Page 48 - DUT Annual Report 2020

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DURBAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY ANNUAL REPORT 2020
in translational research and entrepreneurship in collaboration with Cambridge University and universities based in Namibia, Kenya and Ethiopia. DUT and partner universities in Africa and Europe received funding from the Erasmus+ European Union programme for the EURYDICE Project on graduate attributes and work readiness in the field of renewable energies.
In terms of engagements with the Department of Science and Innovation, the Space Science research focus area also continued to train students, and host an international conference, and will produce its first PhD graduate on the programme studying in the Management Sciences area in 2021.
Other activities and engagements by faculties and units during 2020 included the following:
The entrepreneurial incubation programme, that reached more than 3 500 students, through the DUT Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in conjunction with our quad-helix partners, including the Entrepreneurial Development in Higher Education programme, the SEDA, Agribusiness Development Agency, Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Cataler SA;
UrbanFutureCentre’sWarwickZero-WasteProject in collaboration with GroundWork, Asiye eTafuleni and other African and international partners;
Department of Information Technology students were selected for the Huawei Seeds Future Programme;
Several academic departments, led by the Department of Information Technology, partnered with the Luban Workshop and the Centre for the Advancement of Science and Mathematics Education (CASME) to manufacture and donate 3D-printed face shields to various public sector service personnel and disadvantaged communities in the Durban area, as part of efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The University continued to have an impact regionally and to contribute to solutions and improve lives and livelihoods through our engagements with eThewkini, Umgeni Water and the Water Research Council, amongst other partners, school engagement programmes, and entrepreneurship support for our students, amongst other initiatives.
Internationalisation
Internationalisation is a significant characteristic of global Universities and a significant component of what is measured in the global ranking tables. DUT enrolled 464 international students (1.36% of total headcount enrolment) in 2020, which comprised 191 undergraduate students and 273 postgraduate students. Internationalisation is an important strategy for global and high-performing Universities, which has impact on our ranking tables. It exposes our students and staff to a global platform while at home.
In2020DUTwasearmarkedtoreceivetheGlobalAward for Excellence and Innovation to be awarded in 2021. However, the low percentage of international students remains a concern. The DUT draft Internationalisation Framework highlights various strategies, for example, joint degrees, that will help us establish partnerships and recruitment strategies for international students, which the International Office is working on together with the faculties and Recruitment Office.
As part of the internationalisation strategy, DUT focused on internationalisation at home, considering the amount of resources that are required for mobility programmes and the impact of the pandemic. Hence virtual exchanges and collaboration were the main focus of 2020, which proved to be effective despite the limitations caused by the pandemic.
Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) at DUT, 2020
In 2020 DUT had 21 COIL projects in progress, with eight of them running successfully to completion. Due to changes in the academic calendar arising from challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, 13 projects were at different stages of development and implementation, with all set to be completed in 2021. Those which were completed include projects in Maritime Studies, Food and Nutrition, Sports Management, Chiropractic, Dental Sciences, and Nursing.
DUT also launched Igniting COIL at DUT, with a widescale virtual launch across the University late in 2020. This event aimed to initiate enhancement of the uptake of COIL in all DUT faculties and departments. A community of practice called Igniting COIL at DUT has been established on MS Teams. Through this team, facilitation, capacity building and support for COIL at DUT by the International Education and Partnership (IEP) has been enabled. In addition, a number of different