Gunnar Köhlin, EfD Director, has been awarded the position as Honorary Professor at School of Economics, University of Cape Town.
Gunnar Köhlin is Associate Professor in Economics at School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg. Since 12 years he is also the director and founder of the EfD Initiative.Recently he was asked to become Honorary Professor at University of Cape Town in South Africa. Gunnar tells us what this means to him.
Describe your first reaction when you found out you had been awarded this position?
'I was of course very happy! School of Economics at UCT is the best department of economics in Africa and has a solid international reputation. They have excellent facilities, a number of vibrant research units (including the Environmental Policy Research Unit that is an EfD center) and a large PhD program with students from all over Africa. I spent my sabbatical there earlier in 2018 and loved everything about it.'
What does this position mean to you on a personal level?
'It is of course a recognition of my contributions to academia in general and UCT in particular. It also comes at the same time as we establish EfD as an independent entity at University of Gothenburg so the timing is perfect.'
What does it mean for the EfD network?
'When I lived in Cape Town I had closer access to many EfD centers in Africa. This means that I will continue to be able to use UCT as a platform for EfD also in the future.'
How will you go about your new duties at UCT during next year?
'The Head of Department has already invited me to come back for a short stay to plan our future collaboration so I am planning to do that. I’m already involved in research collaborations, and EfD is supporting PhD students, research and institutional development at School of Economics, so I hope to continue to build on that also for the future.'
By: Karin Jonson