ICon (The InterContinental Academic Exchange Programme) is an SGroup mobility programme that allows full-member universities of SGroup to apply for an SGroup scholarship to visit a partner institution of their choice outside Europe.

Associate Professor Mar Gutiérrez-Colón, from University Rovira i Virgili, was granted one of the two SGroup ICon grants for the mobility scheme in Africa in 2021 and we are glad to share her testimonial:
 

'I am sincerely grateful for the incredible opportunity that helped me develop my project in Kenya. (...) I travelled to Kenya with a prototype of a mobile application to help improve reading comprehension in Swahili for students in primary school. Mrs. Wangeci Ndegwa (PhD student at Universitat Rovira i Virgili), and myself carried out the pilot study in a Nairobi school (Laureate School). The results showed positive results in terms of motivation as well as a clear reading comprehension improvement in Kiswahili. The grant also offered me the opportunity to establish new relations with Nairobi University as well as Kenyatta University with whom my university will probably sign a new MoU. (...) In short, I would say that the SGroup opened a new door in Kenya for me as a researcher and university teacher. After three months of experience, my colleagues in Kenya and I have started working together on a project that we hope will help primary school kids in Eastern Africa and keep our bonds tight for many years to come.'