In cooperation with the Pan-African Institute of Research and Innovation (PIRI), the Scientific Coordination Office Bavaria-Africa is organising an online workshop on 4 June 2024 on academic freedom in the context of international research projects with African and European participation. Interested parties from universities, universities of applied sciences, research institutions, politics and civil society organisations are invited to discuss the challenges of academic freedom in international cooperations. In recent years, the debate on democratic and academic freedom has become increasingly important as scholars, institutions and political actors grapple with challenges to intellectual autonomy and freedom of expression. With growing global concerns about democracies under threat and restrictions on academic freedom, researchers, institutions, governments and civil society are confronted with restrictions to fundamental rights and freedoms. The focus of the Excellence Lab is therefore on academic freedom in the context of African-European scientific cooperation. The specific opportunities and challenges faced by scientists on both continents in the context of international cooperation will be examined.
Key issues are:

Developments in academic freedom in African and European countries.

The impact of restricted academic freedom on international research cooperation.

Strategies for safeguarding academic freedom in an increasingly interconnected world.

By bringing together experts from Bavaria and African countries, we aim to raise awareness of academic freedom in the field of research and innovation
Join the Excellence Lab to deepen your understanding of this topic and to uphold the fundamental principle of academic freedom in an international academic landscape.

PIRI is excited to announce its participation in one of the Symposia at the upcoming 8th World Conference on Research Integrity (WCRI), take place from 2-5 June 2024 in Athens, Greece. The Symposium will bring together experts and stakeholders from different areas of research integrity to discuss the "Seven challenges for research integrity education: current status and recommendations". The Symposium will strive to enhance opportunities for effective training and trainer quality in the future. The Symposium will feature three up-to-date talks. Firstly, the talk on "(Non-)Effective FAIR Training" (by Julia Prieß-Buchheit) that documents step-by-step a study evaluating FAIR training pointing out the status quo of learning objectives in FAIR training and possible ways to measure them. The "Improving Trainer Quality" (by Simson Mwale) will unveil the Train-The-Trainer Path2Integrity programme being used worldwide as a possible solution to enhancing trainer quality. This presentation will showcase lessons learned and ongoing efforts to support trainers in integrity and responsible conduct to improve research quality through individual capacity building (in Africa and beyond). Finally, the "Measuring Effectiveness of (culture of responsible research) RCR education" (by Mariette van den Hoven et al.) will provide insights into an international meta-analysis on how to evaluate the impact of RCR education. It will highlight the importance of observing the effectiveness of training programmes to ensure that they foster research integrity and quality.

PIRI is organising an International Symposium on Research Ethics and Integrity in June/July 2024. The Symposium will bring together students, academics and educators from within Africa and beyond. The Symposium is being organised by a consortium of higher education institutions, the private sector and a research institution who part of the AFREIntegrity Project from Ghana, Germany, Kenya, Netherlands, and Zambia. More details to be shared in due course.

PIRI is pleased to announce the inauguration of its International Summer School on Peacebuilding, scheduled to take place in Zambia, over a period of two weeks. This initiative aims to foster a collaborative and interdisciplinary platform for students, researchers, scholars, and practitioners across the African continent and beyond to engage in meaningful dialogue, share insights, and develop innovative approaches to peacebuilding. This year’s International Summer School targeting undergraduate and graduate students will take place from 3-16 August 2024. The programme will be hosted in Livingstone, Zambia, a city known for its cultural richness, serene environment, and home to one of the seven wonders of the world – the Victoria Falls, providing an inspiring backdrop for intellectual exchange and reflection. More details to be shared later.

In collaboration with Path2Integrity, a project that was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and coordinated by Coburg University, PIRI hosted an online international training course for undergraduate and graduate students in 2021. The workshop that took place from 25-28 May 2021 was attended by 43 undergraduate and PhD students from Ghana (University of Ghana), Kenya and Zambia. At the end of the training participants were awarded EU branded certificates from Path2Integrity. This course sought to foster a culture of integrity in educational institutions and was facilitated by Path2Integrity project partner EUREC Office (European Network of Research Ethics Committees). These courses were highly interactive, focused on the needs of learners, and made use of various dialogical methods. More information can be accessed on the Moodle platform (https://learning-p2i.eu) and https://www.path2integrity.eu. Plans are underway for regular online workshops and courses for university students.

PIRI collaborated with 3CCompliance in organising a train the trainer programme for university educators in Zambia. This online event took place from 29-30 April 2022. Participants were drawn from the private and public sector, and universities. The programme aimed to promote a culture that supports a high level of research integrity at educational and research institutions. More specifically, this programme was designed to enhance educators’ competencies, confidence, and abilities to teach research integrity effectively mainly using the Path2Integrity learning materials and methods adaptively and sustainably. The programme consisted of approximately 12-hours of sessions distributed over a 2-3-day period. PIRI intends to organise similar training with targeted educators including supervisors, and ethics committees.

On invitation of Path2Integrity, the Institute participated in the pre-side event at the 7th World Conference on Research Integrity in Cape Town, South Africa, from 29 May to 1 June 2022. We were part of the panel on a Pre-WCRI conference and made a presentation promoting innovative, learner-centered research integrity education from an African perspective, and Zambia in particular. Other issues discussed at this event were results from Path2Integrity's international mixed-method evaluation: successes and failures in teaching research integrity, barriers and challenges in introducing FAIR principles and Open Access to businesses: lessons learned while designing workshops for company employees, teaching and promoting research integrity - Polish experience in the process of building a culture of research integrity, and reflections on the quantitative evaluation of the research integrity training programme Path2Integrity. The event attracted participants from around the world including CAU, Coburg University, IBE, EUREC, UMC Amsterdam.

PIRI participated in the Path2Integrity Final Conference on the Future of Research Integrity in Keil, Germany on 16 June 2022. The conference brought together more than 60 research integrity advocates and educators. Path2Integrity goal was to support responsible conduct of research and foster formal and informal learning towards reliable research results. At this event, PIRI made an initial presentation of the project idea on “The Future of Research Ethics and Integrity in Africa”. This project idea is being developed into a full collaborative project by a consortium of nine higher education institutions from Ghana, Germany, Kenya, Netherlands, and Zambia, working together with one research institution and a private sector organisation specialised in digital learning platforms

PIRI organised an "Excellence Lab: Boosting Research and Innovation Cooperation between Africa and Bavaria on Environmental Protection and Circular Economy" on 28 July 2022. The event was co-organised with the Bavarian Research Alliance, Scientific Coordination Office Bavaria-Africa (BayFOR). The event was meant to inform researchers, small and medium companies, industry, and public entities from Bavaria and Africa about European funding opportunities for research and innovation and will offer an ideal platform to meet potential international project partners and exchange concrete project ideas with a focus on environmental and circular economy approaches. The event was organised against the backdrop that international cooperation with the Global South, especially Africa, is an important part of Horizon Europe, the EU's framework programme for research and innovation. The programme was embedded in the relevant policy framework of the European Commission, such as the joint Africa-EU strategy, with a focus on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the EU Green Deal. More than 34 participants from 10 countries; 10 existing projects with 6 from Africa. A few participants were allowed to share their projects, project ideas and/or expertise on environmental protection and circular economy, to set up concrete projects including African and Bavarian stakeholders.

PIRI participated in the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was held in Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt), from 6-18 November 2022. At COPs, countries come together to take action towards achieving the world’s collective climate goals as agreed under the Paris Agreement and the Convention. This was the first time PIRI staff participated in UNFCCC conference that was expected to specifically address Africa's climate challenges, PIRI staff had an opportunity to interact and network with several partners including BayFOR Africa Coordination Office who had an exhibition stand in the Green Zone. COPs are a good platform for stakeholders from academia, the business community, and the civil society to take part in the activities of the conference.

PIRI participated in the COP28 took place from 30 November to 12 December 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. COP28 was used as an opportunity to explore how PIRI as a a network of researchers, academics, practitioners and pracademics, could use this platform to share environmentally sustainable practices being undertaken in our country, exchange ideas, and learn from global leaders in environmental policy and practice. COPs are valuable platform for knowledge dissemination and networking. There will be need for PIRI to get accreditation with the UNFCCC process, which is required to participate in COP events. The involvement of PIRI in future COPs will be part of the responsibilities of the Scientific Committee on Enviornment and Energy Transition committed to promoting integral ecology and contributing to global climate action, and Zambia in particular.

PIRI participated in the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was held in Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt), from 6-18 November 2022. At COPs, countries come together to take action towards achieving the world’s collective climate goals as agreed under the Paris Agreement and the Convention. This was the first time PIRI staff participated in UNFCCC conference that was expected to specifically address Africa's climate challenges, PIRI staff had an opportunity to interact and network with several partners including BayFOR Africa Coordination Office who had an exhibition stand in the Green Zone. COPs are a good platform for stakeholders from academia, the business community, and the civil society to take part in the activities of the conference.

PIRI is a member of the Network for Education and Research Quality (NERQ)., whose aim is to exchange good practices, stimulate the quality of training/trainers in the field, and encourage collaborations on research-based innovations in education. Since its inception in November 2022, PIRI has participated in NERQ first and second conferences, in March and September 2023 respectively. At the second conference of “NERQ Education and Research Quality: Expanding the Network” on 20 September 2023, PIRI presented a paper on the Africa-Europe Research Ethics and Integrity (AFREIntegrity) Project which is being developed African and European higher education institutions, private sector and research institutions in Germany, Ghana, Kenya, Netherlands, and Zambia.