Science with Africa Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 3-7 March 2008

The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and Intelligence in Science (ISC) are inviting submissions of papers for the conference "Science with Africa".

The conference aims to explore how African science based entities can increase their collaboration with and participation in international science, technology, innovation and R&D projects. The conference will bring together African and international scientists conducting research in Africa, experts in the areas of science project management, dissemination, partnering, intellectual property, patents, research management and the commercialization of R&D.

Part of the conference will focus on scientific themes which will be of particular interest in the development of a science base in Africa. The objective is to present the enormous potential of African institutions and to demonstrate that collaboration with African scientists presents added value in many types of research. The conference will revolve around the themes of: Energy, Transport and Infrastructure, Health, Life Sciences, Information and Communication Technologies, Water, and Agriculture and Food Security.

For this section the invitation addresses collaborative projects with the participation of African scientists but welcomes all scientists with a focus on Africa in the topics specified below:

- Energy: Key global issue of the 21st century: policies in support of new energy technologies in Africa; New advances in energy research contributing to sustainable development; Challenges to the implementation of new energy options.
- Transport and Infrastructure: Address the urgent infrastructural needs for African sustainable development; links between transport infrastructure and poverty; technology advances in the area of infrastructure and transport as opportunities for African development; Policies to support infrastructural developments.
- Health: Challenges for clinical trials in Africa, and the implementation of guidelines for good clinical practices; effects and threats of infectious diseases in Africa and on a global scale; new scientific developments to tackle infectious diseases in Africa; policy options for the establishment of a health care system.
- Life Sciences: Latest developments in biotechnology offering opportunities for science cooperation with Africa; Biotechnology as an opportunity for R&D in Africa; biodiversity and natural resources - opportunities and threats.
- Agriculture and Food Security: New challenges to agriculture in Africa and maintenance of sustainable development; Challenges to food security; foresight studies and scenarios; effects of climate change in Africa.
- ICT: Impact and opportunities of information and communication technologies in Africa; Policies to support the use of ICT in Africa; The need of ICT for the science base in Africa; Studies on the use of ICT in Africa.
- Water: The challenge of water scarcity; technologies for water treatment and transportation; irrigation; water governance and management schemes; and water information and dissemination.

Another part of the conference will consist of workshops on research management in its widest sense. That is workshops on partnering, IP issues, legal matters, knowledge transfer etc.

The aim of this part is to emphasize the need for improving the skills in research management for the participation in international research collaboration and research funding programs and to provide interactive sessions to establish a deepened understanding of the required skills. In addition the workshops will provide the opportunity to present scientific findings on the following subjects:

- Collaborative research: The role of collaborative research for capacity building; obstacles and opportunities for collaborative research; case studies on collaborative research; policies and programmes in support of collaborative research.
- IPR, Patents and Technology Transfer: The obstacles of the IP systems to international science cooperation with Africa; alternative IP regimes to support the participation of African based scientists; IP strategies to support innovation in Africa; the access and use of patent information to support innovation in Africa, IP protection and indigenous knowledge; IP protection and drug development against infectious diseases; the implementation of Art. 66.2 TRIPS.
- Legal and ethical issues: protection of FDI in Africa, the influence of the legal systems in Africa, the EU and the US on science collaboration (case studies); immigration issues; legal issues regarding specific technologies (e.g. new energy); ethical issues regarding global science collaboration (e.g. stem cell research); gender equality and good clinical practice.
- Research Evaluation: Measuring research policy; measuring research systems and programs; applications for research evaluation; research evaluation for the improvement of policies; evaluation methodologies; the use of scenarios for the development of policies.

Format requirements:

Submissions should be no more than six pages long. The cover page should include (1) title, (2) authors and affiliation, (3) e-mail address of contact author and an abstract describing the contributions.

The papers should focus on the suggested themes or sub-themes, highlighting areas of strengths and weaknesses, and where collaboration among African and international scientists may add value.

All manuscripts will be refereed by the International Scientific Committee on their quality and relevance for the conference aim. Accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings.

Authors of accepted papers will be sponsored to participate in the conference.

Key Dates

Deadline for Submission of Abstracts (max. 400 words) and Author Profile (max 100 words): 15 Dec 2007
Notification Due: 15 Jan 2008
Abstract Submission: Through the Conference Website or by email to: callforpapers@sciencewithafrica.com

Conference Website: www.sciencewithafrica.com

Hosts UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) ISC Intelligence in Science

Contact

Alex Tindimubona
UN Economic Commission for Africa
P.O. Box 3001, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: +251-11-544-3540
E-mail: atindimubona@uneca.org

Arne Koeppel
ISC Intelligence in Science
Rue du Trne 4
B-1000 Brussels
Tel: 0032 2 8888 107
E-mail : arne.koeppel@iscintelligence.com

Silvia De Pasquale
ISC Intelligence in Science
Rue du Trne 4
B-1000 Brussels
Tel: 0032 2 8888 110
E-mail : silvia.depasquale@iscintelligence.com