European Forum Alpbach: Deepening Austrian-African cooperation in higher education and research

The annual European Forum Alpbach is an interdisciplinary platform for science, politics, business and culture, which addresses relevant socio-political questions of our time. It was established in 1945 and for the first time it was organized as a 12-day online conference.

On August 26th 2020 a virtual “meet and greet” session for African and Austrian participants of the European Forum Alpbach in Tyrol, Austria has taken place.

After being welcomed by the Forum President Mr Franz Fischler, participants were introduced to the Austrian Higher Education and Research system by Ms. Barbara Weitgruber, Director General for Scientific Research and International Relations of the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF).

Ms. Martina Friedrich from the Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in Education and Research (OeAD-GmbH) gave a detail account of the various cooperation possibilities and instruments for Austrian-African cooperation, while Ms. Martina Hartl from the Department of International Research Cooperation and Science Diplomacy of the BMBWF explained the link between the Austrian and EU level when it comes to collaboration with Africa in Science, Technology and Innovation.

The session also offered the more than 70 online participants the possibility to ask questions e.g. on the policies for and concrete modalities of cooperation. You can find the presentation of the session below!