EANLAR Phase II (2016-2017)

In the first phase of the project, we collected country and university specific information through surveys to gain a better understanding of management structures and processes. In the second phase, we collected this information from the new partner institutions and applied this data to create country-specific guides as well as developed targeted trainings and materials that are used within the universities to improve the quality of international fund management.

In phase II of the EANLAR project, workshops and targeted trainings included experts from funding institutions focused on projects in Africa. By inviting these experts to dialogue with finance administrators, academics, and Principal Investigators from countries in East Africa, we actively fostered the connection between those agencies focused on the South and universities in the South to develop further North-South partnership structures. From these relationships, North-South-South partnership structures can be formed, as part of the training materials provided demonstrated how to develop cooperation with other universities and find project collaborators within and outside of the East African countries. More importantly, the nature of the EANLAR network directly promotes South-South partnerships by providing a platform through which university administrators from various East African countries can directly communicate with one another or continue to work on different projects. By improving upon the online platform in the second phase of the project, we provide better ways of interaction. Through this platform they will be able to exchange information and examples of good practice, post questions, and help one another.

• Expand the EANLAR network to the remaining countries in the East African region (Tanzania, Rwanda; Burundi in Phase III),
• Deepen the EANLAR network with training modules, conferences and workshops that strengthen communication between stakeholders in research projects, such as PIs, donors, and financial administrators, and increase the cultural understanding of different processes,
• Increase the volume of communication on the Wikispace; disseminate and increase the usability of the wikispaces,
• Develop targeted trainings for financial administrators and principal investigators (including resources mobilizing and integrity promotion),
• Promote and strengthen South-South & North-South-South cooperation.