Building Materials Science Collaborations: JUAMI Bridges Continents

What is it about?

The article discusses the joint undertaking for an African materials institute (JUAMI), which is a community-building exercise aimed at building international collaboration and research capabilities in materials science. JUAMI's roots can be traced back to 2010 when the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Materials Research (DMR) reached out to researchers to explore new efforts to enhance materials research activities in sub-Saharan Africa. The article highlights the success of JUAMI schools, which bring together around 70 research-active PhD students from US universities and PhD, masters students and young faculty from universities in East Africa. The goal of the school is to deliver a mixture of cutting-edge research talks, interactive tutorials, and hands-on team-building activities that encourage students to interact with each other, build greater understanding, collaborations, and relationships.

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Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The research described in this article is important because it highlights the efforts to build international collaboration and research capabilities in materials science, specifically in the east African countries of Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya. The establishment of the African Crystallographic Association (AfCA) as a regional affiliate of the International Union of Crystallography is a testament to the growth of materials research in institutions on the African continent, and the JUAMI initiative aims to contribute to raising international collaborations in the community. Key Takeaways: 1. The origins of JUAMI date back to 2010 when the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Materials Research (DMR) reached out to research-active institutions in East Africa to explore new efforts of mutual interest. 2. JUAMI is a community-building exercise aimed at capacity building and international collaboration focused on early-career scientists in the area of materials for sustainable development. 3. The first JUAMI school was held in Addis Ababa in 2012, and the basic goals and format of the schools have remained constant, with a strong effort made to maximize diversity and equal representation of African and US students. 4. The schools focus on delivering a mixture of cutting-edge research talks, interactive tutorials, and hands-on team-building activities, and the latest iteration of the school includes an exercise where students self-organize into groups and devise and create a funding proposal that proposes a solution to a problem identified by them in their discussions.