October 2, 2020

AIMS and Imperial College Partner to Train Future African Science Leaders

AIMS and the Imperial College London recently signed a partnership agreement to provide cutting edge scientific training to Africa’s brightest minds.

As part of the agreement, Imperial College London will provide teaching staff to an AIMS centre each year for the duration of the partnership, support faculty recruitment efforts of AIMS alumni into its graduate programs, and a $10000 annual partnership fee.

AIMS Founder and International Governing Board (IGB) Chair, Prof Neil Turok, who is equally an Imperial alumnus, said: “science originated in Africa and now it should return – it must come back to Africa. Africa is the continent of the century and the future. The fuel for science is young people, and a lot of them are in Africa. Science allows us to understand the world, enhances our appreciation and enables us to improve the world. Science is driven by youth and diversity, and we want to bring the continent together through science, using it as a bridge between countries”.

Speaking at the launch of the partnership, Imperial’s Vice-President Maggie Dallman stated: “Imperial is thrilled to have the opportunity to be a part of the AIMS vision. There are already several existing links between the college and AIMS centres, and we hope that the partnership will enable us to strengthen these links and increase the number of equitable collaborations between Imperial academics and scientists across Africa. Imperial is a global university with a wide spread of international engagement and impact. We recognize that to continue having as broad a benefit to society as possible, expanded collaboration with the Sub-Saharan Africa region is incredibly important”.

The partnership dovetails with the AIMS mission to empower the brightest young African scientists and innovators of today, to become creative entrepreneurs and leaders of tomorrow in their various fields, allowing them to become well-rounded scientists who can propel Africa’s transformation. Driven by this mission, AIMS, over the past 17 years has contributed massively to the advancement of mathematical sciences for human capital development in Africa through advanced training at the post-graduate level, research, industry linkages and high-level policy dialogue.

The partnership will:

– Enable new research collaborations to emerge between Imperial academics and leading African scientists;

– Support the training of the next generation of scientists in Africa;

– Facilitate the mobility of Imperial academics to spend time working at AIMS Centres.