STEM projects and researchers in Africa lack the infrastructure to put their knowledge to work and our mission in Connecting Africa through Science (CAtS) is to change that. We wish to connect African researchers and projects in STEM with worldwide investors and supporters.
Why?
Africa is behind in the field of science compared to the many other regions, including developing countries in Asia (Tijssen, R.J.W., 2007) (1). A report conducted by the World Bank and Elsevier claimed that Africa only accounted for 0.7% of global research as of 2013 (2).
Issues faced by researchers in Africa include:
- Unpaid research.
- Outdated facilities and Equipments.
- Unstable and inequitable international funding.
- Governmental instability.
- Lack of resources (or recognition of the importance) to invest in higher education and research programs.
How?
Our mission in Connecting Africa through Science is to overcome these issues and increase the amount of research in Africa is by building a platform to boost support. Our main goals include:
- Provide funding for researchers in Africa by connecting worldwide sponsors with scientific projects worth supporting.
- Invite international companies already existing in African or interested in expanding to Africa, to find researchers for their projects through our platform, thus helping unpaid researchers find a paid job.
- Create social awareness in collaboration with African researchers, with the hope of increasing governmental support.
- Establish strong collaboration and connection between scientific researchers by enabling African scientists to support each other by means of facilities, materials, and equipment.
Our expected outcome is to build a strong community of researchers, to provide advanced knowledge to the scientists in Africa and to build bridges between researchers and companies, foundations etc.
References
(1) Tijssen, R.J.W. Scientometrics (2007) 71: 303. doi:10.1007/s11192-007-1658-3.
(2) A Decade of Development in Sub-Saharan African Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Research and A Decade of Development in Sub-Saharan African Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics Research.