Financial Times: Training Scientists in Africa's Own Universities

Heather Ferguson ("Scientists from poor countries need the West's help") observes that talented researchers in Africa lack access to postgraduate training, and she argues for affordable opportunities in the west for researchers from poor countries. RISE, the Regional Initiative in Science and Education, goes one step further by providing postgraduate training at universities in sub-Saharan Africa. By combining the resources of multiple universities, RISE offers high quality PhD programs in the sciences in the researchers' home countries. Dr. Ferguson is absolutely right that African researchers are the most qualified and motivated to address Africa's problems, and we strongly support her call for mutually beneficial collaboration among researchers in the developed and developing worlds. Article here.

November 2008