| | The 5th Cohort of Young Researchers Trained to Deliver Impactful Afrocentric Science Communication |
| | | | AIMS South Africa, in partnership with African Gong, has made significant strides in strengthening Africa's capacity for impactful science communication. From 17 to 19 April, the two organisations successfully trained the 5th cohort of AIMS South Africa master’s students in Afrocentric science communication skills. This three-day workshop served as the second phase of the 2024 Africa Scientifique (AS) programme, following the introductory workshop of Phase 1. The AS programme aims to equip young and emerging African scientists and academics with the skills necessary to communicate science effectively to non-scientific audiences, tackling one of the key challenges within higher education on the continent—impactful science communication. |
| | One participant reflected on their experience, saying, “Through the Africa Scientifique workshop, I’ve developed a greater interest in the Africa Scientifique programme, and the content was well delivered. I have seen a massive improvement in my science communication skills over the past three days and hope this continues as I progress in my career. I’ve transformed greatly—my confidence, controlling my nerves, voice projection, and overall, I can say I saw a new version of myself. Thank you, AS programme.” |
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| | AIMS hosts International Maths Olympiad Camp |
| | | | From 7 to 12 April 2024, the AIMS South Africa was proud to host the annual International Maths Olympiad (IMO) Camp in South Africa. The camp, organised by the South African Maths Foundation (SAMF), was facilitated by Najwa Chellan from the AIMS Schools Enrichment Centre (AIMSSEC), who played a crucial role in its success. Fifteen talented students from Grades 8 to 12, representing the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Free State, and Gauteng, gathered at AIMS for a week dedicated to mastering Algebra, Combinatorics, Geometry, and Number Theory. |
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| | | | The Structured Master's streams completed the following courses in April: Model Theory (Dugald MacPherson, University of Leeds); Solitons (Patrick Dorey, Durham University); Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (Grae Worster, University of Cambridge & Jerome Neufeld, University of Cambridge); Sage (Eric Andriantiana, Rhodes University; Statistics Skills (Jane Hutton, University of Warwick); and Algebraic Biology (Matthew Macauley, Clemson University). |
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In the same period the AI Stream completed: Framing Research Problems (Max Welling; University of Amsterdam & Lars Holdijk, University of Oxford); Bayesian Modelling & Probabilistic Programming (Elizaveta Semenova, Imperial College London); Natural Language Processing (Jan Buys, UCT & Francois Meyer, UCT); Applied Machine Learning at Scale (Ulrich Paquet, AIMS); and Machine Learning by Hand (Claire David, AIMS). |
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| | | Machine Learning for Ecology Group Updates |
| | | It is with great sadness that AIMS South Africa announces the passing of Dr Guilherme Frainer on the 29 April 2024. Dr Fainer joined AIMS as a postdoctoral fellow in the Machine Learning for Ecology Research group for only a few days before his passing. Dr Fainer had a PhD in Zoology and had more recently developed an interest in machine learning for marine bioacoustics. He had published with the research group at AIMS, and developed research software to assist with conservation efforts towards dolphin vocalisations in South African waters. |
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He was previously a postdoctoral fellow at UCT and SeaSearch over the past 3 years. He was dedicated towards the protection of humpback dolphins. Dr Fainer was a passionate surfer and an avid photographer. |
| | Dr Dufourq was appointed as an Academic Editor for the PLOS Computational Biology Journal. |
| | Dr Jeantet participated in the launch of STEM MentHER as a 2024 mentor at Stellenbosch University. This programme is designed to support Grade 12 female students interested in pursuing careers in STEM. |
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| AT AIMS Research Group Updates |
| | The AT AIMS research focus hosted its first algebraic biology workshop on 25 April 2024. The talks covered algebraic biology, topology, physics, and eco-evo-bio complexity. Thanks to Prof. Cang Hui and his team from the Mathematics Division at Stellenbosch University for jointly organising this wonderful opportunity to connect, share our work and identify new frontiers to explore. |
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| | | | On 2 April Dr Sharon Neufeld, Senior Research Associate and Wellcome Trust Fellow, University of Cambridge, gave a talk titled: ‘Statistical Models to Understand Changes in Depression over Development’. In this presentation she described recent and ongoing work from her group applying multiple statistical methods in large population-based datasets to better understand changes in depression over development. |
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On 10 April, AIMS South Africa and UCT-CERN presented a Special Research Seminar titled ‘Free Energy is All You Need.’ The speaker was Prof. Dr Max Welling, a fellow at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) and the European Lab for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS). |
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| | AIMS South Africa welcomes two visiting PhD students |
| | Ms Ella Orme, who arrived on 24 March 2024, is affiliated to Imperial College, London where she is reading for a PhD in Mathematical Research. She is also a Graduate Teaching assistant at Imperial College. She will be attending some of the AI courses and will also be focusing on her own research area supervised by Prof. Paquet. She will be based at AIMS for three months. |
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On 2 April 2024, Mr Clint Wankouo Ngouleu, affiliated with the Department of Physics at the University of Dschang started his two months visit at AIMS. His research area is AI techniques-based hybrid renewable energy systems optimal design for the purpose of providing clean water as well as electricity to people living in rural areas of Cameroon. His visit was funded by the AGNES Intra-Africa Mobility Grant for Junior Researchers. |
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| | Teaching tip for lecturers! |
| | | In the realm of mathematics, a plethora of concepts encompasses representation, symbolization, reasoning, and interrelations, among other fundamental components. In fostering mathematical cognition, how do we effectively pose inquiries regarding these mathematical constructs to stimulate critical thinking? Moreover, can we confidently presume that students' capacity to articulate and elucidate these mathematical constructs indicates a thorough comprehension of the subject matter? One way to deepen mathematical thinking is to change the way we ask questions. We could ask students to compare, organise, justify, convince, verify, and refute. The list is endless! As an example, instead of asking a student to complete a solution, we could ask: What other information is needed to solve ....? What is different about .... and the same? How can you change ... to make ....? How would you conjecture change if you changed ...? |
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| | | | | | | We have open positions for: |
| | | Chief Operating Officer, deadline for applications 31 May 2024 |
| | | A Machine Learning Researcher: Earth Observation & Ecology (open until filled.) |
| | | Please see our applications page for more details! |
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