AIMS Launches Skills Immersion Programme for African Graduates
Inside this issue:
AIMS ESMT 1/3 Industry Immersion Programme launch SETI Skills Development Workshop
1/2
Cosmology Group 2 updates Maths Olympiad Pre-camp
2
Visiting researchers
2
ETH Zurich visit
2
NRF Stakeholder Engagement Workshop
2
Meetings attended 2 DST interns visit
3
Public Lectures
3
AIMSSEC newsletter
3
Network News
4
Announcements
4
Left: Students on the course Above: Mr Mark Heerdon and Mr Nick Bariville at the launch of the Skills Immersion Programme
On 3 July 2017, AIMS and the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) announced the launch of the AIMS ESMT Industry Immersion Programme (AIMS ESMT IIP) at the AIMS South Africa Centre in Muizenberg, South Africa. Twenty-eight suitably qualified and industry-inclined AIMS Master’s in Mathematical Sciences graduates from across Africa have been given the opportunity to participate in the 20-week residential and fullyfunded Industry Immersion Program.
The general level of preparedness of graduates from universities in Africa for positions in industry is low as universities do not always see practical training as part of their role. Businesses and industry will find a powerful opportunity in this program to attract graduate talents and prepare them for the specific conditions in the respective businesses. The IIP is launched in partnership with ESMT in Berlin, and with funding support from the
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). “The goal of the program is to enable highly intelligent, scientifically trained African graduates to contribute to the economic transformation of Africa by immersing them in a practical, skills-based employability program,” said Prof. Barry Green, Director of AIMS South Africa and Chief Academic and Research Officer for the AIMS Network. Continued on page 3.
SETI Skills Development Workshop This workshop, funded by the SKA and the Berkeley Research Centre, was hosted at AIMS South Africa from 3-7 July 2017, and introduced participants to t he challenges affecting all new astronomy projects, such as the incredible challenges in weak signal detection, data and image processing as well as big data online processing. Continued on page 2.
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Research Centre updates
Maths Olympiad Pre-camp
Cosmology Group updates Prof. Bruce Bassett, head of the Cosmology Group at AIMS South Africa, travelled to Europe where he attended the University College of London’s ‘Big Data Theory’ workshop from 26-28 June. He gave a seminar and had research discussions at the Central European Cosmology Institute in Prague from 29-30 June. He then visited the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste, Italy where he gave two seminars during the period 4-11 July and
continued his collaborations with Prof. Stefano Liberati. From 11-20 July he visited Imperial College London, where he gave another seminar and continued research collaboration with Prof. Andrew Jaffe and Dr Roberto Trotta. On 31 July 2017, Prof. Bassett gave a talk titled ‘Astronomy in the era of machine learning’ at the Feast Fest held to celebrate the 90th birthday of Prof. Michael Feast at SAAO.
AIMS South Africa in partnership with the South African Mathematics Foundation (SAMF) hosted the Olympiad pre-camp this year for 12 learners and 4 coaches from 26 - 30 June 2017. During this camp the learners participated in a series of mathematical tests a requiring insight, ingenuity and logical rigorous proofs. The learners
were coached by four coaches from Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town. The SAMF selected six of these learners to participate in the International Mathematics Olympiad which took place from 16 to 23 July in Brazil and six learners to participate in the Pan-African Mathematics Olympiad that took place from 1 to 6 July in Morocco.
SETI Skills Development workshop continued... Prof. Bassett giving a seminar at SISSA
Visiting researchers
Dr Ihl
Prof. Banda
The AIMS South Africa Research Centre welcomed two new visitors: Dr Matthias Ihl, affiliated with the University of Porto in Portugal. Dr Ihl completed his PhD in Physics at the University of Texas. He has visited AIMS South Africa previously as part of a collaboration with Dr Jonathan Shock from UCT. Dr Ihl is on a long term research visit, he arrived on 1 July and will be finishing his visit in December 2017. Prof. Mapundi Banda, affiliated with the University of Pretoria where he is in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics. Prof Banda has also visited the research centre previously. He arrived on 9 July and will depart on 18 August 2017.
ETH Zurich visit Dr Josef Teichmann, an Austrian mathematician and professor at ETH Zürich working on mathematical finance, visited
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AIMS South Africa on 25 July 2017. He met with Prof. Barry Green.
Topics covered included: Introduction to SETI research Observation methodology Signal processing and identification Machine learning and big data processing
Hands-on projects to
challenge participant’s problem solving skills.
The workshop was attended by 38 participants, eight of which were from AIMS South Africa.
NRF Stakeholder Engagement Workshop On 18 July 2017, interns from the Department of Science and Technology visited AIMS South
Africa to find out more about the opportunities and successes of AIMS.
Meetings attended Prof. Barry Green attended a meeting for the South African Basic Sciences Platform (SABSPLAT) in Pretoria on 26 July 2017. AIMS South Africa is a member of this platform whose main thrust is to provide a structural mechanism for reviewing the adequacy of support to the basic science disciplines; identifying bottlenecks and inefficiencies across and between sectors in this
respect; and finding ways of stimulating system-level coordination across the different learned societies, institutes and associated role-players. On 18 July, Ms Lynne Teixeira gave a presentation about AIMS South Africa at the Pan African University Roadshow held at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
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Immersion Programme continued The program also has the following objectives: To develop the basic managerial and organisational skills of the selected AIMS graduates; To foster behavioural competences that are required by employers; To transfer teaching and training competences from one of Europe’s leading business schools to one of Africa’s rising scientific institutions; and To develop business linkages between African graduates and German businesses operating in Africa through internship and post-graduate employment “The program has been conceived as a mixture of academic and practical learning and skills development which will allow participants to transition from a scientific environment to an applied industry setting,” added Mr Nick Barniville, Associate Dean of Programs, ESMT Berlin. The backbone of the program is a 12-week internship module with participating industry partners from across Africa, during
which participants will experience a business environment first hand and apply their academic learnings. Companies will also undertake a team-based consulting project with their interns. “We are very grateful to the South African German Chamber of Commerce and their members’ for supporting our program in this pilot year,” said Prof. Wulffe Plinke, Founding Dean of ESMT Berlin. In addition, The Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert Institute for Student Leadership Development (FVZS Institute), based at the University of Stellenbosch, will lead a series of seminars aligned around leadership, active citizenship and social responsibility, and skills development. Communication workshops in business etiquette, team building and collaboration, presentation skills, networking, branding and social media and gender inclusivity have also been run on the course facilitated by Ms Noluvuyo Hobana, Language and Communication Teacher and Ms Yasmin Hankel, New Media Specialist both from AIMS South Africa.
DST interns visit On 18 July 2017, interns from the Department of Science and Technology visited AIMS South
Africa to find out more about the opportunities and successes of AIMS.
Public Lectures
Mr Isaacson
On 4 July, AIMS South Africa and the SKA presented two public lectures: ‘The Exoplanet Revolution: NASA’s Kepler Mission and the Search for Earth-like Planets, ’by Howard Isaacson, Research Scientist, University
of California, Berkeley, & Breakthrough Listen ‘Fast Radio Bursts: Mysterious Cosmic Whistles,’ by Griffin Foster, University of Oxford and the University of California at Berkeley
Ms Hobana and Ms Hankel teach students key communication skills
AIMSSEC newsletter Please click here to view the 11th edition of the AIMSSEC newsletter. Dr Foster
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Announcements
Network News Centre Graduations
Public Lectures
As part of our National Science Week 2017 activities the AIMS South Africa Public Lecture Series presents a talk titled: ‘Tech is the future’ By Ms Nozuko Poni, Marketing & Project Coordinator, Silicon Cape Key talking points: - The world going digital - what this means for businesses, consumers and careers - How to position yourself in tech - Innovating around social issues (highlighting great innovations) - Sharing of current opportunities
AIMS Cameroon graduated their 4th cohort of students on 23 June, 2017. 46 students (16 females and 30 males) from 13 African countries graduated.
Date: Tuesday 8 August 2017 Time: 18:45 for 19:00 Cost: Free Venue: African Institute for Mathematical Sciences 6 Melrose Road, Muizenberg
AIMS Tanzania held its 3rd graduation ceremony on 1 July 2017. The 55 students who graduated, brought the total to 140 students over three years, from 18 African countries, with over a third of them women.
On 1 July 2017, AIMS Ghana graduated 47 students (including 18 women) from 19 African countries.
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