UNSW’s long history with Timor Leste celebrated at the signing of an MoU with the Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa’e
UNSW has long history of supporting engaging with Timor-Leste.
Published on the 04 September 2024
In 1989, the Diplomacy Training Program was co-founded at UNSW in 1989 by President José Ramos-Horta and then UNSW Dean of Law, Garth Nettheim. UNSW continues to house and support DTP. Since 2009, UNSW researchers have supported public health systems strengthening in partnership with the Ministry of Health. More recently, UNSW has provided post-graduate training in economic geology to support the Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals. Through partnership with the UN in Timor-Leste, UNSW’s Institute for Global Development is working to deepen its institutional engagement in the country.
In the last 12 months, UNSW Engineering, alongside leaders from across UNSW, have been travelling to Timor Leste to continue this engagement.
Most recently, Director of the Global Water Institute, Professor Greg Leslie returned to Dili with UNSW Water Research Laboratory’s Alice Harrison and Engineering’s societal impact and partnerships lead, Dr Bodean Hedwards, to continue planning for several research and education collaborations. During the visit, the team met with Permatil’s CEO and world-renowned musician Ego Lemos to progress research on local water security initiatives and plan for the upcoming PermaYouth Camp, in which UNSW students will be attending. During the program, students will gain hands-on experience with local water security and land management practices, while developing their understanding of Timor Leste’s culture. They will also visit local university partners.
The student visit is building on a series of meetings with Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa’e (UNTL) to strengthen our engagement across research and education. This engagement culminated in a visit to UNSW by the UNTL Rector, Dr. João Soares Martins and Dr. Lígia Tomás Correia, Vice-Rector for Student Affairs on the 26th of August 2024. The partnership was celebrated at a signing ceremony and morning tea with Deputy Vice Chancellor Global, Professor Colin Grant, Director of External Engagement, Alison Avery and UNSW Engineering’s Dean, Professor Julien Epps. This was followed by a cross-faculty roundtable designed to showcase our existing engagement with UNTL and Timor Leste more broadly, while also exploring opportunities for further collaboration.
Deputy Dean for Societal Impact and Translation, Professor Rita Henderson, said that:
“the opportunity to collaborate with UNTL is a demonstration of the societal impact initiatives we are committed to developing in the Faculty of Engineering. The UNSW x UNTL MoU is grounded in a shared commitment to sharing the research and education capabilities and resources we have that align directly with local development priorities. We are excited to work alongside UNTL academics and the broader university community to build programs that contribute to their local programs and vision.”
Drawing the outcomes and discussions from across the various engagements, the activities included in the MoU include:
- Develop a staff and student exchange program.
- Support the development of education programs, including bachelors and master’s programs in agreed thematic areas such as food science, and water engineering.
- Industry capacity building, including supporting professional development programs for industry and civil society professionals.
- Establish a seminar series on the sustainable development goals and agreed topics.
- Establish a joint supervision initiative for PhDs to uplift number of academic staff with a PhD (seeking scholarships as part of this)
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