The world is constantly in reformation with efforts to better the life and living conditions of every human in an inclusive manner. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) with its 17 goals has a priority for meeting the energy needs of all people,
however it is estimated that, one billion people of the world's population lack access to electricity with Sub Sahara Africa amongst the worst affected areas. Over the years, efforts of meeting energy needs have been the innovation of industry players, nevertheless in the 21st century the essence of Academia is brought to bear through innovation, design thinking and transfer of technology.
Scientific Director/Project Lead
Professor Assasie Oppong, is the Scientific Director/Project Lead of the KNUST SEED CENTRE Ghana and Lead Architect of KNUST-TUM Cooperation Centre building project.
Frank-Martin Belz (*1966) is full professor of corporate sustainability at the TUM School of Management. Furthermore, he is Director of the TUM SEED Center, a Center of Excellence, which is international und interdisciplinary. The focus of his research and teaching is on sustainable entrepreneurship.
Read More The TUM SEED Center for Sustainable Energies, Entrepreneurship, and Development at the Technical
University of Munich (TUM) is part of the long-term DAAD program “Exceed – Excellence Centers for
Exchange and Development”, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development 2020-2024. The TUM SEED Center aims to contribute to sustainable development by offering higher education and conducting research at the intersection of sustainable energies and entrepreneurship in the Global South (https://www.seed.tum.de). Hereby, the TUM SEED Center announces up to five scholarships for the International Summer School 2024 “Empowering Tomorrow: Sustainable Energies and Entrepreneurship”, which will take place in Munich from 8 to 19 July 2024. (https://www.mgt.tum.de/programs/international-summer-school). The scholarship covers the program's total costs, including the participant fee, housing, and mobility costs.
Eligibility criteria: The candidate must be a master’s student or a young professional (having already achieved a bachelor’s degree) from one of the partner universities of the TUM SEED Center with a strong interest in sustainable energies and entrepreneurship.
The candidate will receive:
1. 2 weeks of on-site classes (from 8 to 19 July 2024);
2. Full reading package;
3. Lectures by excellent academics;
4. Discussions with sustainable founders;
5. Interactive activities and group work;
6. Project management skills;
7. 6 ECTS (Equivalent to 3 Credits in the Anglo-Saxon context);
8. Certificate from the TUM School of Management.
In line with DAAD, the TUM SEED Center seeks to enhance gender equality. It highly encourages female candidates to apply for the announced scholarship. Please send your application, including your motivation letter, CV, and Transcript of Records in one PDF file, to Ms. Katharina Eichinger (email:
katharina.ke.eichinger@tum.de) by 15 March 2024 (23:59).
TUM SEED Center is funded by:
The year 2023 saw a lot of successes and challenges for the project. We were able to host a successful international symposium at KNUST involving all the nine (9) partner universities. A Student from KNUST benefited from a scholarship from the project for Student Initiative Foundation and a Master of Philosophy thesis on the mini-grid is at the final stages of completion. Some Staff of KNUST had the opportunity to travel to India and Germany for seminars and workshops to present papers and gained knowledge on mini-grids etc. On the low side, the mini-grid solar installations at Yeboakrom suffered technical setbacks that led to power outages from the mini-grid. Notwithstanding, the KNUST-TUM SEED CENTRE team has been working tirelessly with the community leadership to get power restored. On behalf of my team we express our profound gratitude to TUM SEED, Germany for the support and looking forward to a productive collaboration this Year 2024.
Arrival Day Airoport Pickup service Check-in @ KNUST Guest House or Hotels close to campus
Welcome and Introduction
14:00 Welcome Note by host Scientific Director, KNUST-TUM SEED Ghana
(Guest of Honour Address by KNUST Vice-Chancellor Prof. Mrs. Rita Akosua Dickson)
14:10 Welcome Note by Director SEED or Senior Vice President Juliane Winkelmann
14:25 Round of introductions (all participants)
14:45 Past, Present and Future of SEED: Some Reflections and the Way to Move Forward by Prof. Dr. Frank-Martin Belz, TUM SEED Center director
15:30 Coffee break
16:00 Introduction – Main Departments, Institutions and/Centers @ KNUST relating SEED* (e.g. Center of Renewable Energy, Energy Commission, Ghana, Student Business Organization for Sustainable Development (SBOSD)-Ghana) by host scientific directorKNUST-TUM SEED Ghana
17:00 Discussion and Networking
18:00 Informal networking among delegates or with KNUST faculty
19:00 Dinner (Venue to be decided)
Presentations and poster sessions 09:00 SEED Center Partner Universities: short presentations by each team on academic exchange and project relating SEED (max. 10 minutes) 10:30 Coffee break (Posters on) 11:00 Academic Exchange by wandering around (Poster Session/Gallery) 12:00 Lunch 13:30 2-3 Workshops with a specific focus, which last 90 minutes and run in parallel, 2 facilitators per workshop, coming from different SEED partners to engage in academic discussions prior to and during the annual symposium 15:00 Coffee Break 15:30 2-3 Workshops 17:00 Key note speech: The Future of Mini Grids in Africa (e.g., Association of Africa Mini Grid Developers – AMDA or CEO of PowerHusk) 18:00 Free time (Informal networking and interactions) 19:00 Gala Dinner (Venue to be decided)
Presentations and Workshops with external stakeholders 9:00 Key Note “Mini Grids as an emerging sector: Towards a business model, growth and sustainability” 10:00 Coffee break 10:30 Workshops 12:00 Lunch break 14:00 Key Note: “Policies for Mini Grids as an emerging sector” 15:00 Discussions 15:30 Coffee break 16:00 Workshops 17:30 Free time (Informal networking or visiting any KNUST labs or KNUST faculty of interest)
Visit to Living Lab at Yeboakrom 08:00 Expected time of departure from KNUST campus (4 x 20-seater buses) 11:00 Arrival at Living Lab and going around 13:00 Lunch 14:00 Discussions – Living Labs 15:00 Departure from Living Labs 18:00 Expected time of arrival at KNUST campus
Informal Networking and Local sightseeing (optional) September 08, 2023 – Day 5: For Steering Committee, Project Coordinators and Advisory committee ONLY 10:00 Annual Symposium 2023 and 2024: Looking back and moving forward Steering Committee and Project Coordinators (together) 11:00 Coffee Break 11:30 Steering Committee Meeting and Project Coordinator Meeting (in parallel) 13:00 Farewell Lunch
Ms. Afefa Mireille Akoumany a Master of Philosophy Renewable Energy Technologies student of College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, KNUST has been selected through a competitive interview and assessment as a winner of the THE SEED STUDENT INITIATIVE FOUNDER to represent KNUST SEED CENTRE. In all sixteen students (males and females) across all the six colleges in KNUST applied for the position following the advertisement via KNUST website. As part of the dossier submitted for the application and interview, Ms. Akoumany wrote in her covering letter that “…Please note that my unique drive for excellence, which I clearly demonstrate in the performance of tasks such as providing customer care services and technical support, designing, installing, operating, and maintaining solar photovoltaic systems, has allowed me to hone a competitive edge as far as my career objectives are concerned. My ability to communicate impeccably in French and English languages, coupled with my interpersonal skills, are assets that I intend to put at the service of the TUM SEED Center. I place a premium on professionalism and dedication, which values have earned me the award of the Best Female Worker of the year 2020. I embrace versatility, diversity, and collaborative teamwork…” The THE SEED STUDENT INITIATIVE FOUNDER is sponsored by DAAD through TUM SEED CENTRE of which KNUST SEED CENTRE is a partner. DAAD highly encourages to support female founders and the KNUST SEED CENTRE heartily welcomes Ms. Afefa Mireille Akoumany.
The scientific director, Professor Rexford Assasie Oppong with his team held a brief meeting on 5th Jun, 2023 to welcome Ms. Mireille to the KNUST-TUM SEED Centre.
Today, Wednesday, 19th October, 2022.
The Scientific Director Professor Rexford Assasie Oppong led the team scheduled to attend the maiden annual symposium of TUM SEED and partner universities in the global south.
The team made up of Mr. Emmanuel Boakye-Coordination Officer, Dr. Joseph Owusu of KNUST Business School, Dr. Elvis Twumasi of Department Electrical Engineering and Mr. Owusu Yeboakrom Community representative visited & accessed the Mini Grid/Living Lab which has been in the testing phase since December, 2021.
The team also visited the school in the community and interacted with teachers and pupils who are excited to have electricity since it is impacting positively on their well-being.
The team also did selective household visits to conscientize them of the need to prepare to own the Mini-Grid to enhance its sustainability (See pictures of the visit below).
The date and time for this important event will be communicated here in due time, stay with us for more update.
This is the very first time the entire community are experiencing electricity, many thanks to TUM SEED CENTRE for sponsoring academic exchange and the Living Lab.
You can apply for the mobility grants sending your application to me by October 28, 2022. Here below you find further information about the grants:
1) PhD Seminar at TUM (For Doctoral Students) 8 short-term residencies for PhD candidates from the 8 partner universities, each 1 month to participate in PhD-seminars at TUM, 1000 EUR travel costs in average per person (+ max of 1345 EUR accommodation) Use the application form attached “SEED Application Form Mobility Grants_Seminar at TUM” to apply 2) Research and Teaching at TUM (For Professors and Postdocs) 4 short-term residencies for professors from the 8 partner universities, each 1 month for research and teaching at TUM Center, 1000 EUR travel costs in average per person (+ max of 2445 EUR accommodation)
TUM.Africa Talent is a brand new research exchange program that brings together talented and highly educated doctoral candidates from Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with professors and doctoral candidates at TUM who share common goals: scientific excellence, the promotion of knowledge and mutual understanding, and the desire to have a positive societal impact.
Against this background, Dr. Susanne Koch, principal investigator at the TUM Department of Science, Technology and Society together with Prof. Nelius Boshoff from the Stellenbosch Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology held an exploratory workshop in May 2022 on the topic of “Science as a Site of Inequality.” This hybrid, multilingual event brought together scholars from 21 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and Latin America to discuss evidence and the experience of inequality in the field of environment-related research. The keynote sessions are available as a podcast, published by the Global Research Programme on Inequality. The successful event was funded by the DFG Programme Point Sud.
Interest persons should contact Professor Rexford Assasie Oppong (Scientific Director/Project lead)
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