Excellence in Africa Initiative
@EXAF
Africa is faced with numerous challenges. Now more than ever, Africa's academic community is called upon to innovate in science and technology in order to catalyze the continent's development.
This realisation led the EPFL and the UM6P in Morocco to partner in the design and launch of a 10-year project to address these challenges. The Excellence in Africa initiative aims to promote scientific and technological excellence, particularly through the digital transformation of society. The initiative draws upon a network of scientific institutions and engineering schools in Africa.
Overall, the Excellence in Africa initiative is designed to have a sustainable impact:
- through a network of highly qualified junior faculty members based in Africa, that becomes fertile ground for cutting-edge research and innovation;
- by laying the foundations for sustainable collaborations with partner African institutions;
- by accompanying digital transformation.
The four pillars
Junior Faculty Development
Talented young African professors are collaborating with an EPFL laboratory to jointly develop a research project.
100 PhD for Africa
100 PhD’students benefit from thesis funding and close collaboration between the African University in which they are registered and an EPFL laboratory.
Digital Education
Digital education is an important means of transmitting knowledge. With this third pillar, the objective is to provide STEM students enrolled in master and doctoral programmes throughout Africa with access to quality educational materials and tools.
Digital solutions for sustainable cities in West Africa
The aim of the pre-feasibility study, co-financed by the SDC, is to show the potential impact of digital technology on sustainable development of West African cities. The objective of the study is also to understand if the use of digital tools in urban settings can improve the quality of life of the most vulnerable citizens.