Gg19 d3 10_2_wim_de_villiers_v2

1. PhDs for Africa
Prof Wim de Villiers, Rector and Vice-Chancellor,
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
15 May 2019, at Going Global (Berlin),
Session: ‘Building PhD Power in Sub-Saharan
Africa’ © The content of this presentation is confidential.

2. Contents
1. About Stellenbosch University
2. Challenges and opportunities for scholarship
development
3. Africa Centre for Scholarship at SU
4. African Doctoral Academy (ADA)
5. Joint Schools in Africa
6. Way forward

3. 1. Stellenbosch University (SU)
• Located in the historic town of
Stellenbosch, 50 km from Cape Town,
in the Winelands region of South
Africa’s Western Cape Province.
• Achieved university status in 1918.

4. Stellenbosch University profile

5. 2. Challenges and opportunities
for scholarship development
South Africa:
• 126/157 - Human Capital Index (World Development Report 2019)
• 87/130 - Global Human Capital Report (World Economic Report, 2017)
• 67/140 (down 5 places) - Global Competitiveness Index (World Competitiveness Report
2018)
Africa:
• 48% of population younger than 25 years of age
• Graduate enrolment ratio lower than rest of world (30%)
• Only 0.4% of the GDP is spent on R&D.
• Only 0.7% of the world’s scientific research,
• 1.1% of publications
• 0.1% of global patents are produced in Africa.
(UNESCO, 2011 & 2017; World Bank 2019; World Economic Forum 2017, 2018)

6. 3. Africa Centre for Scholarship
• Part of Stellenbosch University International
• Led by Prof Sarah Howie
Vision and Mission:
To develop new and emerging scholars in Africa in order to
contribute to the development of the continent and its
people through connecting scholars globally and creating
opportunities
for research and HE teaching and learning development.

7. African Centre for Scholarship (ACS)
Current and new programmes under development

8. 4. African Doctoral Academy
• Celebrating 10 years in 2019
– Established in Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in 2009
– Moved to SU International (institution-wide) in 2014
• Annual Summer (January) & Winter (July) Schools in Stellenbosch
• 10 years: 210 workshops; 4 526 participants; 53 nationalities
• 2019: First Spring School

9. African Doctoral Academy (ADA)
Objectives:
Expand,
diversify
PhD
capacity
develop-
ment
offerings
Capacitate
super-
visors on
the
African
continent
across
disciplines
Address
strategic
elements
of the
"leaky
pipeline"
Establish
sustained
collabora-
tive
networks &
partner-
ships to
enhance
African
scholarship
Produce
high quality
researchers
on PhD
education in
Africa
Firmly
establish
governance &
management
structure

10. African Doctoral Academy (ADA)
Generic and specialist skills training:
Research
Designs and
Methods (from
beginner to
advanced)
Proposal writing
Grant writing
Project management
Academic writing for
thesis and publication
Postgraduate
supervision
Teaching and
learning in HE
Research Ethics
Digital
Technology

11. Typical ADA School
(Winter, Spring, Summer)Preparatorycourse
(3days)
e.g.:
creating a
successful
dissertation
Week1
e.g.
Introduction
to
Quantitative
Research
Saturday1day
e.g.:
Project
management
Week2
e.g:
Disseminating
my research –
writing an
article

12. ADA Summer School 2019
• Received 329 applications for 25
scholarships to attend ADA Summer
School 2019
• 90% from outside South Africa
• Most African applicants did not have
sufficient funds to attend
• South African delegates outside
Stellenbosch battled with funding for
travel and accommodation
Origin of ADA Summer
School 2019 delegates:

13. Trends for ADA Schools

14. Trends:
Number of participants (2012-2018)
776
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Numberofparticipantsinworkshops
Total No. of participants in workshops
+ 50% embarking on or already busy with PhD

15. Trends:
% of subsidised delegates (2015-2019)
0%
9%
19% 20%
24%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2015 2016 2017 2018 SS2019
%ofdelegatessubsidised
% of subsidised delegates

16. Trends:
Participants’ age & gender (2016-2019)
7.0%
5.0%
14.2%
20.4%
17.6%
15.4%
11.2%
6.5%
0.7%
1.5%
0.1% 0.4%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
ADA Attendees by Age, 2016 - 2019
80% mature students: 30+ years
61
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Gender distribution: 2014 - 2019
Male
Femal
e
More female than male delegates

17. Trends:
Nationality of delegates (2016-2019)
19
45% outside SA
Most from
Southern and
East Africa
Nigeria, 5%
Zimbabwe, 5%
Namibia, 4%
Kenya , 3%
Ghana, 2%
Uganda, 2%
Malawia, 2%
Zambia, 2%
Tanzania, 1%
Other, 11%
Other - North America,
Europe, the East and the
Caribbean -11% of the
delegates
55 % from within
South Africa

18. Trends:
Participants’ disciplines (2016-2019)
Areas of subject fields (2016-2019)
Arts and Social
Sciences
25%
Economics and
Management
Sciences
18%
Agrisciences
16%
Medicine and Health
Sciences
12%
Science
11%
Education
9%
Engineering
5%
Theology
2% Law
2%
¼ delegates from the Arts
and Social Sciences – the
traditional and original base
44% from STEM
disciplines

19. Trends:
Presenters (2016-2019)
Presenters 2014-2019
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Belgium
Germany
Netherlands
Switzerland
USA
Canada
Ireland
SouthAfrica
Tanzania
Belgium
Germany
Netherlands
Switzerland
USA
Canada
Ireland
SouthAfrica
Tanzania
Belgium
Germany
Netherlands
Switzerland
USA
Canada
Ireland
SouthAfrica
Tanzania
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
NumberofPresenters
Origin of Presenters per year
Mostly South African presenters (several Stellenbosch presenters)
Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, USA, Tanzania, Netherlands
from mainly partner institutions

20. 5. Joint Schools in Africa

21. Joint Schools in Africa
Institution Focus Target group Delegates
Ardhi University,
Tanzania
PERIPERI_U/
Advanced Research
methods
Disaster Risk
Management
researchers &
practitioners
7
(34)
Makerere University,
Uganda
Workshop on publishing Lecturers 44
Strathmore
University, Kenya
Doctoral Supervision
Writing & publishing
Lecturers
Phd students
34
27
Makerere University,
Uganda
Postgraduate Supervision Lecturers from
10 Ugandan
Unis
42 (33)
• In 2016-2017, 300 delegates participated in five SU-initiated Joint Doctoral Schools at partner
institutions (University of Makerere, Uganda; University of Malawi, University of Namibia)
• 2018:

22. Way forward
• Challenging context for scholarship and funding
thereof
• Currently reviewing and revising the curriculum and
funding models for the ADA
• Pursuing funding for programme
• Partnerships needed to support development of
scholarship and excellence in Africa
• Strong support infrastructure at universities makes the
difference in creating conducive environment for
scholarship to develop and thrive

23. Thank you Dankie Enkosi