On
September 6, 2011, the Government of Senegal led by His Excellency President
Abdoulaye Wade and international partners will open a new pan-African centre of
excellence for Africa’s brightest math and science graduates, in a beautiful seaside
location in Mbour, 80 km south of Dakar.
AIMS-Senegal
is the second centre in the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS)
network, joining AIMS-South Africa, which has operated in Cape Town since 2003.
The plan to expand AIMS across Africa is known as the AIMS-Next Einstein
Initiative (AIMS-NEI).
The
goal is to rapidly and cost-effectively expand Africa’s scientific and
technological capacity by providing advanced training to exceptional African
students and enabling them to work effectively for the peaceful prosperity of
the continent.
AIMS-NEI
grew out of a wish first expressed by AIMS founder Professor Neil Turok, now
Director of Canada’s Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, that “the
next Einstein be African.” That wish has evolved into a plan to create a
pan-African network of 15 AIMS centres over the next decade. AIMS-NEI is
supported through public and private funding, including a $20 million
investment from the Government of Canada, provided through the International
Development Research Centre (IDRC). The Government of France is also a major
partner in AIMS-Senegal, providing land for the current and future AIMS-Senegal
facilities through the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD).
The
first AIMS centre, in Cape Town, has graduated 360 students from 32 African
countries to date, of whom one-third are women. AIMS has become globally
recognized as a centre of excellence for postgraduate education and research.
At
the September 6 grand opening celebrations, AIMS-Senegal’s first 36 students
(selected from over 350 applicants to both centres), from 14 countries, will be
joined by the President of Senegal and dignitaries from approximately 15
countries to recognize the centre’s many supporters and partnering academic institutions.
These
include the Universities of Cheikh Anta Diop, Gaston Berger, Thies and
Ziguinchor in Senegal, the University of Ottawa in Canada, Universities Pierre
et Marie Curie and Paris Sud in France, Humboldt University of Berlin in
Germany, and the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in China.
“Were
it not for AIMS, I think I would have stopped studying. Now I have
opportunities I never imagined,” says Alexia Nomenjanahary, a Madagascan alumna
of AIMS-South Africa, whose work in mathematical biology earned her a
scholarship to attend a summer school at the University of Oxford. Alexia will
soon join AIMS-Senegal as a teaching assistant to share her talents and help
others realize their potential.
Tidiane
Ba, Minister of Higher Education and Research of Senegal, says, “AIMS-Senegal
will enable our most talented students, Senegalese and from across the
continent, to receive a fully-funded world-class education here in Senegal. We
are proud of AIMS-Senegal and support it strongly.”
“The
opening of our second centre, AIMS-Senegal, is a major milestone towards our
dream of a truly pan-African network of scientific centres where the
continent’s bright minds can shine,” says Neil Turok. “As AIMS expands,
thousands of talented Africans will acquire the skills they need to build
Africa’s future economic, educational and technological self-sufficiency.”
“Africa’s
future lies in developing the minds of its brilliant young people,” says
Rohinton Medhora, Vice-President of Programs at IDRC. “AIMS is a catalyst for
that future and I am delighted to see it expand with the opening of
AIMS-Senegal. This groundbreaking initiative complements IDRC’s longstanding
support of outstanding scholars in developing countries and its tradition of
fostering development through innovation, science, and technology.”
“AIMS-Senegal
symbolizes what IRD aims to implement: excellence in teaching and innovative
research in a high-quality environment with engaged national and international
partners,” says Michel Laurent, President of IRD. “All these conditions must be
present to enable the emergence of teachers, researchers and the leaders and
entrepreneurs of tomorrow.”
About
AIMS-NEI
The
AIMS-Next Einstein Initiative was launched in 2008 to build a critical mass of
scientific and technical talent across Africa, capable of driving progress
across the continent. AIMS-NEI grew out of the success of the AIMS-South Africa
centre. Every year, about 55 talented students from all across Africa graduate
from AIMS centres, following a ten-month course, with the vast majority
continuing to Masters and PhD degrees. All AIMS students benefit from full
scholarships.
Growing Support
To
further its ambitious mandate and innovative teaching methods, AIMS-NEI has so
far earned support from the Government of Senegal (US$1.4 million for the
establishment of AIMS-Senegal plus the donation of a seaside parcel of land),
the Government of Ghana (US$1.5 million for the creation of AIMS-Ghana), Google
(US$2 million), the Kavelman-Fonn Foundation (US$600,000 for AIMS-Senegal), the
Government of France (land for AIMS-Senegal valued at US$1.3 million), and the
Government of Canada (US$20.5 million, channelled through Canada’s
International Development Research Centre (IDRC), to support the growth of the network).
AIMS-NEI is also supported by a growing number of North American and European
universities and companies through its One-for-Many scholarship program. Source: Perimeter Institute for
Theoretical Physics.
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