3 Day DAAD Young Scholars Conference in Nairobi 2019

Nairobi, March 3rd, 2019 – The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) hosted a 3-day conference dubbed Young Scholars in Africa – Challenges and Opportunities at Ole Sereni Hotel, Nairobi from 1st – 3rd March 2019.

The conference was geared towards promoting young scholars at universities to become scientists, lecturers, researchers and professionals of tomorrow. 150 participants from 23 African countries and Europe, most of them former recipients of DAAD scholarships, drew a road map towards overcoming the challenges which young African scholars are facing towards unleashing their full potential.
The conference which brought together various stakeholders in the Education sector was graced by Assistant Director Ministry of Education Charles Obiero, Prof. Chacha Nyaigotti, Chairman of the Commission for University Education, Herr Michael Derus, Dep. Amb. of Germany to Kenya and many more.

Statistics show that Africa produces alarmingly few junior scientists and other young scholars. This is contrary to most countries’ political and economic aspirations to become Middle Income and Knowledge Societies. Case studies have been done and published in 2018 such as, “Global State of Young Scientists” conducted by the Global Young Academy and “Building Ph.D. capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa”, conducted by ANIE and conceived and co-funded by DAAD and the British Council. These researches highlighted some of the challenges as;
 a low number of Ph.D. students taking longer to complete;
 few funded positions for doctoral students and post-doctoral;
 high teaching loads and low research budgets;
 absence of a research agenda that reflects the needs of society.

“We presented some different stories”, said Professor Margret Wintermantel, President of the DAAD who attended the event in Nairobi. “Stories of promising and at times breathtaking scholarly careers ‘Made in Africa’ – sometimes against all odds, sometimes with the right support at the right time. I am proud that for many decades, DAAD has been part of this support system.”