Category Archives: 2021

The roundtable discussion ‘Strengthening Institutional Capacities for Trans-Continental Collaborations with African or Asian Research and Education Hubs’ will be held by IARU’s Global Transformation Group on 28 June at ‘Asia & Africa in Transition’ – a two-day conference at the University of Copenhagen. 

The aim of the roundtable is to establish a forum for exchange and networking among research and education programs with a focus on Asia or Africa that span across continents. The goal is to share information, experiences, inspire each other and pave the way for future collaboration. The key topics for the roundtable are: 

• Innovative formats for collaboration and institutional benefits
• Insights into how partners found each other and started the collaboration
• Challenges with trans-continental collaborations – examples of projects/ideas that did not work and learning outcomes
• Advice for universities engaged in trans-continental collaborations
• Suggestions on how to strengthen current collaborations and how to start new ones

Invited presentations will be given by speakers from the University of Cape Town, the National University of Singapore, University of California, Berkeley, Ashesi University Ghana, ETH Zurich and the University of Copenhagen (full details available online). 

The roundtable will be held on 28 June, 15:45-17:45 (GMT+2) and will have a hybrid format (online and in-person). 

You can join the audience for the roundtable by registering online (for free) for the conference.

The full conference programme is also available. 

Significant progress continues to be made in the aftermath of the fires that damaged several buildings at the University of Cape Town on 18 April. 

The first stage of UCT’s recovery plan has been completed. The campus has been made safe, most students have returned to their residences, and as much normal academic life as possible has resumed. 

The work of salvaging materials continues apace. This has involved a huge number of dedicated UCT staff and 2,000 volunteers. After 17 days, all the material from the archives underneath the Jagger Library has been removed. A specialist team of conservators is working on site, with freeze drying and humidifying facilities to help rehabilitate the delicate items.

All this work has been undertaken while maintaining normal library services for researchers and students, and while following Covid-safe procedures – such that no one involved in the salvage work has tested positive for Covid-19. 

In the long term, some buildings will be returned to their original condition, but in other cases – such as the Jagger Library Reading Room – the extensive damage has offered an opportunity to innovate and increase the sustainability of the campus.

UCT has expressed its gratitude for the many offers of support for students and staff from friends and partners throughout the world. 

Further details of the recovery process are available on the UCT website.


Photo: Photo credit: Lerato Maduna and Je’nine May, https://www.news.uct.ac.za/, licenced under Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

As the global focus on ageing increases, the IARU Ageing, Longevity and Health (ALH) platform IARU-ALH aims to play a central role in international interdisciplinary ageing research, with high-profile initiatives, collaborations, and networks worldwide.

This platform gives access to numerous world-leading research, innovation, and education environments with which we will continue the international approach in undertaking new research and recruitment, providing researchers and students with opportunities for mobility, and initiating educational activities to develop innovative services and products for the ageing community.

Download flyer.

Learn more about IARU Aging, Longevity & Health initiative.

As we are facing challenges brought by COVID-19, we have decided to launch the “Online Joint Course” initiative, which enables students from the IARU member universities to participate in online course that are taught jointly by the member universities.

We have also put together a list of unique online learning opportunities provided by each member university. Please contact the relevant universities directly for any inquiries.

1. Joint Online Course
Sustainable Ageing – taught by University of Copenhagen and the University of Tokyo

2. IARU Courses

3. Other Unique Programs offered by IARU universities*
(*Programs listed here are not limited to students from IARU member universities.)
The University of Tokyo
University of California, Berkeley