Empower the Careers of 10 Young African Scientists

The primary objective of Young Scientists for Africa is to sponsor enthusiastic and talented young students from sub-Saharan Africa to attend the prestigius London International Youth Science Forum in London held in July for the past 61 years. Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal has recently agreed to be the patron of LIYSF, following in the footsteps of her father, Prince Philip.

The 2020 LIYSF conference was cancelled due to the Corona Virus so we were unable to sponsor students for that event.  However, the 2021 event, being held between 28th July and 11th August 2021, is to go ahead, currently as a virtual STEM Programme. To this end we are considering how to sponsor students for the event, bearing in mind the availability and reliability of technology in certain part of the African continent,  and suitablity of study rooms for the students in their own locality. 

We are very hopeful that we can sponsor students for the 2021 LIYSF event and thereby offer them a lifetime opportunity to develop and pursue their passion for science.  Like their alumni we expect them to take forward the learning in their chosen scientific area for the benefit of themselves and their country, where scientists are urgently required.

Any further sponsorship you are able to provide will be gratefully received. 

100% of donations go to sponsoring worthy young African science students.

Thank you again to all of you who have donated and continue to donate as part of our GlobalGiving fundraising campaign.  

Along with the rest of world we have been adjusting to a new reality brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are grateful that all of our alumni YoSA students are safe and well in their respective countries. The 62nd London International Youth Science Forum (LIYSF) which was due to take place this summer waspostponed until next July.  We hope that the event can operate in the normal way and will delay student selection until we have better information about the nature and scope of next year’s event.

We are using this time to expand our network of African partners with whom we collaborate to identify and select talented young scientists who will benefit from our scholarships in the future. We have held discussions with the following organisations and are excited about future possibilities when we can plan with more certainty:

We remain connected with our YoSA alumni students as they continue their journeys in science as best they can in the current environment. Now more than ever we need a diverse community of scientists to address the global challenges we face. 

Thank you for helping us support young African scientists to achieve their potential in changing the world.

Thank you again to all of you who have donated and continue to donate as part of our GlobalGiving fundraising campaign.  

Along with the rest of world we have been adjusting to a new reality brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are grateful that all of our alumni YoSA students are safe and well in their respective countries. The 62nd London International Youth Science Forum (LIYSF) which was due to take place this summer has been postponed to next July, but we are pleased to confirm that the stellar line up of speakers announced in our last newsletter will be contributing to the 2021 event. 

We are using this time to expand our network of African partners with whom we collaborate to identify and select talented young scientists who will benefit from our scholarships in the future. We are currently in discussions with:

We are also staying connected with our YoSA alumni students as they continue their journeys in science. Christa from Rwanda was awarded a YoSA scholarship to attend LIYSF in 2017 and whilst there was inspired by a chemistry lecture and a visit to the Medical Research Council Cambridge Stem Cell Institute to pursue a career in the health sector.  She completed a degree in pharmacy and started work at a Rwandan pharmaceutical company. Christa was invited back to LIYSF in 2018 and 2019 as a staff member and the management skills she acquired resulted in a promotion to COO of her company, sharing what she had learnt as examples of best practice for colleagues.  She has also returned to university to study for a Master’s in Business Administration and will graduate later this year.

Now more than ever we need a diverse community of scientists to address the global challenges we face. Thank you for helping us support young African scientists to achieve their potential in changing the world.

A BIG thank you again to all of you who have donated and continue to donate as part of our GlobalGiving fundraising campaign.  During the last quarter we have remained connected with our students as they have continued their development following their experiences at the London International Youth Science Forum (LIYSF). We have also have been working to expand our network with the African partners we whom we collaborate to identify and select talented young scientists who will benefit from one of our scholarships. 

To assist us with these endeavours we are excited to welcome Clare Thomson as a new Trustee onto our Board. Clare worked for over 30 years as a physics teacher and has a masters degree in Science Education. Until recently she was the Curriculum and Diversity Manager at the Institute of Physics where she played a pivotal role in a range of initiatives to encourage more girls to study physics. Clare has supported LIYSF for a number of years and is a regular judge at the Science Bazaar poster event. In her work with YoSA Clare will be developing new African partnerships including those with countries which have not previously been represented at LIYSF. She will also be focussing on opportunities for YoSA to sponsor more female students and will be pursuing a number of connections made recently at the World Science Forum in Budapest including the Organisation for Women in Science in the Developing World.

Meanwhile we are delighted to be working with our established partners who once again are running in-country selection processes to identify worthy recipients of a YoSA scholarship. These include:

Since our last update, the London International Youth Science Forum has secured the participation of a number of high profilescientists to engage with students at this summer’s Forum. These include Nobel prize winner Professor James Rothman from Yale University, Professor Dame Julia King (Baroness Brown of Cambridge), Professor Lord Martin Rees (Astronomer Royal and former President of the Royal Society) and Dr. Maggie Adherin-Pocock, MBE.

A BIG thank you again to all of you who have donated as part of our Global Giving fundraising campaign and changed the lives of young scientists in Africa. During the last quarter we have remained connected with our students as they have written reports about their time at the London International Youth Science Forum (LIYSF) and have shared their experiences in their home communities. The benefit of attending LIYSF really comes to life in the detail of their reports and the way they have shared their experiences with their schools and across their communities.

MacDonald visited Oxford University, Imperial College, The Royal Institution, Airbus, NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre and the Alexander Fleming Laboratory during his time at LIYSF:

• ‘These exclusive visit opportunities gave me deep insight into the broad, challenging and exciting life of a scientist which extends far beyond the research lab.’
• ‘Presenting my project during the FameLab evening highlighted the importance of being able to effectively translate science to engage an audience who may not have a scientific background.’

He learned from his experiences at LIYSF and re-presented his project at the Climate Change programme run by Unicef Zimbabwe and Voices for Youth in September, where he wasawarded the Green Innovations Award by SNV Zimbabwe. In October MacDonaldreceived the First-place award in the Physical Science Category from the Young Scientist Journal. He has also been awarded a scholarship to continue his studies at the prestigious Africa Leadership Academy in South Africa where he intends to focus on Biomedical engineering.

The photo above shows Edzani presenting to his whole school of 2,536 students. Edzani is finishing his final exams and will be applying to University in January. He has highlighted in his report that:

• ‘Around the globe we are all family, regardless of our skin colour and where we come from; whether our home background is a rich one or a poor one we are all one.’
• ‘Africa is still a developing continent with scientists capable of great things for the whole of Africa, YoSA and LIYSF have helped provide me knowledge and inspiration to go on and do this.’

Phamela also spoke to her whole school of 1,100 students before finishing High School with multiple academic certificates, including being awarded the ‘Top Learner’ prize for her school for 2019. She has started a project with her friends teaching maths and science at one of her community primary schools. Inspired by LIYSF she has delivered 10 lessons and wants to pass on this inspiration to younger children and engage them with science from an early age. Phamela concludes her report by saying:

• ‘LIYSF has changed my life and inspired me to pursue a career in STEM, the friendships and connections I have made will forever live within me.’

George is now at the University of Nairobi studying Environmental and Biosystems engineering. He is working on a project to reduce the rate of infant mortality by studying the level of sterility of breast milk. George reflected that:

• ‘There were more than 500 participants attending LIYSF. This means over 500 ways of thinking, reasoning, cultures and different ways of tackling problems we encounter. LIYSF made it possible for me to interact, learn and network with these brains from different parts of the world.’
• ‘Debate night gave me a voice as well as a platform to be heard. I was overwhelmed standing up and presenting my ideas in front of everyone, but it felt great when I saw everybody listen to me.’

All of the YoSA students at LIYSF this year were ‘flag bearers’ at the opening ceremony which took place in the presence of Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal. They all state in their reports how tremendously proud they are of this honour and their scholarship to LIYSF as a whole and are all working hard to ensure it makes a lasting difference to their futures and that of their communities.

Links:

• Young Scientists for Africa