Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - ValueSeC Project

The purpose of the staff exchange and networking program in the BERCEA project is to build the capacity of staff members of Haramaya University in mentoring and supervising postgraduate students and, through the process, to promote cooperation and partnership with partner Universities in Europe. The current staff exchange activity is particularly aimed at obtaining experiences, knowledge and expertise related to student-advisor relationships, monitoring, coaching, and evaluating postgraduate students’ research, managing presentations and seminars, and the general approaches and methodologies for producing qualified graduates; and ultimately establishing sustained network through designing new collaborative projects with the host institution. The staff exchange and networking plan with the HUB will be undertaken in the academic year when postgraduate students and their professors are available.

The major activities planned during the staff exchange at HUB includes, but not limited to, the following:

1. Acquiring experiences on course delivery systems and student assessment and evaluations;

2. Finalizing the write-up of ongoing collaborative research proposals previously initiated;

3. Identifying funding options and writing new collaborative research proposals related to training and research capacity building for sustained networking with the host institution and other partners;

4. Attending international workshops at HUB and other institutions in Germany;

5. Attending presentations and seminars made by postgraduate students and by senior staff and supervisors in the host institution;

6. Discussion with postgraduate students on practices and methodologies pursued by students and their supervisors in the process of mentoring;

7. Writing research reports and journal manuscripts based on own data (desktop study), with close consultation with professors in the host institution; and

8. Making presentations to students and staff members to share Ethiopian experiences and to get feedback from participants.

The major expected outputs of the exchange and networking are:

• Enhanced collaborations and networking with the host institution and its partners in terms of staff/student exchange and networking programs through development and implementation of ongoing and new joint research capacity building projects;
• Improved skills in mentoring and supervising postgraduate students and in presenting research results on different seminars and workshops; and
• Producing publishable manuscripts from own data.