Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu presenting a gift to Dr. Michael Hanssler, Chief Executive Officer, Gerda Henkel Foundation
A team from the Gerda Henkel Foundation, Germany, has paid a courtesy call on the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu. The team made up of Dr. Michael Hanssler, Chief Executive Officer, Gerda Henkel Foundation; Mr. Jens Schneider, Project Manager, Gerda Henkel Foundation and Ms Julia Schulz-Dornburg, Chair of the Board of Trustees made the call to discuss opportunities for more doctoral training in West African regions and to build networks and collaboration among universities in West Africa.
In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu mentioned that the vision towards a research-intensive university status has propelled the University of Ghana to push for more partnerships and funding avenues to support graduate training and faculty development. He added that the University of Ghana through strategic partnership has managed to galvanize support from foundations such as the Carnegie Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support postgraduate training and research which have generated renewed interest and confidence among staff and postgraduate students in the humanities to undertake meaningful research and other academic endeavours.
The purpose of the funding, the Vice-Chancellor disclosed, was to support Master’s degree holders in the West Africa region to acquire PhDs, Increase the percentage of faculty with PhDs in the humanities in the West Africa region, to provide adequate financial support, including field costs to PhD students in the humanities to ensure timely completion of post-graduate research and to organise knowledge and skills enhancement training workshops to improve the research skills for doctoral students at the University of Ghana.
The Gerda Henkel Foundation basically supports young scholars in the humanities in both Africa and Southeast Asia. With its funding initiative, it promotes the preservation of cultural heritage especially in regions experiencing crisis. In addition to funding projects, the Foundation also provides assistance for social support.
Present at the meeting were Professor Kwame Offei, Former Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Academic and Student Affairs; Professor Samuel Agyei-Mensah, Provost, College of Humanities; Mr. Benedict Fosu Adjei, Senior Assistant Registrar, Office of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Mr. Joseph O. Nkansah, Deputy Registrar, Office of the Vice-Chancellor.
Photograph of Officials Present during the Courtesy Call
