Professors Without Borders Think Tank

Our History

Professors Without Borders was incorporated in 2016. Our vision is to create a global community of academics and professionals who wish to share their passion for knowledge with students around the world. We aim to bridge the educational divide between countries and between students and their teachers. 

Our Co-Founders

Our Short Courses

PROWIBO’s short courses are designed to develop professional skills and impart essential and relevant knowledge to students. Our programmes are developed in consultation with our partner universities in order to maximise the benefit to our students. Since 2016, PROWIBO has grown its network of short courses and in 2019 we hosted six programmes and taught over 400 students.

Our Countries of Operation

PROWIBO launched its first summer school courses in 2016 in Freetown and Bo, Sierra Leone. Since 2016 we have grown our network of partner universities and in 2019 we hosted programmes in five countries (Thailand, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Uganda, and India).

Our Volunteers

Our courses are delivered by academics and professionals, who volunteer their time. Their passion for education drives the success of our programs. In 2019 we recruited 14 academics and professionals to facilitate our short courses and deliver workshops at our partner institutions.

Our Interns

Our dedicated team of volunteers are supported by our interns, whose hard-work and dedication are instrumental to PROWIBO’s work. In 2019 our main team was supported by eight interns representing institutions from around the world.

Our Partners

Our partners share our commitment to higher education and help PROWIBO continue to expand our mission around the world. In 2019 we were thrilled to launch new partnerships with: Lecturers Without Borders (SciEd Network), LSE Ideas, and Avadh Girls’ P.G. College.

Our Advisors

Our Board of Advisors represent various industries and areas of expertise and serve as advisors to the Directors. They act as a sounding board on all major decisions, provide feedback and help Directors shape the strategy of Professors Without Borders.

BOA Members:

  • Mrs Ida Beerhalter
  • Dr Clifford Frank
  • Mr Piers Hedley
  • Dr Carola Hieker
  • Mr Marc Lewis
  • Ms Elvina Gilvanova

Our Think Tank

ThinkTank Without Borders is PROWIBO’s think tank on education and development created to share the learning and experiences of Professors Without Borders. In addition to publishing papers and academic book reviews, we host conferences to examine different phenomena that impact higher education around the world.

Publications

Through our publications we can share our experience in education and development with the public with the aim of raising awareness, improving teaching and influencing policy.

In 2019 we published three papers:

Book Reviews

We launched our Book Review Initiative in March 2019.  Through this initiative, we are able to offer a growing collection of reviews that examine how academia addresses the changing landscape of higher education around the world.

In 2019 we published four book reviews:

Conferences

Through our think tank, PROWIBO hosts conferences to explore the changing landscape of higher education in the 21st century. For each conference, we produce a conference report and video that we publish for free on our website.

In 2019, we hosted two conferences:

Teaching Tech to Generation Z was a student-led event, where participants in education, tech and research examined the ways in which education needs to adapt to address the needs of Generation Z in a changing world.

Women, Development and Higher Education brought together stakeholders from education, NGOs, businesses and policymakers to address the difficult questions of reaching gender parity and the role that higher education has to play in this process.

Our Expenses

PROWIBO relies on the generous support of our donors. Our aim is to create a sustainable funding model that keeps costs low while maximising benefits to our students and partner institutions. In 2019 we were able to deliver our summer short courses and workshops for £26,534.