Science relations critical amid ‘geopolitical rupture’

The vice-chancellors and presidents of 46 leading universities belonging to the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities (The Guild) have resolved to redouble their efforts to address humanity’s common challenges in health, digital transformation, environmental degradation, technological shifts, cultural tensions and geopolitical strife together.

The leaders, in a joint statement by the two organisations on 31 August, spoke about a ‘geopolitical rupture’ and called for action from various stakeholders: “Universities must acknowledge that global science has also been predicated on power inequalities and it is by addressing this issue effectively that universities, funders and governments can build trust-based networks that provide a more effective response to the politics of division that characterises the present-day international order.”

The statement followed the recent Second Africa-Europe Clusters of Research Excellence (CoRE) Conference, hosted by the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom, which looked ahead to move the partnership from the initial phase of stocktaking to decisions on consolidation, sustainability and growth.

The CoRE initiative – the first of its kind – began as a conceptual framework driven by the African Union-European Union (AU-EU) Innovation Agenda, and has transitioned into a formal institutionalised transcontinental partnership.

Since 2023, the initiative has expanded from 17 to 22 active clusters, representing a diverse range of thematic areas critical to both Africa and Europe. It brings together about 400 researchers and 120 institutions across both continents and beyond.

By combining forces to tackle common societal challenges, the universities that are part of the CoRE initiative hope to transform “the nature of collaborative research, foregrounding equity as a precondition for excellent and impactful research”, the organisations said.

Each cluster “addresses a key societal challenge, framed by the Global Gateway’s AU-EU Innovation Agenda, in the context of local perspectives to ensure maximum scientific and societal impact,” the two bodies said at the start of the initiative in separate but identical statements that were issued on 19 June 2023 following an ARUA-Guild summit held in Brussels, Belgium.

Reflections and new priorities

Professor John Gyapong, the secretary-general of ARUA, said at the Glasgow conference that the collaboration has become a ‘credible institution’. In an overview of the initiative, he indicated that it had to ask hard questions regarding which clusters required scaling up and which might need restructuring.

He stressed the need to secure leadership commitment for administrative support, seed funding and the communication of results to ensure the clusters speak with a unified voice.

Professor Jan Palmowski, the secretary-general of The Guild, reflected at the event on the challenge of creating ‘spaces of trust’ within research partnerships. Such spaces, he said, are essential for articulating the challenges arising from inequalities in funding, infrastructure and human resources.

He also observed that these inequalities have been heightened by the current period of geopolitical rupture, making those present even more significant.

This also emerged in Professor Peter Maassen of the University of Oslo’s keynote address, in which he identified a significant shift in the global science landscape from ‘sustainability to security’, influenced by geopolitical turbulence and the withdrawal of United States commitments to international science.

This shift has led to growing political concerns regarding the transfer of knowledge and technology affecting science policy and funding. Furthermore, he addressed demographic challenges, noting that, by 2040, more than half of the world’s students will be from Africa.

He argued that the CoRE initiative must contribute to training a new generation of scholars in a way that avoids brain drain and provides robust career perspectives on both continents. He also challenged the clusters to improve the science-society relationship and ensure that knowledge transfer directly addresses local socio-economic needs.

According to Maassen, it was critical for a 10-year institutional commitment to ensure that the clusters’ ambitions are fully institutionalised.

A renewed commitment to action

The university leaders affirmed their commitment to implement the AU-EU Innovation Agenda, the African Union’s Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA 2034) and the European Union’s Global Gateway strategy.

However, they acknowledge in their joint statement that “more needs to be done; Africa’s resources in talent, human development and science require systemic change to reach our aspirations.

“It is, therefore, an imperative that Africa’s science capacity is strengthened through equitable partnerships that develop ideas and solutions that are scalable, inclusive and transformative – not just for higher education and research, but for the societies they serve.

“To this end, we call on African and European policymakers, national and global research funders, and local and global industry partners committed to this transformation to work with us and all R&I [research and innovation] stakeholders to:

• Encourage and incentivise excellent innovative models for R&I collaboration;

• Invest in addressing local phenomena of global societal challenges, in this way creating new solutions for all;

• Strengthen the human talent pipeline, including marginalised groups, through new pedagogical tools, by investing in higher education;

• Maximise return on investment by aligning development assistance with highly beneficial research infrastructures and R&I investment; and

• Recognise the diversity of the African and European continents as opportunities, rather than obstacles, as research builds on the challenges and ideas of all.”

ARUA was established in 2015 and represents 23 leading universities in Africa. Established in 2016, The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities comprises 23 of Europe’s research-intensive universities spread across 17 countries.