The 2022 Joint Conference of the African Light Source and the African Physical Society opens with a series of pre-conference sessions held as part of the International Conference on Research Infrastructures (ICRI).
Registration
Registration for these sessions is free, and also registers participants for the 2022 Joint Conference of the African Light Source and African Physical Society. Once registered, participants receive the Zoom connection details for joining the sessions online.
ProgrammeAfrican Light Source and African Physical Society ICRI Sessions
Four sessions run across two days, pairing the science of advanced light sources with the wider questions of law, economics, libraries and digital learning that shape research infrastructure in Africa.
Session 1 · Mon 17 Oct · 10:00–12:00 GMT+2Problems and Solutions in Commercial Law and Political Economics for Multinational Big Science Projects
Big science projects — astronomy observatories, advanced light sources, CERN and ITER — invariably involve many nations in a real, resource-contributing way. A project’s budget draws on multiple revenue sources, each with its own expectations for accountability to parliaments and taxpayers.
Big science is therefore a key frontier in economic harmonization and integration, and one of the central pillars of science diplomacy — both a beneficiary of, and a driver for, broader diplomatic efforts.
A key question regarding big science and social justice is how the global South and developing nations in general are included, and how they contribute to international law and policy without being run roughshod over. These questions can be embedded into broader questions about global economic inclusion, equity, justice and development.
This session explores advantageous economic and legal policies for multinational big science projects involving North–South and South–South collaborations. It covers everything from Pan-African commercial law — patents, customs, the mobility of materials and persons — to fiscal policies relevant to the science, technology and innovation (STI) and higher-education sectors, as well as the general notion of economic, legal and political harmonization.
The aim is to build, among the scientists who drive big science projects, an appreciation of some of the principles of policy- and law-making.
Session 2 · Mon 17 Oct · 14:00–16:00 GMT+2Regional Facilities on the Roadmap Towards a Pan African Synchrotron Light Source Facility
Advanced light sources, based at either large-scale synchrotron or free-electron laser facilities, are currently the most transformative research infrastructures for application across a broad spectrum of disciplines. They embrace crystallography and essentially all spectroscopy, scattering and imaging techniques, using radiation from the infrared (IR) through the visible, ultraviolet (UV) and X-ray, and even into the soft gamma-ray portion of the electromagnetic spectrum — supporting the highest density of researchers from the widest range of disciplines.
Though costly, advanced light sources have become clear leaders for research outputs, graduate-student training and the driving of technological innovation. They benefit nations far more than they cost.
Africa is presently the only habitable continent without a light source.
Dozens of scientists from African countries now perform experiments at facilities in Europe and elsewhere, their numbers limited mostly by distance and travel costs. An advanced light source in Africa would enable thousands of African scientists, engineers and students to gain access to this superb scientific and technological tool. Indeed, to be competitive socially, politically and economically in the years to come, access to a nearby light source will be an absolute necessity.
Scale and cost
Large-scale synchrotron or free-electron laser facilities can cost on the scale of $108–109 USD. So-called compact light source (CLS) facilities cost on the scale of $107 USD and are small enough to fit inside a normal university campus building. Technological advances are producing machines with photon flux density suitable to yield credible research results — making compact light sources, alongside cryogenic electron microscopes (cryoEM), attractive options for a single university and national government, or for a group of universities and governments, to invest in.
Beyond yielding credible research results, a campus-based compact light source can serve as an important training platform and a concept-testing platform for follow-on studies at large-scale facilities such as the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, or the Pan African Synchrotron Light Source Facility planned by the African Light Source Foundation. For these reasons, CLS and cryoEM machines are important elements on the roadmap towards a Pan African Light Source.
Session 3 · Tue 18 Oct · 10:00–12:00 GMT+2Research Libraries, Access to Journals and Data as Critical Research Infrastructure
Research libraries and access to research information — journals and data — are themselves critical research infrastructures. Many researchers in developing countries lack the adequate access they need to engage in globally competitive research. This session explores the scope of the problem and examines plausible solutions together with publishers, librarians and policy makers.
Session 4 · Tue 18 Oct · 14:00–16:00 GMT+2Are MOOCs and Virtual Universities Now Requisite Parts of Research Infrastructure?
The global COVID pandemic transformed massively open online courses (MOOCs) into absolute necessities, reshaping human-capacity building for research infrastructures. This session explores how that shift is manifesting in Africa.
MOOCs are important research-training platforms that rest upon IT infrastructure — itself a critical research infrastructure. Producing a MOOC adds a new dimension to education praxis, requiring a whole new set of teaching skills. The session explores both the infrastructures and the skills necessary to successfully deliver a MOOC, and for students to take one.