There are several projects and initiatives that offer hope amid all the bad news about African science.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on African science
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Research institutes and "centres of excellence" exist around the world to draw talent and to share resources - all with the aim of solving important problems.
Calestous Juma believed that Africa needed an integrated science, technology and innovation framework. The continent can make this happen.
A precursor to the Square Kilometre Array- the MeerKAT telescope - is being built right now and remarkable progress has been made in the last 12 months.
Africa's overall contribution to research might be small, but smart people are undertaking smart and important work on and about the continent.
It's important that South African teachers, lecturers and professors develop curricula that build on the best knowledge skills, values, beliefs and habits from around the world.
For science to have an impact there must be a genuine will to implement its advances. This requires promoting a greater understanding of science in broader society.
There is broad acknowledgement that the way science is taught and practised in Africa is not socially inclusive.
Collaboration is one of the keys to making African science soar: when the continent's universities work together, they can produce amazing results.
Many people are left floundering when they try to get working on their PhDs. In Africa, this is often because the skills they need haven't been developed earlier in their academic careers.
Science and business don't often go together, but that's changing as more scientists realise that their best ideas can be commercialised.
There are a number of stumbling blocks to intra African collaboration. These must be addressed to ensure that research is not duplicated and that findings are shared.
There are plenty of innovators, scientists and inventors in Africa doing remarkable work today. So why does the myth of Africa being devoid of scientific innovators persist?
Successful economies are led by innovation and driven by knowledge. For Africa to advance, it needs to make more substantial investments in its research and development sector.
African mathematicians and scientists have an important role to play in establishing and protecting a democratic continent.
Africa has deep-rooted problems: poverty, disease, corruption and war. Could these be solved through mathematical science?
Fruit flies aren't just a remarkable organism for research. They are also central to a project that aims to provide more at-home research opportunities for African scientists.
The discovery of gravitational waves has ushered in a new era in astronomy and physics. Where will the next big discovery be made? There's no reason for it not to be Africa.
Top contributors
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Vice President of the Academy of Science of South Africa and DST-NRF SARChI chair in Fungal Genomics, Professor of Genetics, University of Pretoria
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Editor-in-Chief of the South African Journal of Science and Consultant, Vice Principal for Research and Graduate Education, University of Pretoria
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Postdoctoral Fellow in Bioinformatics, University of the Western Cape
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Fellow at the School of Global Environmental Sustainability, Colorado State University
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South African Research Chair in Physical Cosmology, Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town
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Lecturer in Biology & Biochemistry; Developmental Biology Theme, University of Bath
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Associate Professor at the School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town
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Science Communication Researcher, Stellenbosch University
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Lecturer, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge
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Associate Professor of Mathematical Physics, University of Cape Town
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Director and Niels Bohr Chair, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
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Assistant professor, high energy physics, Shahid Beheshti University
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Professor of Tropical Medicine, University of Oxford
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Lecturer, Catholic University of Malawi
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Director of the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa, African Academy of Sciences
