Networking Events

Swiss-South Africa networking events are used to forge potential new partnerships between Swiss and South Africans from the education, research and innovation landscapes. Networking events are normally hosted as part of the high-level visits of Swiss academics and others to South Africa. For example, the International Conferences on Research Infrastructures (ICRI) is a well-established international forum encouraging global cooperation and providing a unique opportunity to share views on matters of international relevance in the research infrastructures domain.

Alumni Events

The objective of alumni and networking events is to foster ties and exchanges among Swiss and South African researchers who are, or have been, active in collaborative Swiss-SouthAfrican research projects. The focus falls on:

• Swiss researchers active in South Africa
• South African researchers working on Swiss-South African research projects
• South African students who had previously received a Swiss scholarship
• Representatives from South African institutions active in the SSJARP

The first SSAJRP alumni event was held in 2012, followed by another two: one in Gauteng on 14 November 2013 and in Cape Town on 4 December 2013. The alumni events were successful, with over 120 alumni and partners attending.Another successful alumni event was held in 2014, and in 2016 the alumni event took the form of a workshop in collaboration with the NRF and the DSI, which focused on the SSABDP.The SSABDP constantly strives to bring the successes and challenges of the programme to a wider audience. The SSABDP Alumni events are taking place on an annual basis. 

Domain Specific Events

Events in a particular domain are mostly related to Swiss researchers and experts visiting South Africa in the framework of the joint research programme, conferences or following the initiative of the Swiss Embassy to foster bilateral relations in a particular topic. Joint lectures and panel discussions are mostly co-organized with a South African research or higher education institution targeting not only experts in a specific field but also aiming to attract young scientists to the topic and international cooperation. 

A few examples include :

• Panel discussions on Blockchain Technology with Mathias Ruch, Member of the Swiss Blockchain Federation and CEO of CV VC, in South Africa (Johannesburg and Cape Town) and Mauritius in 2019
• Lecture between the University of Pretoria and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology on Hydrogen fuel with Prof. Arthur Braun in 2019
• Lecture in collaboration with the Academies of Sciences South Africa ASSAf and the  Neurosciences Institute of the University of Cape Town in 2018
• Panel discussions at the Science Forum in 2018, 2017 and 2016, 2015 partly in cooperation with the Embassy of Germany and the Embassy of Italy