Coimbra Group Winter School

An initiative of the Development Cooperation Working Group of the Coimbra Group

Global Change and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa – Chances or Challenges?

Online four-week programme from 1 to 26 February 2021

Deadline for application: 20 January 2021

What are the economic, social and cultural effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in different African regions? During this winter school, 50 MA and PhD students at Coimbra Group and African universities will learn about impacts, challenges and responses related to Covid-19 and Africa thanks to a range of experts who are teaching and researching at Coimbra Group (CG) and African universities. Together, they will identify challenges and work collectively to formulate solution-based responses.

Concept

Since the global exchange of people is ultimately responsible for the intercontinental spread of the Covid19, the corona pandemic can be described as a disease of globalization. If you look at Africa in the midst of this crisis as the continent that benefits the least from globalization and is still an essential part of a global economic system due to its natural resources, there are a few special features.

Before the crisis, Africa was the breeding ground for many pandemic diseases such as HIV or Ebola, but with Covid-19, which came to the continent from European diplomats, business travelers and tourists, the direction of the infection chain is changing. Covid-19 is primarily a disease of mobility.

But precisely because of the experience with Ebola and other tropical infectious diseases, many African countries seem to be well prepared for the pandemic despite poorly equipped health systems. A Corona test was developed in Senegal while the rules of social distancing were activated in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the most affected countries in the world Ebola epidemic 2014-2016.

If one believes the epidemiological prognosis of some observers, the corona pandemic will not hit the African continent as much as Italy, the US or Brazil in terms of mortality rate. Even if the official infection numbers are (still) relatively low in comparison to the rest of the world, which may also be due to a lack of testing capacities, major socio-economic challenges are already beginning to appear: the weak economic systems are on the verge of collapse in many places. Due to the curfews, day laborers and business people in the informal sector cannot earn money for their daily livelihood. The payment of ‘western’ development aid is also expected to decrease in the next few years.

The following questions are derived from these observations:

  • What are the economic, social and cultural effects of the corona pandemic in the different African regions?
  • How will the corona pandemic change Africa’s position in the globalized world?
  • Is the COVID-19 pandemic a chance or challenge for Africa?

As part of the Development Cooperation Study Days, these questions will be discussed with experts and students from all Coimbra Group universities. The interdisciplinary online workshop aims to bring together scientific perspectives from the disciplines of Economics, Health management, Social science, Political science, Area studies, African studies, Philosophy and Postcolonial studies.

In a nutshell:

  • Interdisciplinary workshops with Master and PhD students from Africa and Europe
  • African and European experts from Economics, Health management, Social science, Area studies, History and Ecology
  • Regular online Group meetings
  • Keynote lecture
  • Final event with project presentations
  • 3 ECTS

Download the Winter School poster.

International Coimbra Group Summer School
on European Multilingualism

 Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo, 30 June-6 July 2019

 Sarajevo – City of European Youth Olympic Festival 2019

The Coimbra Group and the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) are delighted to invite you to take part in the International Summer School on European Multilingualism that will take place at the University of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) from 30th June to 6th July 2019.

With the support of the Erasmus+ KA107 programme,  teachers from the University of Budapest, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Granada, the University of Groningen, the University of Salamanca, the University of Würzburg, and the University of Poitiers (project coordinator), all Coimbra Group members, will propose, in collaboration with the teachers from the University of Sarajevo, an intensive short programme on European Multilingualism and Cultural Mediation Studies with the aim of sharing innovative approaches to teaching and learning languages.

The intensive short programme offers courses in translation and applied languages in several small tandem groups:

  • French – Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian
  • German – Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian
  • Italian – Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian
  • Russian – Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian
  • Spanish – Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian

The Summer School teaching programme proposes also a Language Discovering Workshop allowing all participants to learn about Less Widely Used and Lesser Taught languages (LWULT) and their important role in keeping language diversity and the world’s multilingual heritage. The intensive short programme offers two LWULT Workshops:

  • Hebrew
  • Modern Greek

The International Summer School on European Multilingualism that will take place at the University of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) from 30th June to 6th July 2019 is a great opportunity to discover the very dynamic city of Sarajevo and its cultural assets. As City of European Youth Olympic Festival 2019, Sarajevo, with its multicultural heritage, becomes an attractive place to start intercultural dialogue and to share the history and values from this part of Europe.

Who can apply?
Students from Bosnian and Western Balkans Universities, students from Coimbra Group Universities, students from different European universities  

What are the students’ levels?
Students from the three cycles Bachelor, Master and PhD having a level B (B1 or B2) in one of the proposed European languages

Which are the fields of studies?
Languages, Cultural studies, Humanities

How to apply?
Please fill out the registration form before 15th June 2019 and send it to Vice-Dean, Ms Selma Djuliman (selma.djuliman@ff.unsa.ba), at the International Office of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo.

Registration form

Tuition Fees: There is no registration fee for participation in the Coimbra Group Summer School. By making the registration free of charge, the University of Sarajevo and the Faculty of Philosophy wish to support European Multilingual Policy.

Programme

Practical information

Summer School in Algebra and Topology 2019

11-14 September 2019, Université catholique de Louvain

The Summer School in Algebra and Topology will consist of four intensive courses addressed to Master and PhD students, which will also be of interest to more experienced researchers in mathematics. This event is part of a joint project of UCLouvain with the universities of Coimbra, Padova and Poitiers, promoting research collaboration within the Coimbra Group.

The invited speakers of the summer school will be professors Silvana Bazzoni (Padova), Marino Gran (Louvain-la-Neuve), Sandra Mantovani (Milano), and Jorge Picado (Coimbra). The titles of their courses are:

  • Contramodules and their applications – Silvana Bazzoni
  • Categories for universal algebra – Marino Gran
  • Categorical commutator theory – Sandra Mantovani
  • Frames and locales: topology without points – Jorge Picado

To register, please send a message to Mme Carine Baras (carine.baras@uclouvain.be) mentioning your academic status (Master or PhD student, post-doc, professor, etc.) and affiliation before 15 June 2019. She can also help you with booking a room in Louvain-la-Neuve.

Further information is available on the website www.uclouvain.be/irmp-summerschool-2

Coimbra Group International Summer School on European Multilingualism

7-14 July 2018, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad

Novi Sad – European Youth Capital 2019 and European Capital of Culture 2021

The Coimbra Group and the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Novi Sad (Serbia) are delighted to invite you to take part in the International Summer School on European Multilingualism that will take place at the University of Novi Sad (Serbia) from 7 to 14 July 2018.

With the support of the  Erasmus+ KA107 programme, teachers from the following Coimbra Group universities – University of Bologna, University of Granada, University of Salamanca,  University of Graz and the University of Poitiers (project coordinator), will propose, in collaboration with the teachers from the University of Novi Sad, an intensive short programme on European Multilingualism and Cultural Mediation Studies, with the aim to share innovative approaches to teaching and learning languages.

The intensive short programme offers courses in translation and language application in several small tandem groups: German-Serbian, French-Serbian, Italian-Serbian, Spanish-Serbian.
The Summer School teaching programme proposes also the Language Discovering Workshop allowing all participants to learn about the Less Widely Used and Lesser Taught languages (LWULT) and their important role in keeping language diversity and the world’s multilingual heritage. Two LWULT Workshops are offered: Hebrew and Modern Greek.

The International Summer School on European Multilingualism is a great opportunity to discover the very dynamic city of Novi Sad and its cultural assets. As European Youth Capital 2019 and European Capital of Culture 2021, the city of Novi Sad, with its multicultural heritage, becomes an attractive place to start intercultural dialogue and to share the history and values from this part of Europe.

One of the most exciting cultural events taking place in Novi Sad is the Exit Festival, which is the laureate of the 2018 Best European Festival Award. The Exit Festival – https://www.exitfest.org/sr (12-16 July 2018) is proposed as cultural programme of the International Summer School on European Multilingualism.
The international Summer School will be awarded 3 ECTS.

Who can apply?
– Students from Serbian and Western Balkans Universities, students from Coimbra Group Universities
What are the student’s levels?
– Students from the three cycles (Bachelor, Master and PhD) with a level B (B1 or B2) in one of the proposed European languages
Which are the fields of studies?
– Languages, Cultural studies, Humanities

How to apply?

Registration form: to be filled out before 15 June 2018 and to be sent to the University of Novi Sad: International Office of the Faculty of Philosophy: international@ff.uns.ac.rs
Tuition Fees: Intensive Short programme, welcome and farewell parties: 100 €
Payment terms: For more information, please contact the International Office of the Faculty of Philosophy: international@ff.uns.ac.rs

Summer school programme

Registration form

Practical information

 

Summer School in Algebra and Topology 2018

12-15 September 2018, Université catholique de Louvain

Within the project “Attractivité internationale et collaborations de recherche dans le cadre du Coimbra Group” the Université catholique de Louvain organizes a Summer school in algebra and in topology: www.uclouvain.be/irmp-summerschool

The speakers will be professors Maria Manuel Clementino (http://www.mat.uc.pt/~mmc, University of Coimbra), Alberto Facchini (http://www.math.unipd.it/~facchini/, University of Padova) and Tim Van der Linden (Université catholique de Louvain, https://perso.uclouvain.be/tim.vanderlinden/). These mathematicians are internationally well known for their scientific contributions in topology, algebra and category theory, respectively.

The mini-courses will be addressed to Master and PhD students, and will also be of interest for more experienced researchers in these fields. There is a limited funding to partially cover the local expenses for students (deadline: 30 April 2018).

The programme will consist in three mini-courses:

  • Maria Manuel Clementino – Topological algebras
  • Alberto Facchini – Commutative monoids, noncommutative rings and modules
  • Tim Van der Linden –  Non-associative algebras

This event is part of a joint project of the Université catholique de Louvain with the universities of Coimbra, Padova and Poitiers, promoting the research collaborations within the Coimbra Group. The project is funded by the UCL for the period January 2018-December 2020.