Having grown up in Argentina and Brazil, I was immersed in a culture in which football is more than a sport – it is a national passion, a source of collective identity. As a scientist, I am fascinated by the way countries with limited resources have always produced world class actors.
The key is the availability of opportunities. Everywhere, you find makeshift sports grounds and coaches of coaches help to identify, feed and raise talents. Shouldn’t we do the same for science?
AI can help adapt drugs for Africa – but Africans should open the way
Each young person having a curious spirit – whatever sex, geography or socioeconomic status – should have a real chance of becoming a researcher. Science benefits humanity by confronting the environmental, health, technological and social challenges of the world. It should be widely considered a career to suck, a source of pride for families and communities.
The strengthening of scientific capacity in historically overestimated countries (often called the South world) is crucial. By 2050, for example, around 40% of children in the world will be in Africa – a lot in regions where science is chronically underfunded. And those who become scientists will face overwhelming obstacles: inadequate infrastructure, limited funding, a little mentoring and exclusion Since International scientific discussions. Conventional cooperation models Frequently reply obsolete hierarchies, the right -wing touch that is most necessary.
Local researchers are best placed to meet these challenges and create opportunities for promising young talents. Funding, good facilities, mentoring and networking opportunities are necessary to train and support the next generation of scientists in the world.
Some efforts are already underway. I am a daily witness to the way scientific excellence can flourish if you have the opportunity, in my role as executive director of the World Academy of Sciences for the progress of science in developing countries (TWAS) – A program of the UNESCO Cultural Organization. With even modest investments, scientists can establish laboratories, develop technologies, advance public health, stimulate climate adaptation and push the limits of research.
Could Africa be the future of genomic research?
For example, since 1986, TWAS programs have provided nearly 3,000 subsidies (each worth 20,000 to US $ 70,000) to researchers on the world. In Dakar, Senegal, the physicist of Nanomaterials Balla Diop Ngom at the University of Cheikh Anta Diop manufactures batteries from peanut shells, and the virologist Ndeye Sakha Bob at the local branch of the Pasteur Institute works on rapid diagnostic tests essential for dengue.