global health challenge. This is driven by interconnected processes, including urbanisation, food system transformation and socio-economic inequalities.

The coordinator at Uppsala University is Meena Daivadanam, senior lecturer at the department of women’s and children’s health.

2. Migration and Health

The cluster will focus on the important scientific challenge of MH migration and health in the migration corridor between Africa and the EU. This corridor is associated with multiple health problems determined by a range of structural and social factors experienced differently by different migrant groups and the communities through which they move, live and work.

The coordinator at Uppsala University is Soorej Jose Puthoopparambil, assistant professor at the department of women’s and children’s health.

3. Addressing Global and African Challenges Through Methods From Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, and Theoretical and Computational Thinking ( Addressing Global and African Challenges Through Methods From Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, and Theoretical and Computational Thinking)

Applications of AI will play an important role in achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals by solving problems in a variety of fields. The goals of sustainable development and many related societal challenges are global, the goal of the cluster is to strengthen the capacity to use AI methods and research in AI and data science in Africa.

Coordinator at Uppsala University is Thomas Schön, professor of artificial intelligence at the department of information technology.

4. Health, Gender and Sexualities (Health, Gender and Sexualities)

The cluster aims at interdisciplinary research on health among gender and sexual minorities. The research must integrate public health and care science to understand the interplay between social, cultural and care-related factors that affect health and access to care.

Participating from Uppsala University is Mats Målqvist, professor at the department of women’s and children’s health.