About INTERACT-Africa Project

Mobility in Innovative Green Technologies for Climate Change Mitigation and Sustainable Bioeconomy (INTERACT-Africa) is an Intra-Africa Academic mobility project funded by the European Union (EU).

The Project in brief

Mobility in Innovative Green Technologies for Climate Change Mitigation and Sustainable Bioeconomy (INTERACT-Africa) is an Intra-Africa Academic mobility project funded by the European Union (EU) . The project focuses on Chemistry, Biology and Information Technology, with emphasis on conversion of organic waste to valuable bioproducts for transitioning into environmental sustainable and socially inclusive economies. A report on skills for green jobs by International Labor Organization (ILO, 2018) reveals major gaps in and shortages of skills that are not being met by graduates. Hence, there is need for education and training systems to supply a well-trained labor force.

The project aims to mainstream climate change adaptation and mitigation into the thematic curricula of partner HEIs, hence produce highly skilled and competent workforce that can implement green adaptation technologies that are systemic, multidimensional and transformative.

Through academic, research, traineeship and cultural exchange, the project is expected to positively impact on students, trainees, staff and institutions involved through enhancement of technical, entrepreneurial and digital skills, competencies and appropriate attitudes for increased employability. Cooperation among HEIs shall improve quality of academic programmes through curricula complementation, and enhanced harmonization of higher education through alignment of qualifications, assessment criteria, quality assurance mechanisms and recognition of academic achievements. Visibility of partner HEIs resulting from modernization and internationalization of the degree programmes shall increase enrolment of international students.

The Objectives of INTERACT-Africa Project are as follows:

Building capacity on green technologies for climate change mitigation and adaptation through mainstreaming climate change in Chemistry, Biology and Information Technology curricula and research programs
Nurture innovative, digital and entrepreneurial skills amongst mobility scholarship holders and other beneficiaries for future career advancement and sustainable bioeconomy.
Promote networking amongst higher education institutions and industries for collaborative green technology research, training and curricula harmonization for climate change mitigation and adaptation
Enhance project management, communication and dissemination of project’s results for scalability and impact creation

INTERACT-Africa is jointly implemented by five African partner institutions where selected students, trainees and staff will be able to engage in postgraduate studies, research, traineeship and teaching or training. Mendel University in Brno (Czech Republic) serves as EU technical partner.

African partners

Institution Initial	African Institution	Country
MU	Moi University (Coordinating institution)	Kenya
MUST	Mbarara University of Science and Technology	Uganda
SUA	Sokoine University of Agriculture	Tanzania
AAU	Addis Ababa University	Ethiopia
IFA-Yangambi	Institut Facultaire Des Sciences Agronomiques (IFA) De Yangambi	Democratic Republic of Congo

Technical partner

Institution Initial	Institution	Country
MENDELU	Mendel University in Brno (EU Technical Partner	Czech Republic

Scholarship information

The INTERACT-Africa project will train up to 35 MSc and 10 PhD graduates, and offer development opportunities to 8 trainees and 7 staff members. Mobility must be to an institution in an eligible country other than the home country / country of the home institution.

Target Groups (TG)

There are two target groups and four different types of individual mobility:

Target	Participants	Mobility types	Duration
Target group 1	Students registered/admitted in one or having obtained a higher education degree from one of the five African Universities included in the INTERACT-Africa project partnership, wishing to study at a different partner university	Masters Doctorate	6-24 months 10-36 months
	Students registered/admitted in a Bachelor/Master/Doctorate programme in one of the five African Universities included in the INTERACT-Africa project partnership, wishing to undertake traineeship in a different partner country	Trainee	3 months
	Staff working in or associated with one of five African Universities included in the INTERACT-Africa project partnership, wishing to visit a different partner institution. Staff from the EU Technical partner will participate in mobility periods in one of those five partner African Universities.	Visits for teaching and/or research, or for engagement on administration and management	2 weeks - 1 month
Target group 2	Students registered/admitted in one or having obtained a higher education degree from a university established in Africa BUT not included in the partnership, with priority being given to students from conflict-affected and disadvantaged countries, including Côte d'Ivoire, Sudan, Somalia, Mozambique and Algeria, wishing to study at a partner institution in another country.	Masters Doctorate	6-24 months 10-36 months

Institutions of the Partnership: Moi University (Kenya), Mbarara University of Science and Technology (Uganda), Sokoine University of Agriculture (Tanzania), Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia) and Institut Facultaire Des Sciences Agronomiques De Yangambi (Democratic Republic of Congo)

EU Technical partner: Mendel University in Brno Czech Republic)

Credit-seeking mobility for students already enrolled for a Master’s or PhD degree:

Credit-seeking mobility of 6 to 10 months at a partner institution, leading to academic recognition of the study period towards a Master’s or PhD degree programme at the home institution.

Degree-seeking mobility for students wising to pursue a Master’s or PhD degree:

Degree-seeking mobility to complete a full Master’s or PhD degree at a partner

Mobility of trainees

Mobility of trainees will entail placement periods (traineeship) in private or public organizations/business actors as part of the trainees’ academic programme.

Staff mobility

Staff mobility may be undertaken by academic, research or administrative staff from partner institutions who wish to visit other partner institutions.

The project aims for 50% of students and at least 30% of scholarship beneficiaries who participate in mobility visits to be women.

An indicative distribution of mobility across target groups is given below. This may be adjusted to optimize project implementation.

Type of mobility	Target Group 1	Target Group 2	TOTAL
Masters	19	16	35
Doctorates	5	5	10
Trainees	8	-	8
Staff	7	-	7
TOTAL	39	21	60

An indicative breakdown of credit-seeking and degree-seeking student mobility is given below. This may be adjusted to optimize project implementation.