From Egypt to Panama: Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility grants awarded
Five Leiden University projects will receive an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility grant this year for exchange projects with non-European partner universities. In total, €382,284 will be allocated to projects with universities in Latin America, Africa and the Mediterranean.
The Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility programme (ICM) provides grants for international mobility from and to partner countries. Depending on the goals of the individual projects, mobility programmes will be established for students, staff or both. Not only will candidates from Leiden University travel abroad, but candidates from partner universities will also come to the Netherlands.
Joining forces with Egyptologists from Cairo
One of the projects is that of Nico Staring and Miriam Müller, both from the Institute for Area Studies (Faculty of Humanities). They want to foster closer collaboration with fellow Egyptologists from Cairo University. ‘The project mainly focuses on the archaeological site of Saqqara, which served as the main burial ground for the royal capital of Memphis for more than three millennia’, says Staring. ‘Saqqara is closely linked to the Egyptian collection of the National Museum of Antiquities (RMO). Egyptologists from Leiden have been conducting research in Saqqara for more than 50 years, the past ten of which in collaboration with Museo Egizio in Turin.’
Colleagues in Cairo have also spent years conducting research there. ‘They’ve been doing so in an adjacent section of the same burial ground where, a few years ago, they discovered a monumental tomb whose wall reliefs, pillars and funerary statues have been in the RMO for nearly 200 years. Despite the shared interest, the archaeological expeditions have worked alongside but not together with one another. With the Erasmus+ ICM project, we hope to change that.’
Interested in applying for an Erasmus+ grant for international cooperation? The SEA International Relations team can help with the application and with the project itself.
Archaeological remains affected by climate change
This is necessary because climate change makes it essential for Egyptologists to intensify their collaboration, Staring explains. ‘The increase in heavy downpours is severely damaging the archaeological remains. Climate change is forcing us to take new measures, and that includes collaborating more closely.’
The PhD candidates who are coming to Leiden will be able to use the library of the Netherlands Institute for the Near East (NINO) and the RMO, where they will be able to study objects from the collection. ‘Staff from Cairo University will contribute to our teaching activities, such as the Museology of the Ancient Near East course. They will also conduct their own research, for example on objects in the RMO collection. Staff from Leiden University will travel to Cairo several times over the next three years. We want to organise an annual workshop hosted at the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC) about ongoing research and priorities relating to archaeological heritage management.’
Climate change and forced migration in Panama
Another project is a collaboration with Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá (UTP). Main applicant Natalia Donner (Faculty of Humanities) is leading the project: ‘Humanizing Global Challenges’. The project combines European and Latin American perspectives in a study of climate change and forced migration. ‘The goal is for Leiden and Panama to exchange knowledge and methods so they can develop grounded solutions that inform policy’, says Donner. ‘The project is embedded in three courses – Research Methods, Border Criminologies and Biodiversity – and two international workshops, one in Leiden, one in Panama.’
The mobility part of the project consists of incoming bachelor’s, master’s and PhD students, incoming UTP staff and outgoing Leiden University staff.
Other projects
Chara Papathanasiou (Faculty of Science-Leiden Institute of Physics) is leading a partnership with Birzeit University and Islamic University of Gaza in Palestine. This project focuses on enabling incoming students from Palestine to follow courses and conduct research in modern laboratories.
David Ehrhardt (FGGA-Leiden University College) and Michiel Veldhuis (Faculty of Science-Institute of Environmental Sciences) are continuing their ongoing ICM projects with the University of Ghana, Bayero University Kano and National Open University of Nigeria. They are working on a joint approach to a range of global challenges, including geopolitical differences, AI and education, and biodiversity and climate change.
Mercy Naftal and Joanne Verweij (LUMC) are also continuing their ICM projects in Africa on improving the health and position of mothers and babies in collaboration with Haramaya University in Ethiopia, Kamuzu University in Malawi, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre and Aga Khan University in Tanzania and the Uganda Cancer Institute in Uganda.