The Student Network is expanding!
One of the main ideas for the current project period is to involve students to a greater extent. All 40 partner universities are appointing student representatives to join the SASUF Student Network.
Get to know Andile, student representative from South Africa
Andile Mthembu, currently doing MA in the development and anthropology at the University of Zululand in KwaZulu-Natal.
Andile says: “I got acquainted with SASUF when my supervisor (one of the SASUF seed funding grant holders) introduced me to the project she was doing, and asked if I was interested to be part of her team. Since I have always been someone who’s passionate about community embedded research projects, I couldn't turn down this opportunity”. Through the work of his supervisor, he got familiar with how the network works, and saw a gap that students could fill, which could strengthen the network as a whole.
When he further speaks about his engagement in the Student Network, one of the things he underlines is the fact that people from different parts of the world, different walks of life, with compeletly differnt experiences, are united through research and works jointly to solve global challenges. To quote Andile, he says that:
“SASUF Student Network gave me a platform to meet young researchers who are equally driven to use research to impact society. Kailash Satyarthi once said, "the power of youth is the common wealth for the entire world. No segment in the society can match with the power, idealism, enthusiasm and courage of young people", hence I always advocate for the participation of students in SASUF”.
Get to know Julia, student representative from Sweden
Julia Forsberg answers the questions on how she got involved in the Student Network, and how it is to be an active student in the network:
“I first came across SASUF when I was on exchange in South Africa during the spring of 2019. 4 students from Sweden were travelling to South Africa to participate in the conference, as well as the first ever SASUF Student Summit. I've been active ever since, firstly as a student representative, later as the President of the Student Board, and now again as a student representative’. I love this engagement as it allows me to meet and work together with people from a range of different backgrounds and with different knowledge compared to myself. As students, we face similar challenges and share experiences, even though our daily lives might differ a lot. It is my honour to represent the students and to keep working to increase the student influence in SASUF!”