DAAD Alumni Seminar 2023 – Water in Africa in Balance with Human Needs and Nature
4 – 8 December 2023
at University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Over 300 million Africans have no access to clean and safe drinking water, while 700 million lack adequate sanitation due to poor living conditions. These challenges have a serious impact on poverty reduction efforts and hinder economic progress. Water scarcity in Africa can be attributed to several reasons: (i) physical shortage (physical water scarcity), (ii) institutional failures or (iii) lack of adequate infrastructure to ensure a regular supply.
Effective water management requires various academic disciplines, including hydrology, geochemistry, chemical analytics, geo-informatics, public hygiene science, water process engineering, ecology, sociology, management and communication. Throughout the seminar, participants will gain insights from various academic perspectives in a series of lectures presented by selected professors of the convening university partners. Alumni will also be requested to prepare a scientific poster or a short presentation before the seminar and present this during the seminar.
Application procedure
Your application (in English language) should emphasize your motivation and personal/professional benefit for your participation. You should illustrate how you plan to integrate the knowledge and experiences obtained at the seminar in Johannesburg into your professional work and how you will involve stakeholders in your co-operation activities.
Please submit your applications to
The deadline for submission is 6 November 2023. Your application should contain:
- Application Form_Alumni Seminar 2023
- a short CV with photograph
- relevant documentation of your alumni status
- presentation of your contribution to the seminar, which can be designed creatively, for example as a video or poster
Please note: Completeness of personal data mentioned in the application form will affect your eligibility as a participant.
After a review by the organizing committee, invited participants will be notified on 15 November 2023 at the latest.
You will have to confirm the acceptance of your invitation by a given deadline date mentioned in the confirmation letter.
For further questions and for submission of your application, please contact:
Prof. Dr. Jan C. Bongaerts ()
Dr. Jiangxue Liu ()