Associate partners

The SUFONAMA Consortium also includes four non-European associate partners; namely University of British Columbia, Universidad Austral de Chile, University of Queensland and Stellenbosch University. 

The associate partners contribute to the SUFONAMA programme through hosting of MSc thesis students.

Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Stellenbosch University is recognised as one of the four top research universities in South Africa. It takes pride in the fact that it has one of the countrys highest proportions of postgraduate students of which almost ten percent are international students. The University lies in the picturesque Jonkershoek Valley in the heart of the Western Cape Winelands.

The University has ten faculties, among these the Faculty of AgriSciences. The Faculty of AgriSciences firstly equips entrepreneurs with an extended knowledge base to facilitate informed decision making with a view to different marketing aims, such as adding value with regard to niche markets. We are also aware, however, that agriculture and forestry must not be practised at the cost of our natural resources. South Africa possesses a distinctive variety of fauna and flora that must be respected, protected and conserved in agricultural and forestry practices. The Faculty of AgriSciences therefore also aims to direct its application and management of living organisms in a scientific and ethical manner in teaching, research and community involvement, so that everyone in the country can benefit from an improved quality of life.
Read more about the Faculty of AgriSciences


Universidad Austral de Chile, Chile 

Universidad Austral de Chile (UACH) was founded in 1954, in Valdivia. Today UACH is recognized nation-wide for its academic achievements and enjoys a prominent and prestigious position among Chilean universities. The university enrolls approximately 10,000 students in 40 undergraduate majors. Facilities available to students include libraries, computer labs, Wi-Fi, sports centers, and an 11-hectare botanical garden.  

At the Faculty of Forestry and Natural Resources it is a goal to provide the community with scientific research. To accomplish this task the faculty aims to develop investigative work, which aims to generate new and innovative knowledge in the fields of forestry, natural resources and efficient use of wood. Thus the Faculty of Forestry and Natural Resources strives to be in the front line of scientific research in the fields mentioned and thereby help meet the demands of today's society.
Read more about UACH


University of British Columbia, Canada

University of British Columbia (UBC) is one of Canada's finest universities. The outstanding Faculty of Forestry has three departments: Forest Resources Management, Forest Sciences, and Wood Science. These include research groups on forest economics and policy, applied conservation, forest ecosystem management, and sustainable forest management. The University of British Columbia was established in 1908.
UBC's research offices support the development of outstanding research in all disciplines including research carried out by graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and research associates. Their goals include increasing research funding from all sectors and to encourage local, national and international research partnerships and exchanges. Additionally, UBC research encourages and supports technology transfer and commercialisation of research discoveries through patents, licenses and spin off company creation and develop new models for knowledge translation. In 2005, UBC was listed as one of North America's top 10 universities for both the quantity and quality of life sciences patents issued. UBC researchers attract hundreds of millions of dollars in research funding annually from government, industry and non-profit foundations.
Read more about the Faculty of Forestry


University of Queensland, Australia

The University of Queensland (UQ) is one of Australias premier learning and research institutions. UQ is a pacesetter in discovery and translational research across a broad spectrum of exciting disciplines, ranging from bioscience and nanotechnology to mining, engineering, social science and humanities. Its eight internationally significant research institutes are drawcards for an ever-expanding community of scientists, researchers and commercialisation experts. UQ offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs that are informed by the latest research and delivered in state-of-the-art learning spaces. Its teachers have won more Australian Awards for University Teaching than any other Australian university.
The University of Queensland is also a world leading research university in Ecological and Conservation Research, consistently publishing more papers in top international journals than any other Australian University. As a faculty level centre, within the Faculty of Science, The Ecology Centre (TEC) is a multidisciplinary research centre in pure and applied ecology, across the schools of Biological Sciences, Mathematics and Physics, Geography Planning and Environmental Management, Earth Sciences, The Centre for Marine Studies.
Ecological and Conservation Research are multi-disciplinary sciences, researching Earth's biodiversity with the specific goal of providing science based, transparent tools and information to facilitate effective and efficient management decisions. This is equally relevant for the conservation of terrestrial, aquatic and marine species, their habitats and ecosystems, both within Australia and internationally.
Read more about the Ecology Centre (TEC)