New Scientific Coordination Office Bavaria-Africa (WKS) at Bavarian Research Alliance (BayFOR): Intensification of cooperation between Bavaria and Africa in research and innovation

Since the beginning of July 2020, the Bavarian Research Alliance (BayFOR) has been home to a new Scientific Coordination Office (WKS) which has been tasked with strengthening scientific and technical cooperation between Bavaria and Africa.

WKS Bavaria-Africa will initially focus on identifying cooperation opportunities with the states of Ethiopia, Tunisia, Senegal and the South African regions of West Cape and Gauteng and later dilate its scope.

WKS Bavaria-Africa serves as a point of contact for joint cooperation projects with these countries and regions, advises on suitable (EU) funding instruments and facilitates personal scientific exchange by granting mobility allowances to Bavarian parties in the field of research and innovation.

In 2019, Minister-President Dr. Markus Söder opened the Bavarian Africa Office in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, as a point of contact and hub for cooperation with Africa in the areas of economy, education and development cooperation.

On the basis of this existing infrastructure, Ethiopia is to become the model country for Bavaria's new cooperation with Africa. In addition, the first multilateral research projects already exist with the African region of West Cape via the RLS-Sciences with WKS Bavaria-Québec/Alberta/international, which can be linked to.

In addition to the Managing Director, Dr Walter Pfluger and Ms. Melanie Schulte are the contact persons at BayFOR for the new WKS Bavaria-Africa.

Background information on the Scientific Coordination Office

Bavaria is cooperating  closely  in  science,  research  and  technology  with  different  regions  and  countries  outside  Europe.

On behalf of the Bavarian government, BayFOR  is  in  charge  of  the  bilateral  cooperation in the scientific and technical field  with  Québec, Alberta, and Israel. In addition, BayFOR  is  coordinating  the  Bavarian  participation  in  the  scientific  network  called  RLS-Sciences.  RLS-Sciences  is  embedded  within  the Regional Leaders Summit (RLS) of the seven following partner  regions:  Bavaria  (Germany),  Upper  Austria  (Austria),  Shandong  (China),  Western  Cape  (South  Africa),  São  Paulo  (Brazil),  Georgia (USA) and Québec (Canada).

The Scientific Coordination Office (WKS) in the Bavarian Research Alliance  provides  support  to  researchers  and  companies  in  Bavaria who are interested in collaborating with these international regions and countries. Based on regional and national specifics, the Scientific Coordination Office  offers  targeted  support  from  project  planning  to  implementation: 

• Management of international research and innovation projects  
• Scientific, administrative, and financial support for bilateral initiatives from project idea to project implementation 
• Liaison between the different research and innovation players, for example by accompanying delegation trips
• Strategic scientific preparation and management of multilateral large-scale initiatives.

Further Information can be found here.