Tilburg University welcomes Ethiopian PhD students
In February a group of twenty Ethiopian students arrived in Tilburg at the Development Research Institute (IVO), as part of a 2.8 million NICHE project developed by Addis Ababa University College of Commerce and several other Ethiopian higher education institutions. The project aims to assist the Ethiopian universities in building research capacity in Business and Economics.
Several faculties of Tilburg University (TU) are involved in the project, which is implemented by IVO, in collaboration with Fontys Business School and North-West University (South Africa). Part of this project is the supervision of 100 Ethiopian PhD students for a four-year period.
Research methodology and academic writing
The students come from Addis Ababa University, Mekelle University, Arba Minch University and Civil Service College. They will spend seven weeks in Tilburg on an intensive training on research methodology and academic writing. In this period they also have an opportunity to meet with experts from Tilburg University, who help them to revise and fine-tune their PhD proposals. In total, IVO will train five of such groups.
What is in it for the experts from TU?
In return, the visit is a great opportunity for Tilburg University to learn more about Ethiopia and to raise the TU profile in the country. All research topics are relevant for Ethiopia; the information that will become available from these studies will significantly boost knowledge of Ethiopian Business and Economics.
Capacity development of Business and Economics
NICHE project ETH-020 (Capacity development of Business and Economics) was launched in 2010. It aims to contribute to the expansion of Ethiopia’s higher education system by supporting the development of faculty staff and of qualitative training provision and research in the fields of Business and Economics, and Taxation.
The project particularly focuses on:
- faculty staff development at MSc and PhD level;
- enhancing the research quality of graduate programmes so that they can contribute to business development;
- enhancing institutional capacity to deliver relevant graduate curricula.
Creating equal opportunities on the labour market
The project also aims to create sustainable linkages with the business community and better opportunities for women.