By Professor James Smith, Vice-Principal International 

Welcome to the University of Edinburgh’s Africa blog – providing a snap-shot of some of the ways we engage with partners, conduct research and support student experiences across the continent.

Going to study, work and teach in Africa was a completely transformative experience for me and I am happy that two of the initiatives we showcased in 2015 involved ‘Go Abroad’ activities to East Africa.

Under the auspices of the Global Development Academy, Dr Jamie Cross took a small group of prize-winning students to Nairobi to learn about the work of one of our newest partners, iHub.

Meanwhile, a dozen undergraduate students took part in a month long, intensive Swahili language summer school where they stayed in the home of Julius Nyerere, first President of Tanzania.

More African research and news includes Dr Ola Uduku of the Edinburgh College of Art building partnerships and research collaboration around architecture in Ghana, Dr Jen Palmer and two PhD students, Rebekah Thompson and Shona Lee, blogging about their work examining the social implications of zoonotic diseases in Uganda and Michael Crawley blogging about his innovative doctoral research, which involves running with some of the cream of Ethiopian runners at altitude.

Finally, Professor Paul Nugent has talked about his ERC Advanced Grant, AFRIGOS, which will examine the ways in which borders shape transport, trade and life across many African borderlands. This will be the second ERC Advanced Grant to be hosted in our Centre of African Studies!

The University has deep connections with Africa. The first African student graduated from Edinburgh in 1859. Other notable African graduates include the aforementioned Julius Nyerere, and Dawda Jawara, first leader of the Gambia.

We currently host over 500 students from Africa on campus in Edinburgh and maintain a huge array of teaching and research partnerships across the continent.

We hope that these stories provide a taste of Edinburgh’s engagement across the African continent.