It is my great pleasure to invite you to the 3rd International SANORD Symposium at Aarhus University.

Modern society faces a number of grand challenges, including climate change, the increasing scarcity of natural resources, public health, food security, and ageing populations. The responsibility for finding inventive responses to these challenges rests – not least – on the shoulders of modern universities. Major research universities must therefore share their research platforms with colleagues to form strong international research networks that transcend both academic and national borders.

Aarhus University has a clear strategy to build strong partnerships with African partner universities. The goal is to build networks and strengthen capacity building through strong relations within education and research. This is the key for building an efficient research infrastructure. The increased collaboration will help inspire new research projects and educational programmes and generate solutions to the societal challenges we all face.

This conference will provide an excellent opportunity to discuss and find new ways to strengthen collaboration between Nordic and African Universities, and I look forward to a productive and fruitful conference.

Welcome to Aarhus University!

Rector Lauritz B. Holm-Nielsen, Aarhus University