NTNU’s academic communities have a broad and well‑established collaboration with a wide range of partners in low‑ and lower middle‑income countries (LMIC) in the Global South. Over the past five to six years, we have carried out 146 collaborative projects with African universities, 124 in Asia, and 18 in (South) America.

In the period 2026–2028, we will place particular emphasis on strengthening the visibility, coordination, and further development of this collaboration.
We aim to be a nationally and internationally visible and influential actor in knowledge cooperation with the Global South through:

• educational collaboration at the bachelor’s, master’s and PhD levels
• research and innovation projects
• partnerships with industry and working life
• collaboration enabled by national, European, and international funding opportunities

The initiative was established in spring 2026, based on the report of a dedicated working group at NTNU and consultations across the faculties.

Objectives for the Global South initiative

Report from the working group 13 March 2025 (pdf in Norwegian)