Office of i nternational Affairs

Ms Merle McOmbring-Hodges

The Office of International Affairs assists CPUT in furthering its objectives for internationalisation, such as establishing a pervading internationalisation culture on campus and introducing an international perspective in university policies and strategies. It does so by promoting international cooperation in the fields of higher education and research. Through agreements with institutions in over 50 countries, CPUT has a framework for academic and research cooperation and capacity building across borders.

Erasmus Mundus, funded by the European Commission, is one of a number of international funding programmes in which CPUT participates through the Office of International Affairs. This is a strategic scholarship programme which fosters partnerships between South African and European universities. It offers scholarships for master’s and doctoral studies, as well as for staff exchanges and research.

CPUT participates in the following three Erasmus Mundus projects, each one catering for a wide range of academic fields:

EUROSA is a programme offering opportunities at partner universities in Belgium, Italy, Austria, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and France.

CPUT is joint coordinator of EUROSA, while the University of Antwerp acts as project coordinator.

AESOP focuses on heritage, archaeology and IT. This programme offers opportunities at partner hodgesm@cput.ac.za universities in France, Portugal, the UK, Spain, Greece, Latvia, Ireland, Belgium, Romania and Italy.

INSPIRE focuses on innovation and entrepreneurship. This programme offers opportunities at Uppsala University (Sweden), Göttingen University (Germany), Ghent University (Belgium), Groningen University (the Netherlands), Masaryk University (Czech Republic), Télécom Bretagne (France) and Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary).

In 2014, eight CPUT applicants secured funding through Erasmus Mundus for studies in Europe. The Office of International Affairs hosted a pre-departure conference for students and staff from universities across the country, preparing to depart for studies funded by Erasmus Mundus. The conference was a two day affair that also attracted representatives from interested organisations such as embassies. In addition, CPUT hosted a joint EUROSA-EMA2SA conference on the impact of the Erasmus Mundus project.

CPUT also participates in the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the largest funding organisation in the world supporting the international exchange of students and researchers. DAAD also aims to assist university staff members who are responsible for coordinating international activities to implement effective structures of internationalisation at their home universities. It does this by providing courses on the management of internationalisation. Ms Hodges participated in a DAAD workshop on internationalisation of higher education in Bonn, Germany, in 2014, and was invited to serve in an advisory capacity to evaluate DAAD proposals for courses in the management of internationalisation.

Through the Office of International Affairs, CPUT is fully active in Tuning Africa, a harmonisation strategy developed to assist universities in Africa to design common curriculum development frameworks to enable comparability and equivalence of learning outcomes among Africa universities. Tuning Africa is a joint African UnionEuropean Union initiative. CPUT has completed a curriculum in Mechanical Engineering through Tuning Africa, in collaboration with a number of African countries.

CPUT received many international visitors in 2014. For example, the Office of International Affairs hosted delegates from French universities who visited the institution to investigate the possibility of research collaborations, staff and student exchanges, and skills building programmes. The delegation was led by Dr Pierre Le Monde from the French Embassy. CPUT is already involved in a number of mutually beneficial partnerships with France, the most notable being F’SATI, a joint venture between CPUT and ESIEE-Paris, a graduate school in France. Currently, the majority of collaborations with the French are concentrated in the Faculty of Engineering. The purpose of the delegation’s visit was to extend collaboration with France to other faculties at CPUT.