New Partnership Programme between the University of Southampton and South Africa

The University of Southampton and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa have been awarded funding for a new PhD partnership in the marine and maritime sector.

This new three-year partnership will build long-term collaboration between the two universities and the wider regions in both countries. The PhD partnership will directly benefit a total of 20 doctoral scholars; funding a 3-6 month research project at the partner University. These future leaders will form the core of a community of marine and maritime experts who will directly impact their academic areas and industrial sectors as they move forward in their careers.

The novel aspect of this new partnership is the direct linkage between doctoral researchers from Southampton with the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, which is a strategically important new partner for Southampton in sub-Saharan Africa.

The first doctoral scholar exchanges will happen in early 2016. “We will welcome three South African scholars to the University of Southampton in the first year of the programme,” says Professor Rachel Mills, Head of Ocean and Earth Science, who led this bid. “Incoming and outgoing doctoral students will carry out research in areas such as ocean technology, maritime law and ocean governance, marine protection and conservation and Earth stewardship,” she adds.

This exciting new scheme has been jointly funded by the Research Councils UK and the National Research Foundation in South Africa through the Newton Fund.