A final year PhD student and Graduate Assistant of the Department of Geography and Regional Planning, Mr. Christian Kwesi Owusu, has been awarded the 2023 Santander International Exchange Grant to undertake a 3-month research stay at the University of Bonn, Germany. At the University of Bonn, Mr. Owusu will work closely with Prof. Dr. Mariele Evers (Professor in Eco-Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Bonn and UNESCO Chair in Human-Water-Systems), who recently visited the University of Cape Coast. He will work intensively on his data analysis and validation towards the completion of his PhD and also take part in research team meetings and academic activities at the Geography Institute.
Mr. Owusu’s research stay at the University of Bonn will strengthen the long-existing research collaborations between the Department of Geography and Regional Planning, University of Cape Coast, Ghana and the Geography Institute of the University of Bonn, Germany.
The supervisor of Mr. Owusu’s PhD work, Prof. Dr. Benjamin Kofi Nyarko, is an alumnus and newly appointed Ambassador of the University of Bonn from Ghana, with the mandate to increase the visibility, exchange and enrolment of international students into the University of Bonn.
About the Grants
Santander International Exchange Grants aim to support doctoral students in building international networks and raising their academic profile. Funding is awarded for research stays with a duration of 1 to 3 months at a foreign partner university or in a priority country as well as for stays of doctoral students at the University of Bonn.
The Santander International Exchange Grants are funded by the Santander Consumer Bank AG, as part of the 'Santander Universities’. The Santander Bank supports various projects at 1,295 partner universities worldwide, including scholarships and mobility measures for both staff and students. The funded projects focus on internationalization, capacity building, increasing employability, innovation, sustainability and digitization. Since 2021, Santander funds the Santander International Exchange Grants managed by the Bonn Graduate Center as part of its cooperation with the University of Bonn, Germany.