Projectleaders:
Jane Smith, Libraries [ j.smith@uvs.edu ] 
Gerrit Janssens, UHasselt [ gerrit.janssens@uhasselt.be ]

AdeKUS aspires to be a leading provider in the region of high quality academic research, education and services and thus, contributing to the sustainable development of Suriname.

Project 1 aims at institutional capacity building linked to administration, management and infrastructure. It is a key project for further professionalism at this university. The results of this project will benefit to projects 3 to 6 in succeeding their respective objectives. Aspects such as e-learning, upgrading of the ICT infrastructure (e-administration and expanded bandwidth), e-communication, up-to-date library facilities and e-library will all lead to a successful implementation of the Master of Sciences studies at AdeKUS.

In an environment with growing competition, higher demands are also made on human resources. Hence, continuous attention should be paid on the empowerment of employees and the improvement of their working environment. Special attention will be given to human resource development, to efficient online services and to the communication within the university community, as well as with external stakeholders.
These actions, based on firm and accepted policies, and implemented according to strategic plans, will enable AdeKUS to perform in an efficient and effective way, benefiting the university community and society at large.

* Tendering for an Integrated Information System at AdeKUS
A tendering was held for the design and implementation of an Integrated Information System at AdeKUS in February 2011. Based on the Terms of Reference, five (5) companies send in a tender, which was carefully evaluated by a team of experts of AdeKUS.

QUALOGY NV was selected for this activity. They have been selected to design and implement an IS at AdeKUS. 
On March, 15th 2011 an agreement was signed between Qualogy NV and AdeKUS. By 2013, this system will be in place.

Projectleaders:
Radjiskumar Mohan, IGSR [ r.mohan@uvs.edu ] 
Arno Libotton, VUB [ arno.libotton@vub.ac.be ]

AdeKUS is in the process of being transformed from a primarily teaching oriented university to a qualified research and educational university. Project 2 tries to assist AdeKUS in this process, aiming to increase its research and teaching capacities. This will result in a larger output, namely more and better educated university graduates and high level research results at frequent intervals. All this contributes to the overall development of the Society, improving the quality of local and regional institutes, industry and the labour market in general.

Project 2 concentrates on strengthening the research capabilities of all AdeKUS laboratories, on defining and streamlining research areas of institutions, laboratories and faculties, and on setting up a Statistical Support Unit towards research through application of statistical procedures. Further more, scientific writing and publishing skills will be improved and a Research Fund will be supported. These actions should create opportunities for Researchers to initiate more research.
Project 2 also focuses on the improvement of the education process, whereby special emphasis is put on the methodology of curriculum development, the teaching methods and the accreditation procedures.
At the end of the Partner Programme there should be a substantial increase in qualified instructors, researchers, sustainable research programmes and publications at AdeKUS.

Research support will be improved and the increased research results will be used by external beneficiaries. This output can become a major source of innovation that will lead to social and economic development of the Suriname society.

Call for PhD Scholarship December 2011:
An open call for a PhD Scholarship in Statistics has been implemented. Please note that the deadline for submission is January, 2nd 2012. Please read the eligibility criteria here.

Many people are not familiar with the meaning of sustainable development, let alone the meaning of education for sustainable development. Therefore, they do not know how to stimulate their own development.
Often, policies are not aimed at all the different Suriname communities, but focuses on one single group. Educating a new generation of multi-disciplinary and multifunctional specialists will enable a better understanding of the concept of sustainable development.
Therefore, the development of a Master of Sciences programme on sustainable development forms the basis of Project 3. This will result in well-trained policy makers and other graduates, available for society.

Objective
MERSD is an academic program, which aims to train specialists in development. The training is therefore aimed at the student's scientific knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes to enable him to formulate, analyze and implement policies independently in concrete situations. The MERSD is a research-oriented Master's program that focuses on people who can identify with the concept of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and who are prepared to use education for the development of knowledge and skills in service of sustainable development at all levels: personal, social, national and global. The MERSD focuses on bringing forth a development expert who is academically and practically-trained. This development expert uses different perspectives - trans disciplinary - to analyse the existing social structures and individual problems. To achieve this there are four pillars identified, on which this program is based on. They are as followed: Civic Participation, Community Development, Prevention Poverty Reduction and Self-employed Entrepreneurship.

Projectleaders:

Riad Nurmohamed, FTeW [ r.nurmohamed@uvs.edu ]

André Vervoort, K.U.Leuven [ andre.vervoort@bwk.kuleuven.be ]

The availability of many natural resources (renewable energy and minerals) and potential land and fresh water are a solid basis for further economical development of Suriname. However, there is a need for more expertise in sustainable use and management of land and water, mineral resources and energy resources. Sustainable management of natural resources will limit, among other benefits, pollution of the environment and preserve the nature of the community as much as possible.

The Faculty of Technological Sciences already conducts research in these different fields, but to take the education and research a step further, upgraded infrastructure of laboratories, updated library facilities and higher educated lecturers are needed. Project 4 aims at addressing these problems and at strengthening the research capacities and education in the field of sustainable management of natural resources (SMNR). This should result in increased awareness of society on principles of SMNR and increased interactive development and implementation of socio-economic projects in technical fields on SMNR at AdeKUS.

The specific goals are to develop a Master of Sciences programme in SMNR at AdeKUS (together with Project 5) and to increase the academic standards of research in the technical fields of SMNR at AdeKUS. These goals will be realized together with lecturers from the socio-economic field and a close collaboration with relevant stakeholders is envisaged.

This will strengthen not only interdisciplinary research at AdeKUS, in addition Suriname institutions and companies outside the university will also benefit from this project.

Projectleaders:

Jerry Toelsie, FMeW [  j.toelsie@uvs.edu ]

Robert De Wulf, UGent [  robert.dewulf@ugent.be ]

Tropical rain forest covers almost 90% of the surface area of Suriname. This forest has a high biodiversity and contains several natural resources useful for society. Bio-natural resources are characterized by their ability to regenerate within a relatively short period. Sustainable use of such resources takes in account that the consumption or extraction rate needs to be maintained within the reproductive capacity of the natural systems. For many bio-natural resources, harvesting rates must leave enough of these resources in the eco-system in order to maintain its resilience and bio-diversity.

Sustainable development of bio-natural resources has substantial contributions to national and global development. This requires sustainable management and thus academically trained specialists with appropriate skills and knowledge. These specialists can not be educated at AdeKUS for the moment.

This project will focus together with Project 4 on setting up a Master of Sciences programme in the field of Sustainable  Management of Natural Resources with adequate scientific infrastructure, research, and teaching capacity (quality and quantity). Four streams will be developed: Natural products, Agriculture, Forestry and Biodiversity.