The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) signed new bilateral agreements this month with four premier African universities part of a PASET initiative, to propel their research and PhD programs in applied sciences and technology.

The agreements were signed at a workshop organized by KIST in collaboration with PASET, held on September 6-12, 2017.

Each of the four African host institutions entering this collaboration are part of PASET’s Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (RSIF), which was initiated in 2015 to help train thousands of PhDs across Africa. The agreements follow a November 2016 memorandum of understanding between KIST and PASET, which promised support for a Sandwich program for the RSIF scholars that will allow them to conduct part of their research at KIST, and other activities such as curriculum improvement, faculty exchange/training, and research collaboration with the host institutions. The details of the sandwich program are a key element of the new agreements.

The RSIF host universities were competitively selected from institutions participating in the Africa Centers of Excellence (ACE) Project, which is financed by the World Bank and implemented by national governments and universities in 46 African institutions. The ACE Project aims to build African research expertise in areas ranging from phytochemicals and textiles to water, agribusiness and renewable energy. The universities are:

– University of Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Cote d’Ivoire) – ACE for Climate Change Biodiversity and Sustainable Agriculture- CCBAD (RSIF focus is Food Security)

– African University of Science & Technology (Nigeria) – Pan African Materials Institute -PAMI (RSIF focus is Materials, Minerals and Mining Engineering)

– Sokoine University of Agriculture (Tanzania) – ACE for Infectious Diseases of Humans & Animals in Southern & Eastern Africa- SACIDS (RSIF focus is Food Security)

– University of Gaston Berger (Senegal) – ACE for Mathematics, Computer Science and ICT – MITIC (RSIF focus is ICT) 

Prof. Aminata Sall Diallo, Executive Director of PASET’s Executive Committee thanked KIST for generously hosting RSIF host institutions at the workshop.

“KIST embodies a powerful benchmark to look up to for our member institutions, both in terms of research excellence and strengthening national economies. This workshop lays the basis for exactly the kind of partnerships PASET is trying to forge between African universities and other world-class research institutions like KIST.”

In addition to the agreements, the workshop was aimed at sharing with the African delegates how Korea’s remarkable economic development was achieved, and how KIST contributed in advancing the Korean economy by becoming its leading research institute in science and technology.

In addition to KIST’s faculty and representatives, the participants of the workshop also included members of PASET’s Executive Committee, Consultative Advisory Group, and World Bank staff.

The lectures and seminars took place at KIST Headquarters in Seoul and Gangneung. The workshop also included laboratory tours and study visits to the Korea Development Institute, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, and Pangyo Techno-Valley (Geyongi Province).

For more information, please contact Ekua Bentil.