News and General Information

International Graduate School North-South
The Inter-University Graduate School on Global Change, Innovation and Sustainable Devel-opment went online. This International Graduate School is designed as a follow-up structure to the NCCR North-South. With the signature of all participating Swiss Universities, which is expected in due course, all NCCR North-South students from the North and the South will also be part of this International Graduate School. Upon successful completion, the graduates will be granted an official certificate issued by the Swiss Universities, complementing the PhD degrees received by the respective universities. - More Information

Egyptian-Swiss Research on Innovations in Sustainable Sanitation
The Department of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries (Sandec) at Eawag has launched this Project. Funded by SECO (State Secretariat for Economic Affairs) and in cooperation with the Egyptian Holding Company for Water and Wastewater (HCWW), the German Development Agency (GTZ), Egyptian Universities and Research Institutions, the project aims to validate innovative and reuse-oriented sanitation concepts for the peri-urban and rural areas of the Nile Delta. The project is an independent component of the Integrated Sanitation & Sewerage Infrastructure Project (ISSIP), launched by the Government of Egypt in cooperation with the World Bank to develop the sanitation sector in towns and villages in three northern Governorates in the Nile Delta region. - More Information

Successfull TRREE Program
The online training program TRREE (Training and Resources in Research Ethics Evaluation for Africa) was launched a year ago. Since then, TRREE has had almost 1000 participants from 61 countries worldwide. Of these, 450 come from 32 African countries, the main focus of TRREE. Thirty percent (30 %) of these participants took the training in French which demonstrates, the real need, especially in Sub- Saharan countries, for high quality training in research ethics and regulation to also be offered in French. Last but not least, TRREE is now recognized by the Swiss Medical Association and the Swiss Society of Pharmacists as a continuing education program for their members, thus demonstrating the quality as well as the independence of the training programme. http://www.trree.org

6e Prix CSRS 2011 - Mise au concours
Créé à l’occasion du cinquantenaire du Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoire (CSRS) en 2001, le «Prix CSRS pour la recherche scientifique en partenariat» est décerné tous les deux ans par la Fondation pour le CSRS. A partir de 2011, il est attribué avec le soutien financier du Fonds Eremitage à Bâle (Suisse).
http://www.kfpe.ch/news

Etienne Piguet a été désigné par l'IPCC
Le Professeur Etienne Piguet (Institut de géographie – Université de Neuchâtel) a été désigné par l'IPCC/GIEC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) en tant que Review Editor dans le cadre de la préparation du prochain rapport de synthèse de 2014. E. Piguet sera en charge du thème Livelihood and Poverty au sein du groupe de travail 2 (Vulnerability of socio-economic and natural systems to climate change). Deux Review Editors par thème garantissent que le rapport final reflète de manière équilibrée et exhaustive l'état des connaissances.
Plus d'information sur l'IPCC/GIEC: http://www.ippc.ch

Selection of two Intercooperation experts by the IPCC
For the 5th Assessment Report of the IPCC, which is due to be fully completed in September 2014, Carmenza Robledo (Climate Change mitigation and adaptation expert, Switzerland) and Rupa Mukerji (Livelihood expert, India) have been selected as lead authors in the Working Group III for the Chapter 11 on ‘Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses’ and in the Working Group II on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, for the Chapter 1: ‘Point of Departure’ respectively.

Evaluation of SDC's Research Related Activities
This report is an independent evaluation of the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation’s (SDC) support for research related activities. The evaluation focuses on four sets of issues: A) Policy, B) Portfolio, C) Results, D) Management
More Information: The Evaluation Report

SFIAR Award 2010 - Call for Applications - Deadline 5 July
Deadline for applications: 5 July 2010
The Swiss Forum for International Agricultural Research (SFIAR) offers an annual Award for scientists working for a Swiss institution in agricultural research for development: http://www.sfiar.ch/award.htm

New Strategy of the North-South Center of the ETH Zürich
The Strategy 2010–2016 is now published on the website.
http://www.northsouth.ethz.ch/about/strategy

New structure of CDE
The Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) has undergone a structural transformation to a new interdisciplinary centre at the university level, starting retroactively from 1 July 2009, and is now called "Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für nachhaltige Entwicklung und Umwelt" (CDE). Dr. Peter Messerli was appointed as director of the new centre, and Dr. Thomas Breu as deputy director. The goal is to concentrate and enhance competencies in research and education in sustainable development and environment at the University of Bern. Furthermore, the new centre is expected to assume a leading role in Bern in North-South research in a long-term perspective, and to meet Swiss responsibilities in science and society concerning sustainable development and environment nationally as well as internationally.

NCCR North-South: 6th Integrative Training Course, Ethiopia
The NCCR North-South is holding its 6th integrative training course from 1-12 September in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, followed by the annual Site Visit by the programme’s Review Panel. About 90 PhD researchers, postdocs and supervisors will attend the course, whose motto is “Local and regional implications of global change – case study-based learning”. The training is described as integrative, as it brings together several scientific disciplines (interdisciplinarity), researchers and other societal actors (transdisciplinarity) as well as the course participants (mutual learning). The course paves the way for the transfer of responsibilities and capabilities from the “Northern” to the “Southern” institutional partners.

NCCR North-South: Special Research Project on Global Issues launched
The NCCR North-South has launched six research modules in the “Special Research Project on Global Issues”. The project is designed to address global change and sustainable development issues by synthesising and generalising the outputs of past and current NCCR North-South research and relating them to important global debates. The research modules are related to global issues concerned with land, food, water, poverty, climate, and migration. Research in these modules will be pursued by different individuals and working groups. Summaries of the research plans will be made available in due course on the NCCR North-South website

KFH-Development and Cooperation research program
The 6th call for proposals within the KFH-DC program has been closed on June 9. 2010 with the approval of 3 projects out of 26 submitted. During the last three years (2007-2010) a total of 128 projects were submitted within 6 calls for proposals, 27 projects were funded (success rate approximately 21%). Quality and quantity of projects have significantly increased in the last years, showing the great impact of UAS and applied research done in partnership with developing countries. An external evaluation with the aim to measure the impact of the program has been commissioned, a report will be available online in October 2010. More information on the funded projects can be found on: http://www.kfh.ch/dc

Research Partnership on "Anomie and Insurgency"
In a joint partnership with the Center for Ethnic and Conflict Studies (CENTECS) at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, the Swiss Academy for Development (SAD) has launched a research project into the relationship between social change, anomic conditions on the individual as well as on the social level, and the support of and/or participation in politically oriented, non-state armed groups. The research approach to the complex relationship between anomie and insurgency involves both objective and subjective indicators, at the social macro level as well as the individual micro level. The project is based on empirical field research in Nigeria, where violence has taken various forms. The aim is to identify developments that put society at risk as early as possible, and to help to develop strategies that can prevent the outbreak of violent conflict within a society.
More information

Events

Français et langues partenaires : L'hospitalité par la langue ?
le 1er juillet 2010 de 13H30 à 18h30 à l'Université de Fribourg, salle G230, Boulevard de Pérolles 90
Atelier inscrit dans le cadre des "Etats généraux du Français en Francophonie", en préparation du Sommet de Montreux: L’objectif n’est pas la défense du Français, mais celle de la diversité linguistique, en tant que richesse essentielle à:
• chaque communauté linguistique : diversité interne à chaque langue,
• chaque communauté de savoir (artistique, scientifique, religieuse, politique)
http://www.unifr.ch/iiedh/fr/about/actualites

Implementation in inter- and transdisciplinary research, practice and teaching
15-17 September 2010, td-conference 2010 organised by td-net (Network for Transdisciplinary Research) and the University of Geneva
In a knowledge society, research questions, processes and results cannot be disconnected from everyday practices. Politicians, funding bodies and society at large increasingly demand of researchers to propose efficient ways of how to use abstract findings in concrete situations and as a common good. From the very start, implementation strategies should therefore include processes of embedding the research in its social and scientific contexts, recursiveness and negotiation with non-academic actors, and testing the expected impact through ‘real-world’ experiments. - More Information

From Academic Excellence to Policy Relevance
30 September 2010, Geneva
The Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS) will organise an event to launch and present all winning research projects in the framework of the 2010 Call for Proposals. The event taking place in Geneva will bring together renowned practitioners from the International Organisations and Swiss academics. The same event will also include the official award ceremonies for two distinct prizes: the SNIS Award for the best thesis in international studies and The SNIS Int. Geneva Award for the best paper in international studies relevant to the International Organizations. The full programme and detailed information will be available on the SNIS website from beginning of August.

Improvement of drinking water quality in developing countries: microbial and geogenic contamination
5 - 7 October 2010 at EAWAG in Düberndorf
A PEAK practice-oriented Eawag course: Waterborne pathogens and geogenic contaminants, particularly arsenic and fluoride, pose serious public health challenges, especially in less developed countries. Participants will learn about the occurrence and severity of such problems, as well as management strategies and decentralized technologies for water quality improvement.
More Information

Making Research Results Relevant to Urban Development
7 October 2010 in Basel - The Annual Conference of the KFPE in collaboration with the Centre for African Studies Basel.
The Annual Conference of the KFPE will present case studies from research partnership projects in an urban setting. These studies will demonstrate how results were applied at the local to global levels. Case studies will be presented in innovative ways, avoiding the conventional powerpoint.
Call for Posters for the KFPE Conference
We are seeking posters that present research projects conducted in partnership with developing or transition countries in an urban context and with a clear focus on implementation. - More information

Du grain à moudre. Genre, développement rural et alimentation
28 - 29 octobre à Genève, Colloque international genre et développement;
IHEID, Salle Bungener, rue Rothschild 20, Genève - More Information

Journées suisses d'études africaines 2010
29 - 30. octobre 2010 à Berne
Ces journées, qui font suite aux six éditions du Forum suisse des africanistes organisées entre 1996 et 2006, se tiendront tous les deux ans, en alternance avec les colloques thématiques internationaux de la Société suisse d’études africaines (SSEA) - More Information

Human African Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) – Towards New
Chemotherapeutic Tools
9-10 December 2010, in Basel - Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute
Invited speakers and experts from international organisations, partner countries and the Swiss TPH will present new strategies and interventions towards new chemotherapeutic tools for the treatment of this neglected disease as well as issues and challenges encountered during the development of new drugs.
More Information

Emancipation and Creativity:
Comparative Perspectives on Politics and Governance in Africa and Beyond
13-15 January 2011 in Basel, A conference organised by the Centre for African Studies, University of Basel
This conference invites scholars from the social sciences to contribute to the theme of how, through the agency of social actors, spaces of political emancipation emerge in Africa and how this leads to the formation of novel social and political orders. The intention of this conference is thus to foster an empirically based and theoretically informed discussion about creativity and political emancipation in Africa. It adopts a comparative perspective and invites scholars interested in the theme and its theoretical challenges and working on Africa or on other parts of the world. - More Information

red-conference – rethinking  education in the knowledge society
7-10 March 2011, Centro Stefano Franscini, Monte Verità
The New Media in Education Lab (NewMinE Lab), in collaboration with Ecole Politechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and the University of Sankt Gallen, is organizing this international event. Red-conference brings together experts and researchers investigating the field of technology in education.
http://www.red-conference.ch

 

Publications

Scientific Diasporas as Development Partners
A new book by Gabriela Tejada and Jean-Claude Bolay, cooperation@EPFL
«Scientific Diasporas as Development Partners. Skilled Migrants from Colombia, India and South Africa in Switzerland: Empirical Evidence and Policy Responses»; 513p. - More Information

Scientists - take action for access to biodiversity
Sylvia Martinez and Susette Biber-Klemm ( members of the Acess and Benefit Sharing Group of the SCNAT)
Biodiversity research generates critically important knowledge for the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity's (CBD) goals. However, university researchers intending to study biodiversity with noncommercial intent experience obstacles caused by restrictive access conditions legislated by the countries that provide access to their genetic resources. Currently, a legally binding protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) is being negotiated within the CBD without adequate involvement of the academic community. The ABS regulations were originally designed for commercial uses that generate monetary benefits from the utilization of genetic resources. Academia has failed to market to policy makers its special dual role as user of genetic resources and as generator of essential knowledge for the benefit of the CBD and society at large. Non-commercial research should expeditiously assert its interests and state its needs in the ABS negotiations.
Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2010, 2: 27-33.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2010.03.004

Impact assessment of push-pull technology (PPT) developed and promoted by icipe and partners in eastern Africa
In Kenya, ICIPE elaborated this report to capture farmers’ perception on the biological control technology of maize stemborer and parasitic Strigma weed. ICIPE promoted the PPT over the last 16 years with an outreach of 25’000 farmers in East Africa. The assessment entailed a peer-review mechanism whereby trained farmers assessed other farmers through a facilitated process.  Complementary information was gathered by consultation of key research, extension and donor organizations. Key questions addressed related to adoption, effect and impact, technology adaptation by farmers, the contribution of research and extension to adoption and impact, and future orientations for up-scaling and policy. The study details the key success factors for the adaptation of PPT and gives recommendations towards further scaling-up and dissemination of this widely recognized technology.
http://www.push-pull.net/impact.shtml