A delegation from the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, Germany, today made a courtesy call to the Vice-Chancellor. The visitors were received by Prof. Paul Wambua the DVC Institutional Advancement and Enterprise on behalf of the VC. The team including Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Heisig, Prof. Constanze Langer, Prof. Dr. Veit Köppen and Prof. Dr. Julia M. Struß are in the University to explore areas of possible collaboration. Prof. Wambua welcomed the team, emphasising that the university is keen on developing mutually benefiting partnerships with other institutions.
“There is a lot to learn from you, equally, you will learn a lot from our researchers because you may encounter unique research problems that do not exist in Europe thus creating good research gaps,” said Prof. Wambua.
He also mentioned that the University has entered into partnerships with both industry players and academic institutions outside Kenya, stretching to Asia and Europe. He further highlighted key partnerships such as the Language Assistant Programme, a collaboration between the Kenya and French government that has seen 37 TU-K students travel to France to teach English.
Prof Peter Matu, the Executive Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology, noted that his faculty will accord them support.
Prof. Tom Kwanya, Director, School of Information and Social Studies mentioned a few possible areas of collaboration that both teams are exploring.
“We are looking to have joint academic collaborations. Our school has recently launched a Master of Science in Library Science and Master of Science in Records Management. These will be a good fit for collaboration,” said Prof. Kwanya.
“We are the cutting edge of knowledge and we want to exploit this to influence policy as well as research agenda,” stressed Prof Kwanya.
He also mentioned that the team is also keen on engaging in research projects such developing joint research proposals to secure funding.
Prof Kwanya also mentioned that in December, a team from TU-K, sponsored by DAAD will also visit the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, Germany for a similar exercise.
The delegation is keen on using the partnership to enhance cross border student learning mobility.
“At the end of the week, we will have an idea of the opportunities to explore towards reaching an MoU and how to reach out to relevant funding bodies,” said Prof Heisig.
He also added that if they reach a common ground, then TU-K will be first African university to secure partnership with them.
Other academic staff members at the meeting included Prof Naomi Mwai, Dr. Carolyne Musembe, and Dr. Lilian Oyieke.
