Canada will contribute CA$22.6 million (R253 million) over five years to the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences - Next Einstein Initiative (AIMS-NEI) to train African mathematical scientists to develop climate change adaptation and mitigation solutions.
This was revealed by Marie-Claude Bibeau, the country's minister of international development and La Francophonie.
AIMS has six centres located in SA, Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon, Tanzania, and Rwanda. It has produced 1 211 graduates, of which 32% of whom are women.
With the funding, AIMS will expand its model of training African post-graduate students in advanced mathematical sciences to incorporate a greater focus on climate change. The funding will be delivered via Global Affairs Canada (CA$19.6 million) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) (CA$3 million). IDRC will manage the funding on behalf of the government of Canada.
With this funding, AIMS will develop a specialised programme in climate change at AIMS-Rwanda and a climate change course option will be offered at all AIMS centres.
The organisation will also support up to three research chairs to lead some 50 African researchers to build a specialised body of knowledge in addressing the impacts of climate change in Africa. It will create a climate change internship programme for its students and alumni, as well as research fellowships for outstanding African women mathematical scientists to conduct climate change research. An additional AIMS centre will be opened in Francophone Africa.
"This initiative demonstrates Canada's commitment to Africa's youth and their ability to find lasting solutions to the world's most pressing challenges like climate change. AIMS will make great strides to increase the recruitment and advancement of young mathematical scientists, especially women in Africa," says Bibeau.
AIMS says it is building a critical mass of mathematical scientists in Africa who can address the continent's complex economic, health, agriculture, and environmental challenges. Every year, some 50 of Africa's top students enrol in each of AIMS' six centres to take a 10-month graduate-level course, leading to a Master's degree in mathematical science.
Already, AIMS alumni have demonstrated their impact on climate change research, the organisation says. For instance, it adds, alumni have developed crop models to estimate the future of food security in the face of a changing climate, used mathematical modelling to help industry convert waste to energy, and developed models to understand the diffusion patterns of infectious diseases as warming climates lengthen transmission seasons.
"Climate change adaptation and mitigation solutions depend on expert mathematical scientists who understand the local and regional context. This investment by the Government of Canada will build local capacity in science and mathematics that will contribute to solutions for Africa as it faces the challenges of a changing climate," says Kirsty Duncan, Canada's minister of science.
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