Valera Dias, one of the ARISE Fellows, presenting her research work in a session at the World Science Forum held in Cape Town, South Africa.Credit: AAS
An initiative to empower early-career scientists in delivering cutting-edge research across Africa has been established by the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU) with initial EU support of €25 million.
The current ARISE pilot phase supports 45 researchers in 38 countries across the continent with 5-year research grants of up to €500,000. The 45 researchers are supported to create teams comprising postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers, resulting in a cohort potentially exceeding 600 researchers across many countries.
By design, ARISE provides an environment for African research and innovation to directly contribute to the current progress of “sustainability science”, defined as transdisciplinary research aimed tackling sustainability challenges and social and ecological crises.
Minimizing research inequality in Africa
ARISE is designed to address the prevailing research inequalities across Africa. At the helm of ARISE’s implementation are strategic and scientific advisory committees comprised of representatives of the African Union and the European Union as well as eminent experts from both continents. This structure ensures ARISE’s alignment to Africa’s development needs and priorities while providing an avenue for the knowledge products generated from the programme to inform policy dialogue and decisions. ARISE’s tripartite focus on individual and institutional capacity strengthening alongside the generation of cutting-edge research strategically fosters scientific quality; research leadership; scientific citizenship; and research management, culture, as well as infrastructure within its fellowships.
Over the last two years, ARISE has demonstrated success in bridging existing research and innovation gaps and responding to Africa’s research needs. The requirement for each of the 45 ARISE fellows to create and support research teams comprised mainly of postgraduate students, facilitates a cascading effect in terms of capacity building.
In 2022 at least 56 PhD and 70 master’s students were engaged in various ARISE projects supporting research collaborations and mobility within the continent and links with the global north, creating an ecosystem for exchange.While existing research initiatives across Africa have achieved some discernible outcomes, they are often fragmented in their geographical reach, research scope, and longevity. Hence, a mechanism to coordinate research investments and funding is still required, not just to leverage synergies for a greater impact, but also to focus efforts on a common vision for the future.
