LiLaCC project partners

LUT University was established in 1969 in Finland. The university's Lappeenranta campus is situated on the shore of lake Saimaa – the 4th biggest lake in Europe. LUT University's second campus is in Lahti. Since 2014 LUT University has been ranked among the world’s top 600 universities (Times Higher Education and QS rankings) as well as one of the world's 20 most promising and rapidly developing challenger universities.

There are about 930 staff members and 5,200 students in the university. LUT awards the following degrees: Bachelor of Science (Econ), Bachelor of Science (Tech), Master of Science (Tech), Master of Science (Econ), Licentiate of Science (Econ), Licentiate of Science (Tech), Doctor of Science (Tech), Doctor of Science (Econ), and Doctor of Philosophy. LUT University has several internationally accredited Master´s programmes. More information about LUT can be found here.

ITMO University is the top higher education institution in computer science in Russia and 74th in the world. With over 120 years of experience propelling it forward, ITMO is a trailblazer in all things IT, quantum science and photonics. But we don’t stop there; we fuse our expertise in the technical sciences with social science to explore interdisciplinary fields such as science art and digital humanities.

ITMO is home to a community of passionate individuals determined to make an impact in the world. ITMO.FAMILY welcomes bright, open, and inventive people from all over the world who are dynamic and driven to grow. As a global talent hub for educators and researchers, we work tirelessly to find innovative solutions to the challenges of the future – and to bring up the next generation of creative thinkers.

Our top research fields include Smart Technologies and Robotics, Life Sciences and Translational Medicine, Art & Science and Lighting Design, IT and Information Security, Photonics and Quantum Communications, Natural Sciences and “Smart Materials”, Ecology and Urban Sciences. You can find out more on our website.

Northern (Arctic) Federal University (NArFU) was established in June 2010 by merging a number of leading Arkhangelsk higher educational institutions. It includes 7 higher schools, 2 institutes, 3 colleges and 3 branches providing educational services to over 17,000 students. Staff consists of over 1160 lecturers. NArFU has more than 70 agreements of international cooperation with partner universities.

One of the major NArFU research focuses is the Arctic development. Core areas of NArFU academic focus are high technologies and knowledge-intensive sectors, infrastructure development and Northern Sea Route, natural resources management, environmental protection and climate change, health and well-being, social sphere and human resources in the High North.

As a federal university NArFU develops a system of higher professional education that will optimize regional educational structures and strengthen links between educational institutions and economic and social spheres in the North-West of Russia. More information about NArFU is here.

Stellenbosch University (SU) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. SU is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Saharan Africa together with the University of Cape Town. SU is home to an academic community of 29 000 students (including 4 000 foreign students from 100 countries) as well as 3 000 permanent staff members (including 1 000 academics) on five campuses. ​

The historical oak-lined university town amongst the Boland Mountains in the winelands of the Western Cape creates a unique campus atmosphere, which attracts local and foreign students alike. On the main campus, paved walkways wind between campus buildings – some dating from previous centuries; others just a few years old. Architecture from various eras attests to the sound academic foundation and establishment of an institution of excellence. This, together with the scenic beauty of the area; state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly facilities and technology, as well as visionary thinking about the creation of a sustainable 21st-century institution, makes for the unique character of Stellenbosch University.
School for Data Science and Computational Thinking, in charge of the LiLaCC project, is a new entity at Stellenbosch University, established to facilitate trans-faculty approaches to teaching and research in data science and computational thinking. It is home to world-class academics as well as junior researchers, PhD students and postdoctoral fellows. Its research areas range from the social impact of next-generation mobile internet connectivity to the development of new ontologies and algorithms in machine intelligence. More information is available here.

The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is a university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville.

UKZN is rated amongst the top 500 universities of the world and is the second most productive university in South Africa in terms of research output. UKZN has five campuses in Durban and Pietermaritzburg with four Colleges and 19 Schools offering approximately 2000 academic programmes. UKZN is a truly South African university that reflects the diverse society in which it is situated. As an institution of higher learning, it is committed to academic excellence, innovative research and critical engagement with society.

UKZN has an international reputation for academic excellence, outstanding research output and African scholarship. We have links with over 250 international institutions, which facilitate ongoing collaborative academic partnerships.

The University strives to provide an enabling environment for all its students so as to ensure their individual intellectual development, while at the same time provide holistic education which promotes an awareness of social responsibility and sound ethical practice in a diverse society. And of course not all learning takes place in the lecture theater. UKZN offers extensive sporting, cultural and extramural activities. More information is available here.