NSF-funded Research Collaborations with SubSaharan Africa

1
NSF-funded Research Collaborations with
SubSaharan Africa

• Presented at a Workshop on Enhancing Research
  and Education Network Connectivity to and within
  Africa
• May 5, 2005
• Elizabeth E. Lyons, Ph.D.
• NSFs Office of International Science and
  Engineering
• elyons_at_nsf.gov

2
NSF Basics

• Independent federal agency
• 5.4B budget in FY05
• Organized by discipline
• Uses peer review to make awards
• Includes Social Science and Engineering
• Integration of Research and Education is a
  hallmark

3
NSFs International Activities

• International activities are a key part of NSFs
  mission.
• Discovery is a global enterprise. For the U.S.
  to remain in the forefront of world science and
  technology, it needs scientists and engineers
  from all disciplines who can operate and lead
  international teams and track international
  discoveries in some of the most challenging
  research areas.
• NSF Director Arden Bement, 2004

4
International Research and Education

• International research and education proposals
  are funded both by NSFs Office of International
  Science and Engineering (OISE) and by the
  Research Directorates
• Approximately 20 of all NSF awards involve
  international collaboration

5
Office of International Scienceand Engineering
(OISE)

• Promote research excellence through international
  collaboration
• Forge partnerships with scientists engineers
  throughout the world in all NSF subjects
  priority areas
• Manage international programs that are catalytic
  innovative, develop new models in developed
  developing countries
• Promote access to unique research facilities and
  opportunities
• Promote international experiences for junior
  researchers

6
NSF - Frame of Reference

• NSF is proposal-driven it is enabling and
  bottom-up, rather than directive and top-down
• NSF is fundamentally a domestic agency, with
  constraints on funding of salaries and equipment
  for foreign counterparts
• NSF funds fundamental research, so proposals must
  demonstrate how science advanced, not how applied
  problem to be solved (exceptions often in
  Engineering and CISE)
• Governing body, National Science Board, charged
  NSF to work more in developing countries, by
  forming partnerships with groups that can fund
  foreign side

7
NSFs SubSaharan Africa Portfolio 1999-2004
Trends

• Number of awards and total funding have both
  increased steadily (23M, 154 awards in FY04 vs.
  80 awards, 15M in FY99).
• Geographic distribution greatly increased. South
  Africa no longer dominates. Most awards still in
  southern and eastern Africa language an issue.
  In FY03, top 4 countries had 65 proposals, in
  FY04, top 4 countries had 47.
• Disciplinary breadth increasing. Majority still
  in field sciences BIO, GEO, Social Science, but
  other disciplines increasing.

8
NSFs SubSaharan Africa Portfolio 1999-2004
Details

• Types of proposals small dissertation projects,
  workshops, regular research awards, very large
  projects (each year at least 4 projects gt1M)
• Includes projects from some of NSFs most
  competitive programs e.g, Biocomplexity, ITR,
  CAREER/PECASE, Ecology of Infectious Disease
• Growing number of projects give young scientists
  and engineers international research experience
  (e.g., Research Experiences for Undergraduates,
  Integrative Graduate Education and Research
  Traineeship, Post-Doctoral fellowships).

9
NSFs SubSaharan Africa Portfolio 1999-2004
Details

• Most awards are in geosciences, biology and
  social sciences (anthropology and geography)
• Awards in other disciplines are on the increase
• US/Africa Materials Institute at Princeton
  University, 5 US universities and researchers and
  students in 16 African countries (2.85M)
• Power Engineering group at Howard U, Washington
  State and RPI working with Nigeria and Ghana
• Southern Africa Large Telescope

10
PI meeting Research on Environment in
SubSaharan Africa

• January 2005 meeting at NSF 50-60 US PIs, 15
  graduate students and post-docs, 20 Africans who
  collaborate on NSF projects, other agencies who
  can fund USAID, Carnegie, Kellogg, Fulbright,
  etc.
• Build a community, strengthen all activities,
  seek other partners so that these projects are
  sustainable, with true intellectual partnership
  with foreign collaborators report forthcoming.
• Also had a one-day satellite meeting on the IT
  challenges of doing this research
• How to build and sustain international networks?
  IT is essential!!

11
International Cyberinfrastructure

• NSFs role link US scientists with their
  colleagues- particularly where there are
  data-intensive activities e.g., physics,
  astronomy but also environmental, atmospheric,
  global change, seismic, genomic, museum
• Right now, Africa, Middle East, South Asia not
  well connected
• How to rectify learn from experience of other
  regions
• Need regional cooperation, so that US can link to
  regional academic networks as International
  Research Networks Connections. Archived program
  announcement
• http//www.nsf.gov/pubs/2004/nsf04560/nsf04560.htm
  

12
More information

• Visit OISE homepage
• http//www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?divOISE
• ---overseas research institutions, foreign
  research funding counterparts, and international
  science and engineering organizations
• ---helpful information on research study
  abroad (e.g., visas, permits, customs
  regulations, travel warnings)
• Contact OISE program manager and disciplinary
  program officer with questions
• Search awards on NSF website
• http//www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/index.jsp

13
WWWeb Invisibility of African
scientists

• Surveyed websites of 26 SSA universities in 12
  nations with NSF awards Eng., Bio., Geology
  Geography Dpt
• Looked for basic info on scientists name,
  courses taught, research interests, projects, CV,
  contact info -- info needed to find collaborator,
  make contact after reading journal article
• Results can find very little information
• 10 universities - no info (inc. S. Afr, Nigeria,
  Uganda)
• 25-50 of depts provide no names
• Research interests provided in lt20 depts
• CV provided in lt 15 depts

14
WWWeb Invisibility of African scientists

• Consequences in spite of increasing numbers of
  PhDs and publications, faculty immense African
  resource is largely undiscoverable, underutilized
  
• OISE requires intellectual collaboration
  NSF-funded scientists cant find African
  collaborators
• Advantages to international collaboration immense
  intellectual, monetary, training strengthen
  institution, faculty, students, nations!
• Solutions.Work with groups funding IT physical
  and human infrastructure
• .Engage universities to develop and support
  policy
• .Encourage councils with inventories to put them
  on web