As the current, second funding phase of the Collaborative Research Centre TRR Future Rural Africa (2022-2025) is set to end in December of this year, we were pleased to welcome a review group, assembled by the German Research Foundation (DFG) based on the interdisciplinary setup of our project, for a two-day on-site review of our project in Bonn last week.
The review group consisted of twelve reviewers, joined by two scientific members of the Senate and Grants Committees on Collaborative Research Centres as well as staff from the DFG Head Office. The visit was a valuable opportunity to share our progress, methodologies, findings and outlook for a possible third funding phase, which, pending a positive outcome of the review, would start in January 2026 and carry on for four more years.
All Future Rural Africa members and several project partners were present for the review. The evaluation included a presentation by the designated spokespersons for the third phase, Britta Klagge and Michael Bollig, outlining the proposed research design for the next phase and its implementation, as well as key project milestones from the first two funding phases. They were supported by several project members who shared their insights on various topics. Reviewers also had the opportunity to meet with representatives of all sixteen sub-projects included in the proposal for the next phase, for more in-depth discussions of their outlined undertakings.
We appreciate the chance to engage in constructive dialogue and receive thoughtful feedback throughout the evaluation process. We want to thank all participants of the review process and especially the reviewers for taking the time to travel to Bonn to evaluate our project. A final decision on the next phase can be expected in November 2025, and we remain hopeful for a positive outcome.
