Welcome to the new partners in the DAAD In-Country/In-Region Programme: Networking Meeting for new Partner Institutions in Nairobi, Kenya on October 28, 2022

Group photo of the partner institutions representatives along the DAAD Regional Office Director and the DAAD Nairobi ICIR team © DAAD Kenya

The DAAD Regional Office Nairobi brought together the 10 new East African In-Country/In-Region (ICIR) scholarship programme partner institutions for a networking meeting held at the Sarova Panafric Hotel on October 28, 2022. The meeting sought to introduce the new partner institutions to one another, meet the DAAD team and build on their understanding of the ICIR programme, particularly the administrative responsibilities and expectations on the programme.

Following the Call for Institutions in 2021, the DAAD underwent a rigorous process of selecting Eastern Africa host institutions to deliver graduate and postgraduate programmes within the region as part of the In-Country/In-Region scholarship programme. The new institutions would offer select programmes for the next three intakes. At the end of the process, 10 partner institutions from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania were chosen.

The partner institutions were represented by their programme coordinators, who besides putting a face to each other were able to meet the DAAD ICIR teams from the Nairobi office physically and from the Bonn office virtually. With the Intake 2023 Call for Scholarship Applications open since mid-October, the meeting was crucial in introducing the coordinators to the ICIR scholarship programme in greater detail.

Picture 2: The DAAD Regional Office Nairobi Director welcoming the partner institutions representatives© DAAD Kenya

The meeting opened with a welcome address from the Director of the DAAD Regional Office Nairobi, Beate Schindler-Kovats, and the Head of Section from DAAD Bonn Mareike Khaskeia.

After the welcoming address, all present introduced themselves before the DAAD and ICIR programme were introduced through PowerPoint presentation.

Each partner institution was then able to delve more into their respective programmes through a gallery walk of poster presentations, sparking further interests from their fellow partners in fostering collaborations and communication on a wide range of topics.

While the morning sessions served as introductions, the afternoon sessions focused on the rules, regulations, procedures and processes that the partner institutions would need to pay attention to in successfully delivering their respective programmes. The plenary session was particularly key in addressing areas of the ICIR programme that partners had uncertainty.

By the end of the meeting, the partners had more clarity regarding the management of the scholarship programme and were looking forward to the next few years of cooperation with the DAAD in delivery of graduate and postgraduate programmes.

Dr. Xavier Ochieng (JKUAT), presenting the Energy Technology programme and history© DAAD Kenya

Finally, the affiliate agreements were signed and officially handed over.

The partners appreciated meeting one another and discussing their own experiences

while discovering potential collaborations with other institutions.