The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, has received a visiting delegation from the University of Freiburg, Germany. In officially welcoming the delegation, she stressed the value UG places on international partnerships and the need for universities to collaborate, to make stronger impact in solving global issues.
Prof. Amfo also disclosed that the recently approved UG Research Policy, indicates that the University is open to partnerships in the various research areas of interest.
Professor Kerstin Krieglstein, Rector, University of Freiburg revealed that the visit was to further develop relationships between both universities. She added that over the three and half years she has been in the office, she has learnt about the positive developments taking place in UG. She was therefore pleased that she and her team were able to visit the university to explore possible areas of mutual interest for collaboration.
Professor Daniel Kleinschmit from the University of Freiburg, who was present at the meeting, outlined some of the already existing collaborations with some UG academic units, including the School of Law, Department of Economics and the Medical School.
Professor Eric Osei-Assibey, Dean, International Programmes Office, UG, expressed his deepest gratitude to University of Freiburg for their impactful support to the Maria Sibylla Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), which has cemented the ties between the two universities. He shared mutual areas of interest including cross mobility i.e student exchanges, online international learning programmes, sustainability among others.
Professor Julius Fobil, Provost of the College of Health Sciences urged the team from University of Freiburg to conceive the next level of partnership to involve the medical sciences. He added that his College is poised to leverage funding from DAAD scholarships to foster joint training in medicine which requires medical rotation for some Ghanaian students to work in the health sector in Germany.
He further requested for medical specialisation collaboration. There were deliberations on ways to remove the language barriers to ensure this collaboration is effective
Adding his voice to the Provost’s call, Dean of the University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS), Professor Edwin Alfred Yawson in his remarks called on the delegation to extend the partnership to the Health Sciences. He assured the delegation of the Medical School’s readiness to champion such a collaboration.
On her part, Dr. Grace Diabah, Ghana Director of MIASA, expressed her deepest appreciation to the University of Freiburg for being a major partner of MIASA.
There were discussions between both universities on strategies for sustaining the MIASA project beyond its conclusion in 2026, after which there was an exchange of gifts.
