CoRE-Math Africa–Europe Cluster of Research Excellence in Mathematics Africa–Europe Clusters of Research Excellence

About CoRE-Math

The development of CoRE-Math

CoRE-Math builds on more than three decades of collaboration in mathematics between universities in Africa and Europe. It did not develop from a single project or programme. Several strands grew in parallel: support to mathematics departments and postgraduate training, regional networks, bilateral research programmes, research collaboration, scientific mobility, and efforts to connect mathematics more closely with industry and society.

The Eastern Africa Universities Mathematics Programme (EAUMP) became an important regional network, while long-term collaborations with universities in Sweden, Norway and Finland brought additional partners, activities and approaches. International organisations, particularly the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), also contributed to this development. These different strands provided the foundation from which CoRE-Math emerged.

Early African–Nordic collaboration

Some of the collaborations that eventually became part of the CoRE-Math network date back to the early 1990s.

At Makerere University, collaboration with the University of Bergen was supported through the Norwegian NUFU programme from 1992 to 2007, with a focus on capacity building in mathematics, including postgraduate training and research.

A separate Norwegian collaboration focused on mathematical modelling. The Southern African Master’s Programme in Mathematical Modelling, hosted by the University of Zimbabwe in collaboration with the University of Oslo, ran from 1996 to 2007 with NUFU support. It trained students from Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe; 60 students completed the Master’s programme and ten continued to PhD degrees. From 2008 to 2014, this was followed by a regional Master’s programme in Mathematical Modelling based at the University of Dar es Salaam, with technical support from the University of Oslo and funding through the Norwegian NOMA programme. It trained 155 students from the region.

EAUMP and regional collaboration

The Eastern Africa Universities Mathematics Programme (EAUMP) was established in 2002 by Makerere University, the University of Dar es Salaam and the University of Nairobi. Supported by the International Science Programme (ISP) at Uppsala University, EAUMP created a regional network between mathematics environments that ISP had supported individually for many years.

The EAUMP background records the Rwandan member—described retrospectively as the University of Rwanda and its predecessor institutions, including the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)—as part of the network from 2008. It records the University of Zambia as joining from 2009. Following the establishment of the University of Rwanda in 2013, the Rwandan participation and ISP support continued through the new university.

Regional summer schools became one of EAUMP’s most sustained activities and have been organised regularly since 2004. They have been supported by ISP and other organisations, with ICTP involved from the beginning. The schools bring together postgraduate students and lecturers from different universities and give students access to advanced mathematical topics that may not be available at their home institutions. EAUMP has also provided a framework for conferences, workshops, scientific contacts and other forms of regional interaction.

Alongside EAUMP, ISP began supporting mathematics at Addis Ababa University in 2005. Addis Ababa University was not an EAUMP member but became an important part of the wider collaboration. A particularly important development was the establishment of PhD training in mathematics at the university.

Sida-supported bilateral research collaboration

A major strand developed through Sweden’s bilateral research cooperation with African universities. The programmes were designed primarily to strengthen research capacity at the participating universities. Mathematics became an important component, with ISP coordinating the Swedish mathematics contribution and Linköping University playing a major academic role.

Rwanda

Mathematics has been included in the Swedish bilateral research cooperation with Rwanda since 2007, initially at the National University of Rwanda (NUR) and, following the reorganisation of public higher education in 2013, at the University of Rwanda (UR).

An MSc programme in mathematics was developed jointly by NUR and Linköping University (LiU), with training beginning in 2008. The programme continued after Swedish support ended in 2019, an important example of an activity established through the bilateral programme becoming part of the university’s regular postgraduate education.

PhD training initially relied largely on the sandwich model, combining research at the home university with periods at partner universities abroad. Eleven sandwich PhD students in mathematics have graduated. Three students have so far graduated through the national PhD programme.

Uganda

Mathematics had a small component in the Sida-supported Ugandan programme during 2010–2015. A much more substantial mathematics collaboration developed during 2015–2022, centred at Makerere University and, in its later phase, involving five Ugandan public universities: Makerere University, Busitema University, Gulu University, Kyambogo University and Mbarara University of Science and Technology.

The programme supported PhD training, postdoctoral research, research collaboration and supervision.

Tanzania

The Sida-supported mathematics collaboration in Tanzania began in 2015 at the University of Dar es Salaam and continues today. Mathematics was included in the 2015–2024 bilateral programme and continues in the programme phase that began in 2024.

The collaboration has supported PhD training, research, supervision and scientific mobility.

Joint programme and curriculum development

Although these programmes were bilateral and primarily concerned with institutional research capacity development, they also created opportunities for collaboration across countries.

PhD programmes by coursework and research at the University of Rwanda, Makerere University and the University of Dar es Salaam were developed jointly through the bilateral programmes. MSc curricula were also reviewed and developed in collaboration with Swedish partners. A joint review of MSc curricula was held in Arusha in 2016.

Mathematicians from the wider network also participated in the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) benchmarking exercise in 2018–2019, which developed benchmarks for BSc, MSc and PhD programmes in mathematics.

Developing research collaboration

Research collaboration across the wider network was strengthened through a series of workshops in Sweden, Uganda and Ethiopia. These were joint ISP and bilateral-programme activities and included mathematicians from EAUMP and Addis Ababa University, universities participating in the bilateral programmes, and researchers from other universities and countries.

The process led in 2019 to the establishment of four ISP-funded international research groups:

CoRS was subsequently renamed AECC – African Enumerative Combinatorics Community. These four groups therefore map one-to-one to the four research groups represented on the current CoRE-Math website.

The groups organised collaboration around mathematical research interests rather than particular funding programmes or institutions.

Finnish collaboration and industrial mathematics

Another important strand developed through collaboration between Eastern African universities and Finnish mathematicians, particularly at LUT University.

Beginning in 2007, the East Africa Technomathematics collaboration, coordinated by LUT University, initially worked with the University of Dar es Salaam and later expanded to institutions in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Activities included short-term visits by MSc students to Finland, curriculum development and approaches intended to strengthen applied mathematics and mathematical modelling.

One important development was the introduction of Modelling Weeks, in which students work in groups on open-ended problems, formulate mathematical models and decide which mathematical and computational methods to use. The format combines mathematical training with problem solving, teamwork and communication.

The HEI-ICI project Mathematics Education and Working Life Relevance in East Africa developed this work further, with an emphasis on applications-oriented mathematics education, curriculum development, innovation and the relationship between university mathematics and working life.

The collaboration continued through Working Life Interaction in Modelling and Data Skills (WOLIMODS) in 2022–2024, supported by the Finnish National Agency for Education. African partners included the University of Dar es Salaam, Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology and the University of Rwanda, while the Finnish partners were LUT University, Tampere University and the University of Jyväskylä. The project combined doctoral training and mobility with problem-based approaches to mathematical modelling and data skills.

The first Study Group with Industry in East Africa was held in Tanzania in 2022. Companies and other organisations presented problems for teams of mathematicians and students to investigate, creating possibilities for longer-term collaboration, student projects and research.

These collaborations established a strong strand connecting mathematical education and research with applications, industry and society, providing an important foundation for CoRE-Math’s present work in Industrial Mathematics.

Mathematics for Sustainable Development

The Mathematics for Sustainable Development (Math4SDG) project, funded by Norad through NORHED II for 2021–2026, brought together the University of Bergen, Makerere University and the University of Dar es Salaam. It built on the long-standing Norwegian collaboration while broadening its focus.

The project supported PhD training in mathematics and mathematics education, as well as outreach and activities connecting mathematics with sustainable development and problems outside academia. Its closing conference, the Second African–Nordic Conference in Mathematics, was held in Arusha in August 2026.

Mathematics competitions and outreach

Another strand developed through mathematics competitions and activities for school students.

Work initially developed in Rwanda through the bilateral programme and contributed to what later became a national mathematics competition.

The East African Mathematics Olympiad (EAMO) subsequently developed as a regional initiative, bringing together countries in Eastern Africa around mathematical problem solving and competition.

This work extended the collaboration beyond university research and postgraduate education to younger students and helped create links between universities, schools, teachers and national mathematics communities. It continues within CoRE-Math’s wider outreach work.

The establishment of CoRE-Math

By 2024, these different collaborations had created a substantial network of relationships between mathematics departments, research groups and researchers in Africa and Europe. They provided the foundation for an application to establish an ARUA–The Guild Cluster of Research Excellence in mathematics.

The application was submitted on 26 August 2024 under the name Eastern Africa Universities Mathematics Programme (EAUMP). The decision to approve the application was made on 3 September 2024.

The establishment of the new Cluster marked a significant broadening of the collaboration. EAUMP had been centred on Eastern Africa, while the new Cluster was intended to develop mathematical collaboration across the African continent and between Africa and Europe. Its full name, the Africa-Europe Cluster of Research Excellence in Mathematics (CoRE-Math), reflects this broader geographical scope.

At its establishment, CoRE-Math brought together six African universities—Makerere University, Addis Ababa University, the University of Dar es Salaam, the University of Nairobi, the University of Rwanda and the University of Zambia—and eight European universities: Uppsala University, the University of Amsterdam, the University of Bergen, the University of Groningen, LUT University, Linköping University, the University of Oslo and Stockholm University.

CoRE-Math thus represents both continuity and a new departure. It builds on relationships and activities developed through EAUMP, ISP support to individual universities, bilateral research programmes and long-standing Nordic and international partnerships. At the same time, the Africa-Europe Cluster provides a framework for extending that collaboration across Africa and Europe and for bringing research, postgraduate education, institutional development and engagement with industry and society into a broader common platform.

Sources and further reading