PROGRAMME OFFICER’S TRAINING IN ETHIOPIA October 19, 2011
Posted by Louise in : ASADI, Africa, Events, NASAC , add a commentThe participants outside the conference venue
Zarina Moola (Policy Advisory Programme) and Louise van Heerden (Scholarly Publishing Programme) from the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) were invited to participate in the Programme Officer’s Training Course organised by the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC), in collaboration with the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences. The training was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 3 to 6 October 2011. There were representatives from the academies of Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Senegal, Morocco, Ethiopia and South Africa. The course was made up of four days of lectures and practical exercises designed to provide participants with practical skills and knowledge useful for the designing, planning and managing of academy activities and the dissemination of results. Participants were also familiarised with the functions, organisation and operations of other African academies and fostered an exchange of ideas on how science academies in Africa support policymaking in their countries.
The training facilitators were Lauren Alexander Augustine (The National Academy of Science, U.S.A), Jackie Olang (NASAC), Doyin Odubanjo (Nigerian Academy of Science) and Nthabiseng Taole (ASSAf). The training was made possible thanks to generous support from the Royal Society (U.K.) and the National Academies of Science (U.S.A.) through the ASADI programme.
Louise and Zarina at ‘Lucy’s Restaurant’ (named after Lucy, the famous partial skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis found in Ethiopia)
ASSAf reaches out to learners and educators August 13, 2009
Posted by Mutheu in : National Relations , add a commentMembers of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) provided mentorship lectures to learners and educators during the recent National Science Week in the Free State, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. The National Science Week is an initiative by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), through the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA) which aims to celebrate science. It involves various stakeholders from government, private and not-for-profit sectors of society who conduct and exhibit multiple science based activities during the week. This year, the National Science Week ran from 1-8 August 2009 in all nine provinces simultaneously at multiple sites in each province.
This year’s science week was launched in the Northern Cape province by DST Minister, Naledi Pandor. Through ASSAf’s regional mentorship lecture approach, which targeted both learners and educators, scientist were able to interact with learners, provide guidance on science-based careers, and understand some of the challenges that are facing educators within the science system in South Africa. This also provided an opportunity to increase the awareness of ASSAf among learners, educators, and other key stakeholders.

