Science Initiative Group Launches RISE to Strengthen African Higher Education

The Regional Initiative in Science and Education (RISE), initially supported by a $3.3 million grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York to the Science Initiative Group (SIG) at the Institute for Advanced Study, aims to strengthen higher education in the sciences and engineering by increasing the population of skilled scientists and engineers teaching in Africa’s universities. In September, SIG received an additional $1.6 million in funding from Carnegie Corporation of New York to expand the initiative.  In July, RISE awarded its first grants, each worth $800,000 over two and a half years, to three networks of sub-Saharan universities. Now, two additional collaboratives will receive similar grants.  SIG is leading the RISE initiative in consultation with African partners including the Nairobi, Kenya-based African Academy of Sciences (AAS), the initiative’s co-administrator.

“The RISE approach will help fortify and consolidate the community of researchers,” said SIG chair Phillip Griffiths. “By establishing knowledge networks in select fields of science, RISE will help combat the isolation that so often plagues researchers in Africa. With increased contact and cooperation, both instructors and students will profit immensely.”

To see a press release on the original story, click here.  For more information about the latest grants, click here.