Maria Sibylla Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA)

MIASA is dedicated to the topic of ‘Sustainable Governance’. We define governance as the interplay of informal and formal rules for steering public affairs, embedded in social, material and cultural practices of everyday life. MIASA’s three research foci are: sustainable environmental transformation, sustainable conflict management, and sustainable democracy. Overarching aims of MIASA are working towards a reduction of global asymmetries in knowledge production and bridging the cultural divide between anglophone and francophone Africa. MIASA will serve as a hub for exchange, networking and collaboration amongst leading researchers from Germany, Ghana, the African and European continent and beyond. It will also offer ample funding opportunities for early career researchers. MIASA is based on the beautiful campus of the University of Ghana, Legon (Accra). MIASA’s programmes are funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), while its local staffing, administrative and operational costs are borne by the University of Ghana. After having been successfully evaluated by an international committee for its achievements during the preliminary phase (2018-2020), MIASA will now receive German funding on an even more substantial scale for another six years of operation and transition (2020-2026), after which the University of Ghana (UG) will take full financial responsibility for the institute.