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Expanding opportunities for young African female scientists to reimagine their dreams

Expanding opportunities for young African female scientists to reimagine their dreams

Jessica Nnenna Uwanibe is one of many young female scientists enrolled in a PHD/Master’s program at one of the ACE Impact II centers. Jessica is scheduled to complete her PhD studies in Molecular Biology and Genomics at the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) hosted by Redeemer’s University in Nigeria. Her research work is focused on identifying and comprehending drug resistant patterns of Salmonella species in South West Nigeria, research she hopes will help treat thousands of people, reduce suffering, and save lives. Salmonella are types of bacteria that can cause diarrheal illness in humans, typhoid fever, gastroenteritis and other related illnesses. “This research will work to inform the proper diagnosis of Salmonella related diseases and suggest improved monitoring policies in Nigeria.”

 

As a young and upcoming African Scientist, Miss Uwanibe has always wanted to solve global health challenges through her research. Her career goal is to achieve this by enrolling for a Postdoctoral fellowship to focus on translational infectious diseases research. She aspires to lead large research projects to unravel the mechanisms by which pathogens cause diseases and develop novel therapeutics and vaccines to fight them.

 

Jessica chose to study her PhD at the Redeemer’s University African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases as she found the field of Molecular Biology and Genomics to be “new, exciting, and innovative.” She tells us how science and engineering centered subjects always had low female participation rates and she wanted to see this change, inspiring the next generation of young women. “ACEGIDs vision really resonates with my own personal vision for using science and research to improve everyday people’s lives.”

 

As a PhD fellow at ACEGID, Jessica says the aspect she enjoyed the most was being exposed to innovative research and cutting edge molecular tools. This access afforded her the ability to serve Nigeria during this time of crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been “such a life changing opportunity and experience.” She is looking forward to her graduation in September 2021 after four years of intense, but fulfilling research.

 

Knowledge and resource sharing are at the core of all ACE Impact centers. Miss Uwanibe has benefited from the expertise of her mentors whilst participating as a member of the ACEGID team involved in the pioneering and innovative COVID19 research, led by Professor Christian Happi. “I am so proud to be part of the first team in Africa to successfully sequence the genome of SARS-CoV-2 and share it with the international science community.”

 

ACEGID has proceeded to identify 10 distinct lineages of SARS-CoV-2 in circulation within Nigeria through genome sequencing and this work has been helpful in steering Nigeria’s public health response. The experiences of being part of the ACEGID team handling the COVID-19 diagnosis and sequencing have given Miss Uwanibe the confidence to reimagine what is possible in the field of health research in Africa moving forward.

 

Miss Uwanibe’s advice to young people and particularly young women aspiring to do their PhDs is that they must “persevere, be patient, tenacious and be mentally prepared.” Jessica is just one example of the high-quality postgraduate students being trained under the Africa Centers of Excellence for Development Impact Project. The project is positively improving the quality, quantity, and development impact of postgraduate education in sub-Saharan Africa by supporting regional specialization in thematic areas that address regional challenges.

Building capacities in Francophone Africa

Building capacities in Francophone Africa

A closer look at Guinea

A total of 26 francophone Africa Centers of Excellence are involved in the ACE Impact project and have been working to improve the quality, quantity, and development impact of postgraduate education in francophone Africa.  We focus our lenses on the African Center of Excellence for the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases (CEA -PCMT). Hosted by the Gamal Abdel Nasser University of Conakry (UGANC) in Guinea, CEA-PCMT aims to sustainably improve the prevention and control of communicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. Its objective is to establish at UGANC, a regional program of excellence in training and research on communicable diseases. The center was created in 2019 as part of the ACE Impact project and is offering world class training geared towards innovation and impacting society. This process involves public and private development actors at national, regional, and international levels to achieve its goals.

 

Programmes Offered

Broadly, the center offers short courses, masters, and doctoral programs on community health, global health and emerging diseases, primary health, quality assurance and research methodology among several other key programmes. In positioning itself as a regional reference center in the prevention and control of communicable diseases in West Africa, the center conducts applied research in partnership with national and international institutions. This applied research is in the following three main areas: Implementation science research, communicable disease surveillance and monitoring of antimicrobial resistance to drugs and products used in the fight against communicable diseases.

 

Regional and Global Partners

The African Center of Excellence for the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases prioritises building strong mutually beneficial partnerships in achieving its key targets.  It has partnerships with individuals and units from various higher education institutions including the following: the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; University of Montpellier; University of Sherbrooke; University of Ghana, Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp; and University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako (USTTB), Mali.

 

Center Leadership and Contact

Center Leader: Prof. Alexandre DELAMOU

Email address: adelamou@cea-pcmt.org

Deputy Center Leader: Dr. Mariame Sadjo DIALLO

Email address: nenettediallo@yahoo.fr

 

Inspiring the next Generation of Female Leaders – Professor Grace Jokthan

Inspiring the next Generation of Female Leaders – Professor Grace Jokthan

Prof. Grace Jokthan is the center leader of the Africa Centre of Excellence on Technology Enhanced Learning (ACETEL) and a member of the University Governing Council of the National Open University of Nigeria. She obtained her Bachelor of Agriculture degree in 1990 from the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria and her Masters and Doctorate degrees from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria in 2002 and 2006 respectively. Prof. Jokthan’s key message to younger women in all ACE Impact centers, is “all challenges are surmountable through persistence, hard work and remaining focused.” In an exclusive interview with the ACE Impact communications team, she said that the journey to the top has not been easy, because as a woman, you have to put in almost twice the effort a man does to succeed, especially in the male dominated society that we find ourselves in.  “The roles of parenting, housekeeping, academic/office demands can be daunting and requires a delicate balance. I got married at level 100, so all my academic life was also when I had my three children, but with hard work, reaching your goals and being in a strategic leadership position to contribute to the transformation agenda, is within reach” she said.

 

A glimpse at Prof. Jokthan’s Journey to the Top Leadership Positions Held 

Prof. Jokthan started her career in the Department of Animal Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1992 as an Assistant Lecturer and rose to the rank of Associate Professor in 2010. Aside teaching and supervising several students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels within this period, she also served the University in various capacities, including being the Postgraduate Departmental Coordinator, Member of the University Senate Standing Committee and Head of the Department of Animal Science. She was a Member of the Board of Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) Multi Links Ltd, as well as a Member of the Governing Board of the National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI), Shika-Zaria. She also served as the Head, Department of Animal Science and Fisheries at the National Open University of Nigeria from 2016 to 2018.  “I was a pioneer Council Member of the Nigerian Institute of Animal Science (NIAS) 2007 – 2011.  National Process Facilitator and, National Programme Manager for Research Into Use Nigeria (RIU) – Nigeria; a non-governmental DFID funded project that sort to improve the uptake of innovative agricultural research outputs” She added.  Prof Jokthan was previously a consultant on the Innovation Platforms to the West African Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP).

 

Message to Fellow Senior Colleagues on Mentorship

Having benefitted enormously from the power of mentorship, she is encouraging other senior colleagues involved in the ACE Impact project to mentor the next generation as they strive to attain their potentials.  “Mentorship from my senior colleague who always told me not to give up helped me at my low moments and therefore we need to have more focus on providing such mentors in our institutions”, she said.

 

When asked whether being a female center leader brings any key difference to the project, she intimated that though the Project deliverables (DLI) remain the same, being a woman provides another perspective often not considered that is valuable and has helped in creating a team strong enough to face the task ahead and deliver on the target.

Bridging the Gender Gap – ACE Impact Champions Women, Girls Education, and Leadership

Bridging the Gender Gap – ACE Impact Champions Women, Girls Education, and Leadership

Having more females empowered through the acquisition of higher education degrees and relevant skills has been a key focus of the ACE Impact project. Female enrolment and involvement in the higher education sector, particularly in STEM subjects, has generally been low, with stakeholders being called upon to invest efforts to ensure that the pipeline of women in higher education as students, administrators, researchers, and leaders increases in proportion to the population of women in Africa.

ACE Impact is strategically responding to this call, by highlighting female enrolment as a key disbursement linked indicator in a bid to encourage all centers to prioritise female student enrolment in their centers. Current figures show that the project is making some remarkable progress in closing the gender gap in higher education. For the period January 2019 – December 2020, the number of females enrolled in ACE Impact Centers stood at 3,333, representing 31% of the overall target of enrolling 10,707 females during the project’s life cycle.

The project is advocating and calling on all centers to continue pursuing the set target, strategising new innovative ways to attract more female candidates into their centers until the gender is well and truly closed.

Within higher education, a key area where women are significantly underrepresented is in positions of leadership. With the month of March being dedicated to the celebration of Women (8th March being International Women’s Day), we focus our attention on one of our female center leaders who is serving as a key role model to young female students and faculty across Africa.

ACE in Focus: Get to know the Emerging Center of Excellence for Logistics and Transport in Djibouti

ACE in Focus: Get to know the Emerging Center of Excellence for Logistics and Transport in Djibouti

The Africa Center of Excellence for Logistics and Transport (CEALT) is one of the two emerging centers of Excellence located in Djibouti, and one of the five new emerging centers of excellence under the ACE Impact Project.  The republic of Djibouti places a high premium on education, seeing it as an essential tool for Djibouti’s growth and development. Given the country’s strategic location (the Suez Canal, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Shipping route) and its significance in global trade and international shipping, CEALT is top priority for the Government as the country continues to leverage its natural positioning to its advantage.

 

CEALT is hosted by the University of Djibouti, in addition to a second Center – the University of Djibouti School of Engineering and aims to become a regional logistics hub in Africa, specializing in the field of logistics, transport, and applied digitization. In line with the ACE Impact Project, the center has been working to improve the quality, quantity, and development impact of postgraduate education in Africa.

 

Since its establishment, the Africa Center of Excellence for Logistics and Transport has continued to be an active player in the logistics sector by strengthening the capacity of human resources on the continent through training, education (at Masters and PhD levels), research, and services to the society in the form of community engagement. It practices an active pedagogy, with a strong component of exposure to problem-solving, case studies, and internships in companies. This Center of Excellence prioritizes the promotion of women’s access to higher education and the investment of efforts to increase the number of female students and faculty until equality is achieved

 

Composition of the Center

The Africa Center of Excellence for Logistics and Transport is made up of two (2) key components – CELT (Logistics and Transport) and Co-E (College of Engineering). It is equipped with an infrastructure of international standards and welcomes motivated Master and Doctorate students who are selected through competitive examinations administered by the University of Djibouti.

 

Key Objectives and Expected Results

CEALT aims to provide the Republic of Djibouti, as well as the countries of the region, with highly competent and innovative technicians, specialists, engineers and executives in the strategic development sectors of Africa such as Logistics, Transport, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship. CEALT offers high-quality engineering training which responds to the real needs identified in promising socio-economic sectors such as transport systems, electrical and energy engineering (GEE), civil engineering (GC), and Data Sciences (MDS). The center has a target to promote research within the University of Djibouti, and beyond, through the production of high-level scientific research articles.

 

Key Achievements

  • Recruitment of the first batch of 9 doctoral students from the University of Djibouti
  • Reinforcement of the master’s degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Reinforcement of the master’s degree in Civil Engineering
  • Reinforcement of the Master in Logistics and Transport
  • Establishment of a Masters in Data Sciences in 2019 academic year
  • The establishment of two Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Civil Engineering Laboratories, (FabLAb)
  • Development of smart classes and fully equipped state of the art computer rooms.

 

Leadership

The center is managed by Dr Abdoulkader Ibrahim Idriss who serves as the center leader. Additionally, CEALT relies on two advisory councils – scientific experts to validate the quality of its academic approach, and industrial experts to validate the relevance of its approach to the needs of businesses and the socio-economic sector.

 

How the ACE Impact Project is Transforming the Center

Under one of the key project subcomponents, ACE Impact is strengthening, through partnerships, both undergraduate and postgraduate education programmes that will provide training to their students and develop skills which are useful in addressing the national development needs of Djibouti. The center is also receiving support for activities including regional technical assistance to strengthen academic programmes and curriculum design; faculty scholarships and training; costs of visiting faculty; technical assistance for institutional policies and practices; improving teaching and research resources; and other regional engagements. Overall, the project has helped improve networking and the broader learning environment of CEALT.

 

Website: https://www.univ.edu.dj/ace1/

Contact CEALT here  abdoulkader_ibrahim_idriss@univ.edu.dj

Regional approaches to tackling development challenges

Regional approaches to tackling development challenges

How ACE Impact Project is transforming Education and Research in Africa

The ACE Impact for Development Project is in its third year of implementation and has recorded notable successes in delivering high-quality training, competitive applied research, impactful industry/sector partnerships, mutually beneficial regional and international academic partnerships, and enhanced institutional governance and management of the participating universities.

 

As of November 2020, there were 10,817 masters and doctoral students enrolled across the 53 Centers, 24% of these being regional students. The number of female students across the centers reached 3,333, aligning with the project’s gender inclusion goal of at least 30% female students being trained at any point in time.

The results achieved by the centers are in harmony with the objective of improving the quality, quantity, and development impact of postgraduate education in participating universities through regional specialization and collaboration across West and Central Africa.

Eighty-two programmes being offered by the Centers are in the process of being internationally accredited, creating opportunities for increases in enrolment, as well as boosting the employability of graduates from the centers. Accreditation of programmes verifies if an institution meets or exceeds the minimum quality standards, making the courses and centers internationally competitive.

 

ACE Impact regional Approach

The ACE impact regional approach utilizes collaboration in training to meet the national level needs. For example, the centers hosted by the universities enrol students wishing to be trained in specific thematic areas from across the continent. In addition, the centers leverage the resident capacities in the region and beyond to support the training and supervision of the post-graduate students. Further to this, students are provided with internships and given the opportunity to complete them either in their home countries or regionally. This regional approach facilitates cross-fertilization of ideas and understanding of research problems from national, regional, and global perspectives.

Centers COVID-19 Response

The COVID-19 pandemic presented opportunities for centers to cooperate, sharing knowledge and best practices nationally, regionally, and internationally with various partners through their contributions and experiences towards controlling the spread of this pandemic. Professor Christian Happi is a leading researcher at the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), Redeemer’s University, Nigeria. The center is in partnership with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and other research and public health partners, to implement a Sentinel project for an early warning system in Africa. The project combines genomics with advanced information technologies to transform infectious disease surveillance in real-time. An early warning that could save millions of lives.

 

Creating a Safe Learning Environment for Students

Along with attracting both national and regional students, meeting the required infrastructure standards, and ensuring the centers remain internationally competitive, creating safe learning spaces and environments is a top priority for ACE Impact. The project prioritizes the safety of all stakeholders involved, especially students, through the incorporation of sexual harassment policies and the development of grievance mechanisms systems. Each center of excellence, as part of the disbursements linked indicators, produced a comprehensive sexual harassment policy, as well as appointed a focal person/office responsible for monitoring and implementing the policy. The ACEs also engage students regularly on these policies and clarify to them how they can report any form of sexual harassment.

Additionally, the project appointed an expert in year 2020 to review all the anti-sexual harassment policies and provide feedback which the ACEs used to improve their policies where necessary. Webinars were also held by the Association of African Universities and the World Bank teams from January-March 2020 to raise awareness among the students and build capacities of all those involved.

Moving Forward

As the world adapts to our new digital and virtual reality, the regional approach has been applied to build the capacity of faculty with online teaching methods and technology. Capacity building workshops are being run virtually bringing in experts from Switzerland, Morocco and Senegal to facilitate the sessions. The ACE Impact faculty from the 11 countries converge virtually to participate.

 

Development challenges tackled by the ACEs

To contribute to job creation and poverty eradication, the centers conduct training programs for the surrounding communities as part of their outreach and community development. For example, the Centre for Dryland Agriculture (CDA) in Nigeria runs value chain training programs for youth and women from adjacent states. The practical and intensive training focuses on rice, fisheries, and poultry value chains for employment.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic spurred the Centers to respond to the health challenge posed by the pandemic. The Centers joined forces with their governments to contribute towards the control of the coronavirus. The ACEGID (African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases) and WACBIP (West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens) have been exemplary in conducting the genome sequencing of SARS COV-2 in Nigeria and Ghana. In this important work WACCI and ACEGID worked collaboratively with their governments, national research centers, and other national universities to produce impactful results. The genome sequencing is critical for diagnostics and vaccine development. The data emanating from genome sequencing is important for policy actions and national as well as regional responses.

 

Other Centers designed hand-washing devices, manufactured face masks and sanitizers, designed screening tools, led COVID19-related community awareness trainings, developed disease surveillance systems, and finally opened up their campuses to be the venues for COVID19 testing.

 

Partnerships/ Community engagement

The Centers are developing strategic and significant partnerships as part of their regional approach to training, research, and capacity development. The Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience (ACECoR) hosted by the University of Cape Coast is working closely with local and international partners in the areas of research and capacity building towards an accelerated development of the coasts of West Africa and beyond. ACECoR is partnering with Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) at the University of Bremen, Germany to strengthen the scientific and technological community of practice with European partners from relevant marine disciplines for the co-design and co-production of knowledge that will engage with policymakers, businesses, industry, and other stakeholders within the coastal and marine sectors.

Request for Expression of Interest- Procurement Specialist – Francophone

Second Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence for Development Impact (2nd ACE Impact) (P169064)

Consultancy Services for the engagement of Procurement Specialist (Francophone) at the Regional Facilitation Unit of the Association of African Universities.

The Association of African Universities invites eligible individuals to apply for the position of Procurement Specialist – Francophone. The detailed Terms of Reference (ToR- English) for the position can be found here  , ToR- French or can be obtained at the email address given below.

Competency and Expertise

Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The shortlisting criteria are available in the Terms of Reference. 

The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to Section III, paragraphs, 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” July 2016 and revised in November 2017, and August 2018 (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest available here  .

A consultant will be selected  in accordance with the Individual Consultant Selection method set out in the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” July 2016 and revised in November 2017, and August 2018 (“Procurement Regulations”). Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 0900 to 1700 hours.

Expression of Interest.

Interested individual Consultants are requested to complete the online application . Expressions of interest must be received by close of day 18th February 2021. For further enquire and clarifications, please write to smkandawire@aau.org.

Request for Expression of Interest – Environmental and Social Safeguard Specialist – Francophone

CONSULTING SERVICES – INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT SELECTION

Second Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence for Development Impact (2nd ACE Impact) (P1649064)

Consultancy Services for the engagement of Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialist (Francophone) at the Regional Facilitation Unit of the Association of African Universities. 

The Association of African Universities invites eligible individuals to apply for the position of Environmental and Safeguards Specialist – Francophone. The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment can be found  here  , ToR- French or can be obtained at the email address given below.

Competency and Expertise

Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The shortlisting criteria are available in the Terms of Reference.

The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to Section III, paragraphs, 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” July 2016 and revised in November 2017, and August 2018 (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest available here  .

A consultant will be selected will be selected in accordance with the Individual Consultant Selection method set out in the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” July 2016 and revised in November 2017, and August 2018 (“Procurement Regulations”). Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 0900 to 1700 hours.

Expression of Interest

Interested individual Consultants must complete the online application here. Expressions of interest must be received by close of day 18th February 2021. Clarifications may be requested per email to smkandawire@aau.org.

Stanford University Names ACE-FUELS Director Among World Top Scientists

Professor Emeka Oguzie, the Centre Director for the Africa Centre of Excellence for Future Energies and Electrochemical Systems(ACE FUELS), hosted by the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) has being named by the Stanford University among the top 2 percent of the most cited scientist in various disciplines (Civil, Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, Physics, Biosciences and Bioengineering, Electrical Engineering, among others) in the world. The list comprises 159, 683 individuals with nearly 1500 scientists, doctors and engineers globally.

The report was prepared by a team led by Professor John P. A. Loannisis of Stanford University. Prof. Loannisis is a renowed scientist whose enormous contributions in evidence-based medicine, epidemiology and clinical research have been globally celebrated. The database was created to provide updated analyses and a publicly available database of top scientists that provide standardized information on citations, h-index, co-authorship-adjusted hm-index, citations to papers in different authorship positions, and a composite indicator.

About Professor Emeka Oguzie
Professor Emeka Oguzie leads the multidisciplinary Electrochemistry and Materials Science Research Unit at FUTO. He is noted for his insightful works in the fields of Chemistry and Materials Science. Prof. Oguzie is also the President of the International Family Foundation.
He holds a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Pure Chemistry from the University of Nigeria Nsukka, M.Sc. in Analytical Chemistry from the Federal University of Technology Owerri and Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Calabar.

About Stanford University
The Stanford University is a US based University noted for its academic and research excellence. According to the 2020 edition of the QS World University Rankings, Stanford University is the 2nd highest- ranking university in the world.

Source: talk.com

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