Dr Archana Bhaw-Luximon, a founding member of WAYS Africa, and a serving Executive Member of WAYS Africa, has been selected by the Third World Academy of Sciences as a Young Affiliate for 2008-2012.

Dr Bhaw-Luximon was chosen as one of the TWAS Young Affiliates for the period 2008-2012 from the African region by the TWAS Regional Office for Sub-Saharan Africa (TWAS-ROSSA).

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Dr Bhaw-Luximon on being selected as one of Africa's leading Young Scientists.

Henry Roman (PhD)
Chairperson
WAYS Africa

It is with pleasure that I announce that two of the keynote addresses at the above-mentioned conference are to be presented by WAYS Africa members.
Dr Archana Bhaw-Luximon and Dr Henry Roman will be making presentations at this important event for young scientists in Africa.

INAUGURAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF WAYS-AFRICA
Pretoria, South Africa 21-22 March 2007
Day 1 LAUNCHING CEREMONY
The Inaugural General Assembly (GA) of WAYS-Africa took place at the ABSA Conference Centre, Pretoria, South Africa, 21-22 March 2007. Twenty-three young scientists from thirteen (13) African countries were present (Appendix 1) including three (3) members of the interim committee.
Prof. Mzamo Mangaliso, President and CEO of NRF, was the guest of honour at the ceremony, and officially opened proceedings. ICSU being a major partner of WAYS- Africa, Prof Gansen Pillay, Chair ICSU South Africa and Prof Sospeter Mohungo, Director ICSU-ROA were invited to speak at the assembly. Three senior scientists shared their experience with the young African Scientists present: Prof. Setati, Director of the Marang Centre for Mathematics Prof. Robin Crew, President of the Academy of Sciences, South Africa Dr Malin Akerblom, Past Director, International Science Program (ISP)
ADOPTION OF THE ACTION PLAN
The action plan presented below was adopted by the assembly. It will evolve into the WAYS-Africa strategic plan to be finalized at a later stage. The following objectives of WAYS-Africa form the foundation for the action plan:
• To empower young African scientists
• To propagate science
• To attract Africans towards science
• To increase science awareness
EMPOWERING YOUNG SCIENTISTS IN AFRICA
(i) Access to academic information
Journals There is a lack of sustainable access to quality and up-to-date scientific journals available for young African scientists, thus hampering their development as scientists. However, it has been observed that there are many online scientific journals that are available for free or at a reduced price. WAYS-Africa plans to compile a list of such websites which will be available as links on its own website. WAYS-Africa plans to negotiate with publishers for subsidized access to journals.
Research facilities Lack of information on available research facilities within Africa contributes towards the disenchantment of young African scientists. WAYS-Africa will intervene in this area by identifying and compiling a list of existing centers of research in Africa according to:
• field of specialization
• available equipment
• visiting scientist programs for young African scientists
Funding agencies It is falsely believed by many African scientists that there are no accessible funds for research in Africa. To bridge this information gap, WAYS-Africa has compiled a list of potential funding agencies which will be regularly updated on the WAYS-Africa website. WAYS-Africa will also implement a Retrieval Simple Systems (RSS) feeding to keep members up to date with application deadlines as well as calls for proposals of funding agencies.
(ii) Capacity building
WAYS-Africa has identified a lack of: IT skills; mentors; platform for discussion, and skilled human resource as some of the areas, amongst others, in urgent need of capacity building. GLOBAL WAYS members in different fields should be easily accessible to interested external parties who may be seeking Young Scientists in a particular field.
IT Skills WAYS being internet based, introduces/exposes members to state of the art collaborative IT work tools (WIKI, RSS).
Mentorship WAYS-Africa undertakes to identify mentors and institutions to assist young scientists in their career advancement. A virtual platform will be created to provide guidelines on how to write grant proposals and opportunities to contact senior scientists for pre-evaluation.
Provide a discussion platform WAYS-Africa members being connected through the WAYS website will have a discussion platform for science and technology issues.
Training WAYS-Africa recognizes the fact that science is dynamic, with novel techniques and facilities. Young African scientists should be up-to-date in their discipline through regular training and re-training at identified centres of excellence within and outside Africa. After such training, they should be encouraged to return to their home institution and transfer the knowledge to their colleagues.
PROPAGATING SCIENCE
Newsletter In the quest to initiate something uniquely African that the rest of global WAYS can follow, a WAYS-Africa newsletter shall be published regularly with articles highlighting the scientific endeavors of exemplary young African scientists that have made a breakthrough in any field of science. The articles are expected to highlight how the reported discoveries are of benefit to Africa. It is expected that the newsletter will provide an extra avenue to motivate upcoming scientists. The benefits of such a Newsletter are three-fold:
(i) The scientists get their academic activities popularized
(ii) Public awareness is generated/increased
(iii) Serves as a communication and publicity channel for WAYS-Africa
There has been a call for articles amongst WAYS-Africa members and the possibility of awards for the best articles. Participation of the readers is expected to be cultivated by asking them to vote for the best/top articles. WAYS-Africa shall endeavor to collaborate with existing on line news letters engaged in the publication of scientific activities. An editorial committee shall be set up to screen and verify the articles before they are published. The editorial committee will comprise WAYS-Africa members .The first edition will have a brief overview of what WAYS-Africa is all about as well as current projects.
ATTRACTING AFRICANS TO SCIENCE
One of the main objectives of WAYS-Africa is to develop a scientific culture amongst people from an early age (primary to secondary schools) and at grass-roots level. The following avenues shall be pursued to achieve this objective:
• use of posters and scientific quizzes for the younger scientists
• The use of print media e.g. explaining a particular scientific discipline in terms of cartoons and pictorial messages
• Holding science based competitions for different levels of young scientists with prize incentives such as sponsoring the winners to attend regional conferences and to possibly spend time in a research laboratory
• Encouraging governments and other bodies to sponsor prizes for these young African scientists.
INCREASING SCIENCE AWARENESS
WAYS-Africa recognises the lack of science awareness of the general public on the continent. This lack in awareness significantly slows down scientific development as science may not be accorded the priority that it deserves. Realising this, WAYS-Africa shall use time tested and innovative means to mitigate this. Some of these ways are outlined below.
Promoting science and health care via SMS. SMS should be informative, precise and fun. For example it may show the important role of science and health care in our everyday life. To encourage this mode of communication incentives shall be considered. For example, the more one forwards a message to others, the higher the chances of winning something. Different service providers such as Vodacom, MTN. etc shall be contacted. Realising that more Africans have access to the radio than cellphones, radio shall also be another form of media that shall be used. Radio shall ensure that science promotion reaches all sectors of the community especially the rural communities, a key target of WAYS-Africa research endeavors.
Science summer camps Science camps for learners from secondary schools shall be organised and the attendees chosen on merit (remembering not to discriminate against disadvantaged communities). WAYS-Africa will also seek ways of linking young scientists and secondary school learners to research labs to which they can be attached to during their vacations. Other potential actions:
• Organizing science demonstrations where scientists from all fields can be invited to give talks/presentations on their fields of expertise
• The use of mobile mini-labs that reach out to a greater population especially in the rural areas. This will give more people an opportunity to have some hands-on knowledge on the existence of various scientific fields. Collaborators (eg ICSU) and sponsors will be contacted
• Practical applications of science in everyday life needs to be demonstrated. For example, a simple method on cleaning water for domestic use can be demonstrated
• Encourage/motivate science teachers by offering scholarships to outstanding teachers to attend short-term courses in developed countries.

STRUCTURING WAYS-AFRICA
(i) Strengthening the Regional Networks and national chapters
Material should be prepared for for distribution. WAYS-Africa should make use of already established networks and all members should be involved in organised campaigns. Use must be made of Ministries of Education in all countries since they can reach a wider base. WAYS members can give small talks on what the organization is doing and how the general public can be involved.
(ii) External linkages
Members proposed a list of organisations that WAYS-Africa could seek affiliation with. These include; TWAS, ICSU, AAS, IFS, AAU, Network of African Scientists, NEPAD, IAP, ACU, AUF, UNIDO, DFID, British Council, European Science Foundation, UNDP-how WAYS-AFRICA can link science to MDGs. WAYS-Africa has already established links with ICSU-ROA, and is in the process of establishing links with the Academy of Sciences South Africa.

Day 2 WAYS-AFRICA CONSTITUTION
A draft constitution was considered and adopted by the GA following fruitful discussions led by Dr Robert Kriger. The first assignment of the newly elected Executive Committee (EC) is to finalise the constitution of WAYS-Africa. The second assignment is to seek a host institution for the office of WAYS-Africa.
WAYS-AFRICA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The GA successfully elected seven (7) EC members as follows:
Chair Dr Henry Roman (South Africa)
Vice-Chair Dr Hudson Angeyo Kalambuka (Kenya)
Secretary General Dr Shadreck Chama (Zambia)
Treasurer Dr Evans Kituyi (Kenya)
Program Coordinator Dr Archana Bhaw-Luximon (Mauritius)
Program Coordinator Kenneth Arinaitwe (Uganda)
External Affairs Dr Janine Chantson (South Africa)
The newly elected executive was tasked with spearheading the newly launched WAYS-Africa.

OTHER NOTABLE OUTCOMES
The invited speakers from the science academies and organizations emphasized the need for closer cooperation with WAYS-Africa. They all indicated that the time has come for young scientists to be part of the planning for their targeted projects. The Chair of ICSU South Africa offered ten (10) post doctoral research positions each worth eighty thousand rands (80,000 SAR) per year to members of WAYS-Africa. These are tenable at South African universities. The Director of ICSU ROA also encouraged WAYS-Africa to seek sponsorship from the International Union for Quartenary Research (INQUA) targeted at workshop organization. Qualifying projects should be in line with the INQUA and ICSU policy framework. He also highlighted the ICGP/UNESCO young scientist targeted initiative for research in water and hazards. Young scientists also have opportunities to participate in the Gondwana Alive multidisciplinary project.
WAY FORWARD
The newly elected EC identified the following priority activities.
Increase the size of the network. At the time of the meeting there were approximately 500 WAYS members from Africa representing about 40% of total WAYS membership. Considering the size of Africa, there is a need to increase this membership considerably. A target of tripling the membership after one year and increasing it by ten fold after two years was adopted. One of the strategies adopted for ensuring rapid membership growth was to provide incentives such as: accumulation of two points for every member recruited, the possibility of qualifying for the New York Academy of Science grants for very active members, etc.
Make content of website accessible and useful for members.
Create a database of African scientists abroad / Diaspora
Launch strategic plan for WAYS-AFRICA by the next Regional Assembly in Cape Town in 2008.
Enhance the operations of the “Seedinglabs” project. The SeedingLabs project is an initiative aimed at acquiring used research equipment from North America for laboratories in Africa. There is a need to extend the same to include equipment from Europe and Japan.
Organise a work shop on the “Scholar Ship” by February 2008, Cape Town, South Africa. Seminars aboard the cruise ship to include, grant proposal writing skills, better use of IT technologies, etc.
Mobilise financial resource for the various WAYS-Africa projects.

The Durban University of Technology is offering 10 (ten) postdoctoral fellowships for PDFs from African countries in the following research areas within the Faculties of (i) Engineering, Science and the Built Environment; (ii) Arts and Design; (iii) Commerce; and (iv) Health Sciences:

• Biotechnology (enzyme technology and plant biomass processing)
• Water and wastewater technology
• Mechanical engineering (composite materials, plasma technology, megatronics)
• Electronic engineering (artificial intelligence)
• Chemistry (computational modeling, thermodynamics, mycotoxins)
• Dynamical systems research (modeling systems)
• Renewable energy
• Real-time power simulation systems
• Cleaner production technologies
• Design education for sustainable development (Graphic design)
• ICT linked social and economic development
• Human health (health promotion, health systems, clinical intervention, health professional education, environmental health)

Applicants must have received their doctoral degrees within the past five years. The PDF awards are merit-based. Applicants who have a good track record of peer-reviewed research publications and are capable of supervising higher degree students at the masters and doctoral levels would be given preference. Successful incumbents would be expected to perform limited teaching and to publish their research findings in ISI-accredited journals.

The value of the fellowship is R 80 000-00 (South African rand) per annum and is tax free. The award includes travel costs to and from the country of origin. The award is for one year and may be renewable for a second year, based on performance and output.

Applications should be sent to:

Prof. D. (Gansen) Pillay
Director: Research Management and Development
Durban University of Technology
P. O. Box 1334, Durban 4000
South Africa
E-mail: gansen@dut.ac.za

Applications close on 30th April 2007.

Dear all,
I have recieved many queries regarding the funding offered by the NRF for collaborative funding. Firstly this funding is only available for work to be done in South Africa, a knowledge exchange if you will, or for a South African to do work within Africa.
Secondly for further details please refer to the NRF website (www.nrf.ac.za) and search for information pertaining to this fund.
Third I am not the co-ordinator of the fund, I was only informed about it, please refer to the NRF in Pretoria, South Africa for further information.
Good luck to you all with your application,
Henry

Dear members of AFRU WAYS, We have had to postpone our launch till mid-January 2007. I request once again, those that are interested in the launch to please indicate their willingness to assist and/or attend. For those in SA please indicate to me if you would be willing to contribute some of your time to this endeavour. Kind regards, Henry

Good day all, This is a call for African WAYS members to submit articles for the WAYS newsletter. These articles will serve to popularise the science being done in Sub-Saharan Africa. Regards, Henry

Good morning WAYS members. I am writing on behalf of the WAYS-AFRU interim executive committee. We are planning to launch WAYS-AFRU in September this year, and I require a few bodies to help with the launch. For logistics reasons I would appreciate it if those members in Gauteng would indicate if they are interested in being part of the planning committee. We are also wanting to have our first newsletter published by the launch date in September, and would appreciate contributions for it. This is for all the members (Africa). Dr Henry Roman Secretary-General (interim) WAYS-AFRU